I wish I could learn blown glass shit....

so, yeah... any idea where to start/learn the basics anyone? I'm an artistic person you could say, actually I'm going to college for fine arts, so I really would like to learn how to do it just... to say I can, I guess. I'm sure I would need certain equipment that would only be found in a glass studio, but I'm not sure... I really don't know the first thing about it. anybody know where I could start?

I'm sure I sound stupid, but yeah... I DONT think I can just go do this shit in my garage or something lol... but I would be willing to take some intro lessons if its possible, that kinda thing.

 

Saw a dynamite glass studio, deep in The Barrens in Milville, NJ. West of A.C.
Its a big tourist thing called Wheaton Village with a glass musem
and an antique village.

Its easy to see the process and visit the furnace.
The silica sandy soil of The Barrens made glasmaking easy
They made remarkable pieces and had students there.
We spoke with one student who was from South America.

Some of the pieces command healty prices in galleries.

Good Luck.

 

You can take lessons from most studios. You'll probably start making beads and bowls and shit but eventually you can make "long neck vases" or bongs. My girlfriends grandmother took lessons last year and made an amazing bright orange bong! The lessons were expensive, I think 500 for 8 weeks, but that covered all the supplies and stuff.

 

some colleges offer classes to take glass blowing. i know tyler college of art in philly offers an 8 week program that costs like 300 dollars for materials and all and i heard good things about it. im doing it over this spring

 

yeah, my college is fairly artsy and all... but the dont offer it well... I'm pretty much positive they dont at least. RIT is close to my area, and ive heard they do... but that place is madddd expensive, so thats out of the question.

 

Yeah try a local tech college. I know a few places around my area that let you then rent out the studio, and you can use thier equipment. Much cheaper than buying a furnace for your garage.

 

Hey guys. I actualy have learned some Glassblowing and I can help stear you all in the right direction.
I took a couple days of private lessons with a glass blower up in Santa Cruz, and I also worked with a friend of mine, Jon, in his little studio for a while.
(his site is here http://www.smokinglass.com)

Blowing glass is alot of fun, but it can be very dangerous, and time consuming, and very expensive.
But its so worth it.

Just the basics of what is required.
You are gunna need several hundred dollars in tools and suplies and raw glass to get started (some people say you can start with less, but its very hard)
You need a glassblowing torch, a room where you wouldnt mind having broken glass everywhere, a propane tank, an O2 tank, and awsome ventilation (you will need to install fans and other crap to get the ventilation up to par)

there are several good books out there, if you are really interested and want to know more, you can PM me and ask me questions, and I can tell you..

Also, here is probably one of the best websites EVER for learning about blowing glass.
http://www.thegldg.com/
heres another good one as well..
http://glasspipes.org/
(they got some crazy sick glass on there)

ill post some of my stuff later..

 

i think we all wish we could blow glass

 

how coincidental i just met a real cool dude who told me he blows glass and is going to make me a nice bowl i even get to pick out colors and style all for real cheap

 

I've actually been looking for a glass blowing class for me and my two friends to take. I think it would be a lot of fun.

 

i heard after so many years of doing it, your lungs get so messed up though

 

Here's my response.

http://www.hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3047616#post3047616