Making Glass; or What is That Anyway?

I was just amazed at how quickly a molten blob of glass could be turned into a work of art. Here's another step by step, this one of a gorgeous vase from start to finish.

Shape into a round

Continue shaping and turning to elongate the blob.

Then blow to create the open center of the vase.

More shaping. That's water in the box below the glass, I think.

Into the mold to add shape and texture--this one was a quilted pattern.

He also blew more down the rod before the vase was removed from the mold.

And there it is!

More shaping...

Here comes the guy with the pontil rod (not sure that's the name of it). This rod has a molten blob of glass on the end. He'll stick it on the bottom of the vase, dead center...

 Then WHAM! the blower strikes the top of the glass and

off it comes! 

It's then carried to another worker...

who shapes the top. (Sorry for the blurriness; I was using the zoom to try to get better shots from a distance)

 And there is is, almost complete. He also performs a magic trick that breaks the vase cleanly off the rod, leaving that rough circle that is almost a Blenko signature, the pontil.

Here's another shape these guys made:

Isn't that cool? Looks like an owl.

I can't wait to go back. I know I'll be spending some time watching again just to see what emerges from the molten glass. I'll have to save up some money first though. I think I've turned the corner to become an official collector of Blenko glass.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

How to Build a Snowman, Blenko Style

You might have seen the sassy little glass snowmen made by Blenko in stores in your area. Here is how these whimsical pieces of glass are made.

from the Shop Blenko website

1. Start with really, really hot, molten glass.

2. Shape the glass into 2 round balls using a tool called a jack, which looks like a pair of large tweezers.

3. Use the back end of the jack to make a flat place for the hat (at least, that's what tool it looked like he was using, or perhaps it was something else).

4. Add a big dollop of hot glass to the top of the piece. This will be the hat.

4. Shape the hat--all this time the rod is kept constantly rolling back and forth on the rail on which it is resting.

5. then add the nose and the buttons with more hot glass and a pair of shears to cut the hot glass to just the right shape.

 6. And done! One step not pictured is just before this last photo; the snowman was placed in a large tank of some kind, possibly water to cool it?  Occasionally during the process the glassmaker also put the piece into a furnace to heat it again for further working. A quick tap on the rod would break the glass loose from the rod.

Ta-da!

Next post, more pieces being made while we watched.

You can buy Blenko online at Shop Blenko. Go there, browse, and enjoy some of the finest of glass being made in the USA today.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Blenko!

Finally, after years of intending to get there, we made the trip to the Blenko glass plant in Milton, West Virginia. I can't figure out why I waited so long, since Milton is only about 70 miles away, and we've passed this place many times traveling to and from Huntington and other points west. But I decided that I was going to get there this month, and just barely made it.

Glass was in view right from the time we pulled up to the Visitor Center. Glass even lined the flowerbeds!

And my goodness was it worth the trip. If you are a lover of bright, colorful glass in clean shapes, then Blenko is the place to go. I love glass of just about any kind: my house is filled with glass dating from the 1860's right up to the new pieces I brought home today.

Inside the colors were almost overwhelming in their brightness and variety. I was like a kid in a candy shop, moving from table to table and admiring the craftsmanship and creativity of the makers of the extraordinary pieces in front of me.

Upstairs housed a small museum--a series of display cases featuring a timeline of Blenko history and glass.

Somehow I did not realize that Blenko also made stained glass windows; there were several stunners on display in the museum gallery.

We walked out the catwalk to the glassmaking plant where we could watch the men at work (we heard from the clerk in the store that a young woman is joining the glassmakers but did not see her there today). A full-sized weeping willow hung its gorgeous greenery alongside the walkway.

 We arrived during their afternoon break but that gave us time to read the plaques that explained the glass-making process. I should say we did not actually see the glass itself being made--what we saw were the artisans who form the molten glass into everything from Christmas ornaments to lamps. I wonder where the glass itself comes from? I didn't think to ask, but I believe it is made there at the plant in another area that did not allow visitors.

It's easy to see why visitors are kept to one specific area; there are blasting hot furnaces and men carrying molten hot glass everywhere. I was entranced by the process we saw and could honestly have stayed for hours just waiting to see what they might make next.

Lots more photos to come! In my next post I'll try to organize my pictures into the order in which a piece was made, so stay tuned.


Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.