Inspired Fire: Part Two

After making and decorating the ornaments we had blown, Sharon invited us to come to another part of her studio and see the furnace room.

The furnace room was a large room with heavy tables, benches, and chairs, some scorched or blackened from having come in contact with the hot glass all around them. To one side were some chairs where Sharon directed us to sit. She also cautioned us to stay back as she would be holding metal rods with molten glass on the ends and moving back and forth to the furnaces.

There were three furnaces in the room, and after putting protection on her arms, Sharon threw open the biggest and hottest one for us to see.

She literally threw those doors open, causing us to gasp and step back. Steve, her furnace room assistant, later confided to me, "She loves to do that. She loves the drama." Hah!

It was dramatic and a little disconcerting - it was heated to almost 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit and the hottest of the three ovens in the furnace room.

Sharon invited the kids to choose some colors and they selected yellow, pink, and green. Small piles of colored glass were set onto a steel table in front of us and Sharon got to work. (That's a second, smaller furnace that's open - she went back and forth between the two of them.)

Those furnaces were intimidating, and we had no trouble with wanderers.

Shaping the hot glass by blowing it. That's Steve ready to help.

Sharon heated the glass, dipped it in color, blew and shaped, and then repeated the process again and again. Steve did door control for her and explained that the process required two people - it just could not be done by one person on their own.

He also helped with adding color to the vase she was making.

When it got to the point where she could begin blowing the hot glass bigger and into a vase, it was amazing to watch. She used the tool in her hand to help shape the sides. 

A final heating and then some sort of twirl with the rod

and the glass vase was done. Well, the heating and blowing part was completed. Now the vase (after being taken off the rod) would go into the "cooling furnace." (Talk about an oxymoron!)

There it would be gradually and very slowly cooled down over a couple of days and during that time, the true colors of yellow, pink, and green would emerge. 

Making that vase was a really neat process to watch and I went back after it had cooled and bought it.

It was so pretty. I was surprised at how faint the pink ended up being

and I really like the irregular rim - that gives it a unique character.

Sharon went above and beyond to see that our family had a good experience in her studio that day. You can bet we will be back.

Inspired Fire - Part One

Just after the holidays, Lisa, Curt, Vanessa, the kids, and I went out to a glass studio to make ornaments.  Called Inspired Fire, it is quite an amazing place that is hidden behind an ordinary storefront.

We'd signed up to make glass ornaments and before we began, we were shown what our ornaments would look like and some painting ideas for when they had cooled.

We were then introduced to Sharon, the owner and our instructor. She wisely showed the kids some of the "wow" aspects of what we would be doing first and answered their questions then.

She also discussed safety and the need to wear the dark glasses she provided when we were up close and blowing our own ornaments. Both the adults and the kids were riveted.

One by one, the kids went up and blew their own ornaments.

Sharon showed them options, like poking indentations into their ornaments to give them some character.

See all those finished ornaments lying on the table in front of her? When she found out that not everyone was making one (she surmised correctly it was due to cost) she quietly handed me several of those so that all of us had an ornament to paint and take home. (And refused payment!) What a kind thing to do!

Mila, Vanessa, and Lukas at the painting station.

Lukie's shark was coming to life thanks to a little help from Vanessa. (Sharks just make me feel SOOO Christmassy! LOL)

Mila looking at paints and getting ideas for hers.

Lisa got a beautiful sphere when she blew her ornament. She decorated hers with gold stripes and swirls.

Me waiting for the glass to be ready to be blown.

Blowing!

It was so much fun! And so kind of Sharon to give us each an ornament so that we could all participate. Our original plan was to share a couple but Sharon had different ideas for us. And she was right - it was a very unique experience and nice for everyone to have something to take home.

When our ornaments were completed, Sharon took photos of them all.

Lukie's shark made her social media feed!

As did Vanessa's Starry Night. (This picture does NOT do it justice. It is gorgeous.)

In fact, we all made the shop's social media feed.

When we'd finished, Sharon had a surprise for us. "Would you like to go into the furnace room and see me make something?" she asked.

Would we ever!

Stay 'tooned!