My final skills session funded by Artists Newsletter was learning about glass making. I did this at Salt Glass Studios in Norwich, run by Max Lamb and Fiona Wilkes. I originally hoped that I would do sandcasting with them, because I liked the idea of seeing cast glass in contrast to the cast bronze from my bronze sessions, and making glass impressions of the bronze artefacts I made. Unfortunately there was an equipment problem, and Salt Glass can’t do sand casting until next year now until essential parts from Sweden have been replaced.
When I heard that Salt Glass couldn’t offer sandcasting I researched other glass makers who could: I couldn’t find anyone at the time (ironically, I discovered a course just as I had committed to my day with Salt Glass), so I decided to do a bespoke day teaching me glass different processes with Max and Fiona instead. I thought this would give me an understanding of glass making possibilities and would be something I could build upon in the future. I think the day gave me more understanding of handmade glass than sandcasting would have done, and was a good foundation for future experimentation,
I did the day with another artist, Rob Nicol. Max worked with us and Fiona came at intervals to talk to us about the processes and outcomes that can be made with them. Max is a brilliant tutor: he is very calm and patient, and explains each step of the processes very clearly. Obviously, glass making has the potential to be really dangerous but Max is always calm and organised.
The first thing we were shown was how to gather glass, add colour and form it into a bauble type shape. I was watching intently and photographing different parts of the day, but unfortunately forgot to make note of all the terminology (and I have a terrible memory), so I apologise for any misnaming and poor descriptions. My photos hopefully elaborate parts of the process more than my text.
We were taught how to hold a glass rod and to gather glass from the furnace. This was incredibly hot- even though we only had access to it for a few seconds- and once we had captured some on our rod we took it over to a bench to roll it in crushed glass to give it colour. The glass cools very rapidly, so it has to be given a burst of up to 20 seconds in another furnace regularly. All the time the rod has to be gently rotated so that the glass stays on and has to be kept horizontal at all times.
Having added colour to the bauble we then had to sit at another bench with the rod and use huge pliers to make incisions into the glass, and to make a loop in the glass at the end of it. I had to reheat mine in between doing it. It was then put into a controlled Lehr to cool (as were all outcomes). This is what I made:-
The next object we made was a paperweight. For this we had to gather glass and choose two colours, rolling our gathered glass into the crushed glass. We let this piece of glass almost drop off the rod like a long drip, then took the end and twisted and folded it into itself.
I found it quite physically hard to fold it in and created lots of bubbles because I was heavy handed with this, although I didn’t mind that-I quite like the effect! It had to be dipped and the end neatly cut and shaped off the rod. I like the outcome from this-it is quite painterly, and reminds me of the sea and waves.
I was volunteered to go first when we began, and Max likes the same sequence subsequently, so I always went first, but to be honest I think I needed the extra time to watch Rob at work. I would have preferred to be second! My efforts were very clumsy, and Rob was far more dexterous with the glass than me.
The next process we experimented with was glass blowing. We gathered glass on our rods and literally blew it. This required a lot more puff than I had imagined.
Once we had a blown bulb, and had re-heated it, we gathered colour from the crushed glass and blew it more, before shaping it further with the pliers. Max had demonstrated a beautiful jug. My piece became a wonky vase! I quite like it though, and think I would be interested in developing ideas around this to make vessels in the future. Again, see the photos for more clarification.
We then had the opportunity to make something developing this process further. I wanted to try dipping, and made a two-coloured blown vase which I dipped back in the glass kiln twice. It was looking ok until I caught it on the edge of the furnace when I was reheating it and got a pile of fluff/kiln residue on it. Max wrapped a bit of glass on this to deal with it but it is very large and I find it very ugly. Equally I can see how studio glass forms developed from experimenting with mistakes like this.
The final part of the day, and the element which delighted me the most, was adding my Goodwins sand to glass discs. I had taken the sand with me on a whim and didn’t think to dry it out beforehand, which was a shame-maybe I could have done more with it had I done so. But Fiona suggested we lay some out and add glass to it to see what happened- conceptually I found it really exciting. Max made a glass disc and we laid it on top of the sand –which absorbed excitingly into the glass.
I was warned that it might not stay embedded, but actually a lot of the sand has remained, and I am really delighted to have these discs that capture glass from an eerie location, the gentle scattering of sand looking like it is lying on a puddle of solidified water.
The alchemical magic in the glass making was enticing. The Goodwins discs, and my discussions with Max and Fiona have made me realise that I am actually more interested in conceptual ideas around the glass rather than making it. Fiona told me about her research into making glass with local materials from the North Norfolk coast and this is something I would really like to do, especially as I can get the same materials locally here in Kent. I’d also like to add Goodwins sand to sand-casting and perhaps plan to make my own glass to cast into my own sand. This was a hugely stimulating session, with lots to think about for the future, and a massive thanks to AN for facilitating me in expanding my ideas and scope.
