09-05-2012
Inside the Artist's Studio
Glass craft never fails to impress me. In fact, I've been attending glassblowing demonstrations since I was seven. However, despite having visited the Corning Museum of Glass (in Corning, NY) three times, I'd never had the opportunity to watch the creation of a truly complex glass piece until recently.
A few weeks ago, at Michael Davis Glass studio in Long Island City, I was lucky enough to bear witness to a private demonstration given by glass artist, John Brekke, whose work is currently on display in the FXFOWLE gallery. Among the various heat sources and devices being used were three different high-temperature ovens, along with a gas-powered blow torch and the final annealing oven. Each oven maintains a different function: At approximately 2,500 degrees, the furnace, which is where clear molten glass is kept, is the hottest; another smaller oven is used to heat up individual cylinders of colored glass; and a third oven, called the glory hole, is used to re-heat the glass as it is being worked. Additionally, a blow torch is used to heat the side of the glass that is attached to the pipe (closest to the artist), since dipping the glass into the glory hole would force the entire piece to heat up. The annealing oven is used last, gradually decreasing the temperature of the glass to avoid shattering as it cools into its final form.
Brekke first demonstrated the creation of simple blown plate glass, one of the earliest methods for producing glass windows. This process involves starting with a ball of glass and carefully blowing it, angling it, reheating it and spinning it until it can be spun flat in the oven. Next, Brekke demonstrated how he creates pieces (like the colorful circular plates currently exhibited in the FXFOWLE gallery). It took approximately an hour to add two layers of color, blow the piece up and then flip it inside out. When the final piece of layered, molten glass was spun out in the oven, Brekke put on large heat resistive mitts and caught the glowing disk as it was broken off from the metal rod. He then placed the glass in an annealing oven to cool overnight. (Later, he would carve off the first layer of color with a dremel, in order to expose the second layer, and then re-heat the glass to soften the rough edges.)
Once Brekke completed his piece, he turned to Steve Mielke and asked if he would like to gather some molten glass out of the furnace. Basically, the question translates to "would you like to take this opportunity to be blasted with 2,500 degrees of heat on this already hot summer day?" Naturally, most of us thought he was joking, but when he offered up the opportunity to the rest of us, I volunteered. Brekke spared me the heat, but he did allow me spin to the glass on the rod and added on a few more globs of molten glass for me to play with. I was even allowed to cut and twist the glowing molten glass with metal scissors—very quickly—before it started to cool and harden. (For your reference: Cutting molten glass feels exactly the way it looks like it should feel—it was an extraordinarily satisfying experience.) I left the studio radiating happiness almost as brightly as my molten piece of glass—now cool on my desk—was radiating heat in the annealing oven. I probably speak for all of the FXFOWLE participants when I say that I learned a lot and had an excellent time.
A special thank you to John Brekke and his wife Dawn for opening up the studio to us.
A few weeks ago, at Michael Davis Glass studio in Long Island City, I was lucky enough to bear witness to a private demonstration given by glass artist, John Brekke, whose work is currently on display in the FXFOWLE gallery. Among the various heat sources and devices being used were three different high-temperature ovens, along with a gas-powered blow torch and the final annealing oven. Each oven maintains a different function: At approximately 2,500 degrees, the furnace, which is where clear molten glass is kept, is the hottest; another smaller oven is used to heat up individual cylinders of colored glass; and a third oven, called the glory hole, is used to re-heat the glass as it is being worked. Additionally, a blow torch is used to heat the side of the glass that is attached to the pipe (closest to the artist), since dipping the glass into the glory hole would force the entire piece to heat up. The annealing oven is used last, gradually decreasing the temperature of the glass to avoid shattering as it cools into its final form.
Brekke first demonstrated the creation of simple blown plate glass, one of the earliest methods for producing glass windows. This process involves starting with a ball of glass and carefully blowing it, angling it, reheating it and spinning it until it can be spun flat in the oven. Next, Brekke demonstrated how he creates pieces (like the colorful circular plates currently exhibited in the FXFOWLE gallery). It took approximately an hour to add two layers of color, blow the piece up and then flip it inside out. When the final piece of layered, molten glass was spun out in the oven, Brekke put on large heat resistive mitts and caught the glowing disk as it was broken off from the metal rod. He then placed the glass in an annealing oven to cool overnight. (Later, he would carve off the first layer of color with a dremel, in order to expose the second layer, and then re-heat the glass to soften the rough edges.)
Once Brekke completed his piece, he turned to Steve Mielke and asked if he would like to gather some molten glass out of the furnace. Basically, the question translates to "would you like to take this opportunity to be blasted with 2,500 degrees of heat on this already hot summer day?" Naturally, most of us thought he was joking, but when he offered up the opportunity to the rest of us, I volunteered. Brekke spared me the heat, but he did allow me spin to the glass on the rod and added on a few more globs of molten glass for me to play with. I was even allowed to cut and twist the glowing molten glass with metal scissors—very quickly—before it started to cool and harden. (For your reference: Cutting molten glass feels exactly the way it looks like it should feel—it was an extraordinarily satisfying experience.) I left the studio radiating happiness almost as brightly as my molten piece of glass—now cool on my desk—was radiating heat in the annealing oven. I probably speak for all of the FXFOWLE participants when I say that I learned a lot and had an excellent time.
A special thank you to John Brekke and his wife Dawn for opening up the studio to us.