I love glasswork! It fascinates me to see someone take a molten blob of gooey matter and manipulate it to form something beautiful and clear, with colors that catch and reflect light.
I think part of the appeal of the process of blowing and working with glass is the danger involved.
Working with material that is 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit poses a challenge or two – the greatest of which is keeping yourself from being burned. But, when I recently made a glass float with Colin O’Reilly, the director of Schack Art Center’s Hot Shop, I realized a few more of the challenges – glass at 1500+ degrees must be continually moved to form the shape you want it to become or it oozes into something different than you had in mind (or pools on the floor); it must be reheated again and again to fuse frits (broken shards of colored glass) with the original orb; it takes great strength to firmly roll and press it into the right shape; just the right amount of air must be blown into it to form a bubble inside; it has to be cut off from the pole you are holding it on and dropped gently onto a receiving pad so it doesn’t break; and it must be cooled over the course of 12 hours in a special oven called an annealer so it doesn’t shatter.
There are hundreds of ways to destroy a glass creation before you’ve even finished making it. It’s definitely not something to try at home.
O’Reilly came to Schack Art Center in Everett last September after training as a glass artist in Sante Fe and California. He is one of several teachers at Schack that boasts of being the primary workshop for quite a few prominent local glass artists such as Merrilee Moore who makes the trendy Merrilights and Nancy Callan and John Kiley (a teacher at Schack) who both have created more than one piece of glasswork for Sir Elton John.
Schack puts a sign out whenever an artist is at work, allowing the public to watch. It offers a range of classes in glass work and other art, has rotating exhibits, and provides free studio time to teens and the general public who bring their own materials (in other mediums than glass). It has a gift shop where you can pick up beautiful art, and hosts an Artist Garage Sale on June 1. The next “Make It Now” event when you can make your own glass art is on May 12.
Located at 2921 Hoyt Avenue in Everett, Schack Art Center is about half an hour north of Seattle.
All photos by Elizabeth Griffin.