Creativity 521 #6 - Blow a bowl!

I've always wanted to try my hand at glass blowing.

Since we came to Europe, we have travelled to places renowned for handcrafted glass like Venice but sadly, I never did get the chance to make my very own.

So when the hubby brought us to Kosta in Sweden during the summer holidays this year, I was ecstatic to learn that I could at last, make my very own glass bowl.

We could select which of the four glass pieces we wanted to make. Obviously, they all looked fairly simple and straightforward, considering that we were supposed to finish making one in half an hour. I chose the most elaborate looking glass bowl with decorative lines on it.

The session was carried out in a room equipped with steel pipes, glass making tools and furnaces. One thing I was sure of, it was HOT. Well, when you are surrounded by molten glass over temperatures of 1000°C, I suppose that ain't a surprise.

Firstly, we had to gather a spool of molten glass onto one end of the blowpipe by reaching into the furnace. Next, use a wooden mould and wet newspapers (yes, you heard right, newspapers) to shape the glass.

Secondly, blow puffs of air into the blowpipe to create a bubble in the glass, which is placed into a metal or wooden mould that gives it the final desired shape.

A most critical step in the process is called the transfer, where the glass is transferred from the original blowpipe to another pipe, so that we can work on the 'opening', shaping and trimming it with the help of tweezers. Finally, the glass is given a light tap and it magically separates from the pipe and is put to cool in an annealing oven.

Easy, right?

All we had to do next was to WAIT. For three hours. Which we made full use of by immersing ourselves in the world of glass.

Firstly, we visited the art gallery.



Here were some of the unique exhibition art pieces made entirely of glass:

Next, we also visited the unique Kosta Boda Art Hotel, sometimes referred to as the Glass Hotel, and had a sumptuous buffet lunch there.





Lastly, we also visited the Glasbaren, aka Glass Bar. Though it was not as awe-inspiring as the Ice Bar in Kiruna, it felt good to at least set foot in it.



Finally, it was time to take a look at my finished product.


TA-DAH!

Yeah yeah, it might not look magnificent or eye-catching, but nonetheless I felt proud of it as my first ever handmade glass bowl.


Of course, I could never have accomplished it without the guidance of the experts at Kosta Boda. So, thank you for the precious lesson!



For those who have not, I sure hope one day you can try glass blowing and make your own glass masterpiece too!

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Here's a short clip for memory keepsake.



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I will be hosting Creativity 521 every fortnightly and I hope you can join me on the 5th and 21st of every month. Remember: The sky's the limit when it comes to creativity!