Reflections (and Joys) of a Glassblowing Beginner
By Alan Mendelsohn
Member of Foci MCGA since 2015
About six years ago, I succumbed to my lifelong curiosity over glass, went online, and found a local hot shop that offered a weekend crash course for beginners. Foci MCGA. It was a fun, difficult, eye-opening experience. Even as the challenge of endeavoring to create something intentional out of the raw material of molten glass was overwhelming, I was so mesmerized by it, by what I saw as its’ possibilities, that I knew I wanted more. Unfortunately, at that time, I was working a very demanding professional schedule, and understanding how much time it would take to pursue this hobby, I had to put it on the shelf. I remember chatting with an experienced glassblower during that weekend who, when I told her how amazing I found this whole thing, replied ‘Welcome to the addiction of the rest of your life.”
That comment turned out to be prescient. Immediately after retiring a few years later, one of the first things I did was sign up for Glassblowing 101 at Foci. After 3+ years I’m still working on my fundamentals…so many fundamentals. Made more challenging by the fact that glass comes out of the furnace at 2200 degrees Fahrenheit, with the viscosity of honey.
There are so many steps to making the basic beginning vessel…a cup or tumbler… with such a brief interval of time…perhaps 30-60 seconds…where the glass is soft enough to shape before having to re-heat to a malleable temperature. Each step is a challenge. And if one of those steps becomes a misstep, the piece goes from art to recycling in an instant. Initial gathering, shaping, creating the bubble, rolling the blowpipe on the bench, re-heating to the appropriate temperature, blowing the bubble out evenly, flattening the bottom, puntying to another pipe, tweezing, trimming. the final opening and shaping with tools, and the last step before safety…gently knocking it off the punty pipe and carefully moving it into the 900 degree annealing oven for its’ gradual cool down.
And while I’ve always been blessed with reasonably good hand to eye coordination, my fitness days are post peak, and here I am attempting to learn a such physically demanding craft, while in my 60’s. A craft that is mostly explored by people much younger. So why not explore needlepoint? Painting? Pottery? Those activities are creative as well, but much less demanding physically, and likely more appropriate for a person of my age.
“Welcome to the addiction of the rest of your life.”
And so it is. As challenging as the art of blowing glass is to learn, and as often as I’ve thought it being too difficult to continue to pursue, I found myself embraced by a community of warmly welcoming, wonderfully talented, and kindly supportive glass artists. An accepting community of individuals of diverse ages and backgrounds, who have patiently taught me and helped me.
And who commiserated with me when a piece I’ve labored for an hour to create falls off my pipe and shatters to pieces.
But THAT peril is the great equalizer, as it’s one common to all glass blowers, regardless of years of experience…and so the oft heard refrain, that attempts to soften the disappointment is“It’s only glass, let’s make another.”
So after several years, I’m still learning. I can occasionally make a nice centered cup. I can even make one with a nice design, with an attractive profile, and thin walls. But my goal is not to make museum quality art…my goal is to improve. To continue to improve. Because the accomplishment of improvement feels so good.
Prior to taking up glass as a hobby, I’d seen talented artists work with glass, pulling shapes and patterns out of this beguiling material that were brilliant… and stunning to watch. I was impressed and amazed. But I contend that no one…no one…can appreciate the sheer beauty of accomplishment, and level of skill, until and unless you’ve attempted to work with glass yourself. Because, as with any artistry, those who have mastered it perform with such confidence and seeming ease as to make the task look effortless. Believe me, it is anything but effortless. If you’ve never played tennis, and you watch Roger Federer play, you might be fooled into thinking that tennis is not only fun, but easy. It’s not. He makes it LOOK easy because he’s so good at it. He looks so relaxed and un-rushed as he hits impossibly difficult shots.
Same with glass. It may look easy if you haven’t tried it, and are observing a talented gaffer at work. But after my short time working with glass, I now have an even deeper appreciation of the skills, because looking easy isn’t BEING easy. It’s being supremely gifted.
However…and I say this from my personal experience…you need not be an accomplished artist to love working with glass. When I gather the perfect ball on the end of my pipe, or blow an even bubble on the first try, or feel my tools smooth and sharpen with the lightest of touch because I’ve heated my piece to the perfect temperature…or when the trim is straight, the lip wrap is even, or the punty releases easily…those are ALL hallelujah moments for me.
Words cannot capture the pleasure of those moments. You’ll either have to believe me…or come to the hotshot and experience it for yourself.
And then I’d welcome YOU to the addiction of the rest of your life.
Speaking to the “WE” of glassmaking, the teamwork aspect…we work together in teams. There is a special bond with your glassblowing partners. And yes, it IS about helping each other…but I see the collaboration as a bond in service to the piece being created…as an assistant, I take great pride in the successful completion of a piece along with the gaffer. There’s a great human connection working together in sweatshop heat, moving together, taking and giving direction…no ego. It’s the piece that matters, and when it falls off the pipe, as it does for all of us, we all share in the disappointment…whether a beginner or a lifelong artist…whether gaffer or assistant.
And… when we place it safely in the box for it’s cool-down, we slap high fives.
Because it’s community. We’re community. That my growth as a beginning glassblower is supported and applauded by glass artists far more talented than I is as much a value in this fellowship as is my seeing their work as awe inspiring.
And motivating.
So when, inevitably, that lovely, meticulously worked piece falls off the pipe and shatters on the floor, I now join the chorus…
No worries…WE’ll make another.