Blown Glass - Solid Forms

First, clear hot glass is gathered onto the end of a long solid steel pipe called a “punty rod”. This core of clear is the base of all solid forms to which the colored glass is then added. After the first gather is reheated in the “glory hole”, glass color is added to the clear in a series of layers, using special colors created for glassblowing.

Powders, and/or chunks of color are placed out on a steel table and picked up or stuck to the clear with several rolls across the table with the punty, returning to the glory hole in between, to melt the color into the surface. If a larger piece is to be made, additional gathers of clear from the furnace and layers of color may be added to the first gather to increase the volume of the piece.

When the right amount of glass is acquired for the design, the hot blob is formed into a round or egg shape using the wood blocks. As the hot glass is worked and blocked, the piece is stretched, shaped and reheated several times. Then a break line is formed using the jacks to cut a line in the glass where the piece will be removed from the punty rod. 

When the final design is completed and a defined line for break off  is created, the piece is carefully chilled with water at this break point and removed from the end of the pipe. It is then placed into a 900-degree cooling oven called an “annealing oven” where it will then cool down, at a controlled rate, to room temperature. All hot molten glass requires this “annealing” process to ensure the artwork will adapt to its solid form, especially glass paperweights which usually require much longer annealing cycles than the hollow forms because they are so thick and dense.