Recently I signed up for Introduction to Furnace Glass class at Inspired Fire studio.
I tell ya, "hot glass" does not begin to describe the heat coming off the glowing glass lava pool inside the furnace. I thought I was going to vaporize while dipping some glass out...
Despite the heat being on a different scale that I ever experienced, it was a lot of fun!
Once I conquered the fear of the immense heat, learning new way to work with glass was absolutely fascinating.
The way molten glass behaves is a lot different than the comparative tiny bit of glass melted on mandrel while making beads. It takes it's sweet time cooling down and staying still, so no matter what you are creating, you have to be very patient. When you think you are done, wait some more.
The satisfaction is immense once task of making something out of the hot molten liquid is complete.
The glass is now in the cooling annealer, I can't wait to see it! I will show it here once I have it. I am sure my first foray into furnace glass will not win any awards, but it will sit in place of honor in my studio.