Glass Blowing

Yesterday I did a profile on a glass blower, and it reminded me of how visually interesting the whole process is.

The first time I saw this art was in Italy as a little one, and I still remember watching the glowing orb of glass expand when the glass blower blew on the pipe.

The artist I interviewed yesterday created a gigantic platter, starting with a multi-layered orb of glass, which he blew into a basketball-sized globe, then opened into a bowl, used a different color for the lip, then spun it into a plate.

There is something really exciting about watching about seven pounds of molten sand (around 2000 degrees) being spun at the end of a five-foot-long stainless steel pipe into a platter.

Anyway, if you have never watched glass being blown, particularly art pieces, it is definitely worth a trip to your local glass studio.