David and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary last week. The traditional gift is crystal, but the modern one is glass or a watch. So David came up with a truly unique idea. He took me to Astoria, on the Oregon Coast, and treated me to a workshop at a glassblowing studio where I made a glass pumpkin. It was my first experience learning the craft of glassblowing.
We made an appointment at Fernhill Glass Studio where we met Claude and Chris. Claude let me choose the glass colors, and explained the process of making a glass pumpkin from beginning to end. It was a lot of information, but Chris made sure I used the right tool the right way at the right time. It was a lot of fun. At one point, I even used a blow torch half as big as I am tall to heat the glass stem, giving it its mirrored finish. I’d never used a blow torch before. There’s no photo of me with it; I suspect David, who took these photos, ducked for cover and I don’t blame him.
Click on images to enlarge.
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- The metal rod needs to be heated
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- After the rod is dipped in molten glass, colored glass is added by quarter turns
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- And heated again
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- Then more crushed colored glass is added
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- And back into the fire
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- Keep turning the glass
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- Shaping the glass
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- The white colored glass begins to appear
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- Glassblowing. The pumpkin’s ridges were shaped in a mold
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- Next, the stem is shaped, also in a mold
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- For the more complex processes, my job was to man the oven doors
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- The stem is added
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- And twisted into a curl
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- Around a metal rod
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- The finished glass pumpkin
I love my new Fall decoration! I had a blast, and can’t wait for our next trip to Astoria and trying my hand at another project.
