Glass Blown Figurine Vase

9. Using a hollow blowpipe, the end is heated and the pre-heated Lapis rod is stuck to the end of the pipe. The glass rod is then heated in the glory hole until soft, about two minutes, then rolled onto a metal table and blown to produce a bubble (figure F).

10. The bubble is cooled to about 1100-degrees, and then a gather of clear glass is taken onto the pipe, rolled, shaped with a wooden mold and blown, then reheated (figure G). Three more gathers are taken.

12. The frit is then melted in, re-shaped at the bench, re-heated again, and then the figures and murrini are added by sticking them onto the molten glass (figure H).

13. The figures are carefully heated, pressed down with a paddle, heated again, touched up with a pick tool and then melted in (figure I).

14. The glass is shaped using a wooden mold, then wet newspaper and blown. Reheat.

15. Steel jacks are then used to create the neck of the vase and also to shape the shoulder. The neckline will also be the place that the vase will be separated from the blowpipe.

16. The vase starts taking shape by blowing and shaping the glass to the desired thickness. It blows like a balloon and starts out round.

18. The glass is reheated, and the bottom of the vase is flattened using a paddle (figure J).

19. The vase is then reheated, hung on a pole to stay centered while another pipe is used to gather a small bit of glass to be used as a punty. Note: The vase will be transferred to this other pipe to be finished.

21. Keeping both pipes in a straight line and always rotating the glass, a small bit of water is applied to the neck of the vase, and then the pipe is lightly tapped, breaking the vase free from the blowpipe. It is now attached to the new pipe. This allows a way to then finish shaping the top end of the vase with reheating.

23. The glass is reheated and trimmed evenly with shears (figure M).

24. The glass is reheated, shaped a little more with the jacks, and wet newspaper is used to shape the shoulder of the vase.

25. The glass is reheated, jacks are used to flare out the lip of the vase and a paddle is used to make the lip nice and flat, finishing the form (figure N).

26. The figurine vase is reheated slightly, and then using Kevlar gloves to catch the vase (figure O), the pipe is tapped lightly with a metal tool then put into a 900-degree kiln to anneal. The annealing process evens out the temperature of the piece to remove stress, and then the kiln is slowly cooled (about a 12-16 hour cycle) overnight with the glass blown figurine vase removed from the kiln the following morning.

Website: www.liquidlightglass.com