The Glass Blowing Class (7): Were you captivated and inspired by the art you saw already? A complimentary glass blowing workshop has been offered by some local artisans. Located next door to the Crystal Heart Gallery, if you have a ticket stub from the event you can stop by to partake in one of their classes, where they’ll teach you how to make a glass blown ornament/bauble, a wine glass, or a set of glass beads. All classes are beginner friendly and you will be gently guided through the process. You keep what you make, and you’re encouraged to bring a friend! Classes are hosted every hour on the hour.
This was definitely a new experience. Anastasia clutched the ticket stub that had seen her admittance into the Destiny City Event hall earlier in the evening and now she stood shuffling from foot to foot with indecision on whether or not she wanted to actually learn a new skill. What use would it have for saving her people? From all angles that she looked at it from, learning this skill of blowing glass would not help Velencya out at all. But the beauty in the objects that she had seen was what drew her into her current predicament. Oh there was no way that she would be able to create a lifelike flower from this particular medium, but Anastasia owed it to herself to try at least to do something. Upon entering the glass blowing shop Anastasia wiped her forehead before realizing one thing she had not deigned to think about. It was frigging down-right hot in this room. Her gaze swept from the left to the right to take in the multiple open doors to what she read were called crucibles before pulling the elastic from her wrist in order to at least get her hair out of harm's way.
As she was doing so a volunteer sidled up next to her before asking the standard rote of basic information fact-finding before she pointed Ana to a corner in which one found safety equipment. There would be no burned learners in this class it looked like. Once she had everything in place her experienced shadow returned to her side in order to check over the gear that she had donned. Only assuming that she was cleared as no comment was made, nor no adjustments performed that Ana found herself seated with a few other nervous individuals before paying attention to the speaker that was now explaining the process on how one "blew" glass. Anastasia's mind reeled. There were apparently more steps that occurred when one wanted to blow glass. For example, one had to be able to breath out at a measured pace so that whatever piece they were trying to make that the molten glass at the end of a blowpipe wouldn't explode or develop an unnatural bulge to it. One of the other newcomers made the mistake of asking how could one control their breath while blowing and the instructor had everyone gather in as much air as they could before asking them to release it as slowly as possible without sputtering or stopping. The emphasis was made that it had to be a slow, steady, release of an individual's breath that would guide the shape of what was trying to be made. For the glass ornament or bauble this step was highly important. If one were constructing the glass beads, it wouldn't require as much concentration on ones breathing.
Knowing already that she wanted to construct an ornament Anastasia began to simply repeat the exercise that everyone had just been given before she stood up. Her next step was to pick a blowpipe that was suited to use. The instructor had each of them handle different blow pipes before they each found the best one that felt like a natural extension of their body. Ana sighed before glancing at the group of people that were standing by now that the less important information had been dispersed. Freeing the group, the instructor made sure to reiterate that while they would be closely supervised, everyone was still working with an extremely volatile compound in the molten glass and that once they started their project they were to remain near their own furnace and not move around to interact with anyone else. Feeling the heat from the furnace that she chose to stand by Ana was soon joined by another woman who cheerfully introduced herself as Tara. Anastasia gave her own name back in return before Tara checked over her equipment once more before nodding in satisfaction. A quick adjustment followed in which Tara donned her own gear before moving to stand behind Ana. Her hands picked up Anastasia's blowpipe before she motioned for Ana to place her hands just as she had placed hers, overlapping them for all of two minutes while she was speaking about how each movement had to feel natural. If something ended up feeling unnatural Ana was supposed to make some sort of noise to get Tara's attention so that she would be able to step in and offer assistance if necessary. Anastasia listened to this further set of instructions with alacrity. If one didn't pay close enough attention this whole exercise would end in injury, possibly serious. Feeling Tara's hands leave the blowpipe Anastasia hefted the pole with a growing confidence before she looked over to see where her personal attendant was going. Tara's blond hair was swiftly pulled out of her face before she returned to Ana's side. The next step of teaching saw Ana place the end of her blowpipe into the furnace to pick up what was called her gather. The gather was a blob of molten glass, super-heated to be malleable enough to work with in what would eventually become her blown piece of glass. Ana's brow furrowed from behind the protective eye shield she was sporting as she tried to deduce just how much material would be at the end of her pipe upon its withdrawal from the source of much of the heat of the classroom. Concentrating, she rolled the end of her pipe back and forth as she had been instructed before pulling out a large blob of glass that was now stuck to her pipe. At feeling the additional weight of the glass Ana's arms trembled with the effort needed to keep the pipe parallel to the floor. It wasn't as easy as it looked. The end with the glass kept dipping down almost as if it wanted to smack the floor. Feeling as if she couldn't prevent that from happening Ana made her first noises in awhile and called out loudly for Tara's assistance.
Almost immediately her guide was at her side, steadying the pipe and giving Ana a moment to regroup. Her own grip on the blowpipe was impressive and Ana couldn't help but be envious at the ease in which Tara managed to keep everything steady. Stepping in closer Anastasia caught Tara's next instructions and she gripped the pipe as they both moved to stand at a spot where Ana's pipe would be able to rest as she began the process of blowing a shape into the mold. Tara moved to the end of the pipe and with exaggerated slowness placed a curved wet wooden bowl around the base of the shape that was forming in order to help maintain an even sized piece. At one point she directed Ana to return the glass to something that was called a glory hole for the glass to reheat. Following that instruction Ana stood and gently rolled her pipe back and forth on the stand that was provided before Tara instructed her to remove the molten glass once more. Seeing as this was just a piece that would have no fancy additional detail Tara had Ana stop blowing at one point as she began to gently manipulate a tool called jacks which would aid her in separating the glass from the pipe. Anastasia's eyes widened at this stage as another student came over to assist Tara in catching the simple glass bauble that her breath had created as it was gently tapped off of the pipe and caught in a large pair of thick mitts. The smell of fabric that could have been burning caused Ana's nose to twitch before the second student rushed her blown glass to a smaller, less heated oven, which she found out was called "The Kiln."
It was a place for blown glass to slowly cool so that it would not shatter. It became apparent, even as Anastasia grabbed a bottle of water that was suddenly thrust at her, that even after working with heated glass that one had to take extreme caution. Dehydration of the workers in a hot shop was frowned upon so there was always a supply of water on hand for everyone. But even super-heated glass had to cool slowly. If glass was cooled too quickly cracks would appear and the overall piece would become susceptible to breakage. Anastasia's guide had her write her name and number where she could be reached on a piece of paper and a general description of what she had created before she left the workshop. Ana's gaze travelled to the kiln door which hid her masterpiece from the world before she gave the softest of sighs. The lesson had been learned even as she suddenly felt as if she had lead weights tied down to her arms. Glassblowing it seemed, was not in her immediate future. Nor would it ever be a skill that could save Velencya or Velenia. It was quite a shame.
(wc: 1505)
