Learning to Blow in New Orleans...

...Glass, that is!

After seeing Chihuly's glass creations in Tampa, we were stoked on the beautiful colors and flowing textures.  So as we were driving around NOLA, we sighted the New Orleans Glassworks and Print Shop.  We parked and explored.  Jean, the director, was very welcoming, showing us around the studio and retail shop.  She offered the possibility of a two-hour workshop with an instructor, and after about 30 seconds of arched eyebrows, we both said yes!! like a couple of kids in the candy store!

So the next day we showed up just before 10:00 and met Kyle, our teacher for the day.  What a blast!! It was just the three of us...  Karen and I each got to make a paperweight and hanging ornament.  Then we had a choice of what type of functional glassware we could design and make...  Karen chose a bowl and Kyle came up with a cool "pineapple" mold which creates symmetrical bubbles throughout the piece.  I chose a vase.  Kyle gave me a piece of chalk and told me to draw the shape on the cement floor that I envisioned.

It was an incredible experience from start to finish!  I have been a teacher for over four decades, and I think Kyle is a natural instructor.  Very knowledgable, patient, a good listener, and clear in his instruction.  At the end he gave us the name of a friend that works in a glass studio near Austin, Texas.  I think our path in this exciting art form has just begun!

Wine glasses made by the studio artists

Dipping the molten glass in broken pieces
of colored glass to create the design

Below are photos of the process and our finished pieces!

Grabbing molten glass out of the oven to begin the process

Now entering the "Glory Hole"...yes, folks
that's what they call it.

The "Glory Hole" close-up. This fuses the colored glass to
the clear blob of glass

At the exact right temperature, the blob is taken out of the 

Glory Hole and cut with heavy duty clippers to create the interior 

design and the rod that the glass is on has to be constantly in 

rotation...or the glass will drip off

After being "clipped", a second layer of clear glass is added, then

a tweezer instrument is used to poke the glass to create internal 

bubbles inside...which adds to the design of the paper weight

Believe it or not, this is simply a pad of 

several layers of newspaper which is 

dampened and then used to cool and 

smooth the glass

Now a wooden cup is used to shape and 

pull the glass away from the rod

Once it's rounded into the paperweight shape, large tweezers are used to begin

to separate the glass from the rod

I'm going into the Glory Hole!!!!

You have to work FAST! The glass cools very quickly

You need to blow air into the glass to make a hollow ornament,
bowl, vase, etc.

This is the start of the bowl you will see at the end of these photos

Polishing the umbilical residue with a small torch

THE FINISHED PRODUCTS!!!

The end result...THE BOWL!