What is Blown Glass?
Blown glass is an ancient technique of taking melted molten glass (the consistency of honey) and tooling it to produce forms. The glass is gathered on a long hollow metal pipe at 2070 degrees F and worked through a process involving the human breath. The breath provides a constant pressure to counteract the pressure applied to the outside of the form with tools. Gravity, centrifugal force and the artisan’s body movements play a large role in the action of the glass and consequently the shape of the final product.
Glass blowers are highly skilled artisans enjoying the creation of art pieces through the rise of ageless traditional tools and technique. The process includes gathering the molten glass onto the end of a steel pipe, blowing and shaping the glass, and decorating it with “bits” of molten glass chips of colored glass or gold and silver leaf. Exquisite design can be exhibited in blown glass art pieces. Perfume bottles, paper weights, and vases create beauty from the inside out, gloriously reflecting light and their surrounding environments.
Blown glass has been around for a few thousand years, however, its popularity resurfaced in the 1960s. It has since become a fast-growing hobby. Over the years the results of making blown glass have generally been the same, however, the various methods that have been used have changed. The most recent methods used in making blown glass were developed in the 1960s by Dominick Labino, an engineer and chemist, and Harvey Littleton, a ceramics professor. The two men began workshops at the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio. Known for the “studio glass movement” in the 1960s, Harvey Littleton and Dominick Labino made molten glass and glassblowing available in private studios for artists. This experience sparked an incredible interest worldwide and blown glass quickly became widely known across the globe. Artists are famous now all over the world for their exquisite and unique creations. The process of preparing the glass for blowing is very tedious and requires a lot of delicate detail. R
