Pittsburgh Glass Center

Recently, I had an opportunity to take a class at the Pittsburgh Glass Center.  What a fabulous place!  So much to learn and so little time to do it.  I took the 3 in 1 Combo class and spent a Saturday hopping from studio to studio (2 hours in each studio-not much time to get too fancy).

http://www.pittsburghglasscenter.org/index.aspx


I started in the flame shop and learned how to make a glass pendant.  Our instructor was wonderful and sadly, I have already forgotten her name.  Oh how the brain ages!  It was so much harder than I expected but I managed to complete mine (with a little assistance of course) and it came out surprisingly well.  Here is a photo (sorry not the best photo) of the finished piece. 

HOT SHOP
Next, it was off to the hot shop!  Yes!!! Really, who is not interested in working with hot glass?!  A few years ago while teaching at the Senior High School I invited artist Brody Shaw in to do a 10 day residency with my students.  So I was fortunate to have had an opportunity to make a paper weight before.  So this is my third paper weight. Nick was my instructor at Pittsburgh Glass Center and he did a great job-patient and kind.  There was a lot of activity in the hot shop-many folks renting the studio and turning out some beautiful pieces.

Here is a little info about Brody...
http://www.etsy.com/people/brodyshawglass

My last stop- learning how to do fused glass pieces.  Having done a good bit of stained glass before, this was a little easier for me.  Cutting glass and all is second nature.  So with a little instruction and a solid hour and a half of work time, I set about cutting small pieces of glass and creating a simple pattern.  I have a blue and orange theme going on throughout my day. 

This one was just a fun little last minute throw together project: 

I spent a good bit of time on this one, cutting and laying out the colors. 

This is a trivet:

I have always been fascinated by fused and slumped glass and have done a good bit of research on the technique.  Sadly, the kilns we have at school are much older and it is impossible to hold the kiln at a specific temperature (which is necessary for glass) and so I have never had an opportunity to try this.  I do hope to go back to the PGC and do some slumping!  Sooner rather than later ;)