Hey everyone!
 
As you might know, from the really cool video the guys here at the mount made me, I took glassblowing last semester. It was a super fun class and I’d recommend it to anyone! Buuuuut there’s more than just the basic glassblowing course!

For anyone who might not know, the Mount has an association with Neusole Glassworks, which is an awesome glass studio on East McMillian over in Cliffton. For awhile there were only a few classes to take their, but now you can take LOTS!

There’s Beginning and Intermediate Glassblowing, Beginning and Intermediate Flameworking, Fused and Formed Glass, and Three Mediums of Glass, to name a few! There are now enough classes that you can have a degree in fine arts with a concentration in Glassblowing! My good friend Jimmy is doing just that. He takes Drawing II with me, but he spends almost all his time at the glass studio. He’s currently taking 3 classes there this semester.

Since I have finished beginning glassblowing, I’m allowed to come into the glass studio to be an assistant when Jimmy’s the gaffer (the main guy blowing the piece of glass, who gets to put his name on it when we’re all done). It was really, really fun to be back in the glass studio. I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed it till I was there.

Jimmy has only taken one more semester than me, but it’s amazing how much he can do. They’re making plates now (technically called a rondel, one of the seven basic shapes in glassblowing), which are the hardest thing to do in glass blowing. You have to keep them hot, but when you heat them up in the furnace, they start to get really sloppy, and it’s really hard to get them to maintain their shape.

I hope I get a chance to take more glassblowing! It counts as one of my art electives, so it’s useful towards my degree!

Anyway, gotta get back to finals guys. See you soon!