While I was visiting Tacoma last month, I had the opportunity to spend some time at Tacoma Glass Gallery & Fusing Studio, and before I even got to my glassblowing class, I had to explore the store! For someone who loves glass as much as I do, this place is like a candy store. Everywhere you look there is something colorful and interesting—from pumpkins and ghosts to bowls, sculptures, garden art, jewelry, and beautiful blown-glass pieces. I especially loved the colorful glass garden display with its flowers, bees, and whimsical shapes. And then there was that wall of hanging glass! The sunlight coming through all those colors was absolutely beautiful. Of course, I had to look closely at everything—partly for inspiration and partly because I’m always curious about how another glass artist made something. I could have happily wandered around looking at glass for hours…but I was there for something even more exciting: it was time to play with molten glass! ????❤️
Before we started blowing glass, they had a wonderful setup that walked us through the process step by step. You first choose what you want to make, then select the shape or style, and finally comes one of my favorite parts—choosing the glass colors! The color station was beautifully organized, with so many choices laid out from reds and oranges through blues, greens, purples, and neutrals. You could choose transparent or opaque colors and decide whether you wanted the colors arranged in rows for a more defined look or mixed together for what they perfectly described as “beautifully chaotic.” I love that description! Even though I’ve worked with glass for years, glassblowing is a completely different experience from fused glass. Having everything displayed so clearly made it easy to understand what we were going to do—and, of course, gave me plenty of time to agonize over which colors I wanted. ????
One of the things that made this experience even more special was learning how Ben got his start in glassblowing. He told me that he learned through Hilltop Artists, a remarkable Tacoma program that introduces young people to glass art. Of course, that sent me down a rabbit hole because I had to learn more! Hilltop Artists began in 1994, when Hilltop parent and gallery owner Kathy Kaperick partnered with Tacoma-born glass artist Dale Chihuly to create an arts program for young people in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood. The first group was just 20 students working in a former wood shop at what was then Jason Lee Junior High. They didn’t even have a traditional hot shop at first—they experimented by heating and reshaping Snapple and soda bottles. From those humble beginnings grew an amazing partnership with Tacoma Public Schools. Today, students can actually learn glassmaking in school, including glassblowing, flameworking and glass fusion, and Hilltop Artists continues to offer tuition-free programs for young people. I kept thinking, Can you imagine learning glassblowing in middle school or high school? I would have LOVED that! And here’s the part I think is especially cool: decades after Dale Chihuly and Kathy Kaperick helped introduce those first students to glass, I was standing in a Tacoma hot shop learning from Ben—someone who got his own start through that very program. That last connection is the heart of this section to me. I’d put the photo of Ben in front of the glowing furnace right around that final paragraph—it visually brings the whole story together.
This wasn’t my first adventure with glassblowing! I’ve had the opportunity to try it a few times before, and these are three pieces I’ve made along the way—a colorful oil lamp, a watering globe, and one of my favorites, a beautiful purple pumpkin with a green stem. Every experience has been different, and that’s part of what keeps drawing me back. Unlike fused glass, where I can take my time arranging everything before it goes into the kiln, hot glass is moving all the time. You have to keep turning it, shaping it, reheating it, and working with it while it’s hot. I certainly wouldn’t call myself a glassblower ????, but having tried it before meant I knew just enough to be excited about getting back in front of that furnace.
Every time I try glassblowing, I come away with an even greater appreciation for the artists who make it look so easy. There’s something incredible about taking a blob of molten glass, adding color, constantly turning and shaping it, and eventually watching it become something beautiful. I loved learning from Ben, hearing how his own glass journey began through Hilltop Artists, and, of course, getting another chance to play with glass at nearly 2,000 degrees! ???? I may always be a fused-glass girl at heart, but whenever I get the chance to step into a hot shop, you can bet I’m going to take it! ❤️ My vase was finished and here it is. I love it.
If you would like to see more of my fused glass work, please refer to my website Elegant Fused Glass by Karen. If you get a chance, check out all my site and my Elegant Fused Glass by Karen YouTube. If you would like to stay abreast of what I’m up-to and learn a little more about jewelry, check out our newsletter. It is published the last day of each month.
Karen
