Meowvelous

(Some of these post titles make me think I should probably get professional help.)

We've reached a point where glassblowing could be a regular feature here; we've also reached a point where I've told you how most of the process works... at least, the parts I understand well enough to explain. Do not, under any circumstances, use this blog as your only resource before trying this at home*.

This visit to the glass studio happened shortly before Easter, so a lot of what we produced were Easter egg-shaped paper weights. We also tried a couple paper weights with cherry blossoms inside, because cherry blossoms are a pretty big deal in the DC area, and some glass cats, because our talented hostess felt like making some cats, and we really wanted to see how that would work.

One of her earlier glass cats. She didn't like how the tail looked like a handle on a coffee mug, so the tails on our set of cats laid flat against the body.

Paper weights are solid glass, so we didn't need to do any actual blowing when we made those (and when I say "we made those," I mean that we watched her make them, and made occasional suggestions on color schemes.  There was very little for us to do for the bulk of the process, but that meant I got to take lots of pictures.).  Instead, a small amount of clear glass is gathered on a solid rod.  That gather is heated in the glory hole, and smoothed into a preliminary shape using one of many wooden forms.  Then, fret is added to provide color.  Sometimes two or three colors would be added, sometimes just one, depending on the design she made. Another trip to the glory hole helps melt the fret, more clear glass is gathered outside, and another round of heat and forming finishes the piece.  Finally, just like the pumpkins and Christmas ornaments, they spend a night cooling very slowly in the annealer.

The last stage of forming for a paper weight with a bloom design inside.

This one was done a little differently: instead of simply dipping the first gather in fret, she did a "wrap," giving it a spiral look.  A rough explanation of the process is included here.

She first made the cats based on a challenge issued by a friend.  I showed you one of the early versions above; this batch was done a little differently, because she's still honing the process.  The pictures below show different stages of several cats, so don't worry if it seems like each step looks nothing like the previous shot.  Chances are, it really isn't.

Gathering broken pieces of glass to make a "galaxy cat."  This isn't fret; it's recycling.  She had made an earlier piece in "galaxy" colors (blue, green, purple) which cracked, so we smashed it with a hammer and used the broken chunks to add color to a new piece.

The same piece, after melting and smoothing in the galaxy shards.

An air bubble is blown into the cat's body to make it larger.  In most of the cats, the air bubble is confined to the body, but here you can see it's in the head as well.  That makes it a unique piece!  She uses those enormous tweezers to pinch a neck and stretch the body to make the shape more like a cat, and less like an incandescent Bubble-Yum bubble.

Pinching out some ears.

Applying a tail to a cat. We used the same color for all of the cat tails.  If it's exposed to air as it cools (as opposed to being encased in more glass), it oxidizes and turns silver.  First, it has to stop glowing.

After the tail is cut.

 The cherry blossom paper weights were pretty interesting; I liked seeing how carefully layering color and simple changes to the shape resulted in the detailed blooms inside the final products.

Color has already been added to this gather. Green at the base (closest to the bar), pink in the middle, and white at the top (closest to the camera).  Here, she's used the handle of those tweezers to flatten the top surface, and is now smoothing the sides.

A straight-edged tool is used to make two creases, perpendicular to each other, in the top of the bloom.  This is what gives the finished piece four petals. (even though real cherry blossoms have five petals)

It's starting to look like a flower!

A wooden form is used to shape the bloom.  She keeps a bucket of these forms by the bench, soaking in water.  We still sometimes smell burning wood.

The hole made here will leave an air bubble in the final piece.  It will still look like a flower; just a different kind.

Forming the final gather. Note the egg shape.

* Do not try this at home, or anywhere else, unless accompanied and directed by someone who actually knows what they're doing, or has a really, really good lawyer.