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  Frequently Asked Questions
| • | What do you mean when you list flameworking classes? | | • | Is it hard to do? | | • | Is it Dangerous? | | • | What if I want to make something for my home – like a vase, a bowl or a plate? | | | | Q | What do you mean when you list flameworking classes? | | A | Flameworking is the glassmaking technique of making glass beads, small animals such as fish, or other small objects out of rods of Venetian glass. | | Q | Is it hard to do? | | A | It entails melting the glass rod over a gas burner, then wrapping the glass around a steel rod until the basic bead is created. Then using other colors one can add dots, lines, initials – whatever one wants. Similarly one can freely design small animals, flowers, etc. Our students from age 10 up are able to enjoy flameworking. | | Q | Is it Dangerous? | | A | Although there is some inherent danger of the heat, we teach safety first, then glassmaking. It is fun, creative and can be done alone or with a group of friends in the GlassRoots hotshop. | | Q | What if I want to make something for my home – like a vase, a bowl or a plate? | | A | These items can be made either as kilnformed or blown glass objects. Kilnformed objects are made with precut glass sheets place in a kiln for a given amount of time either flat or slumped over a metal or ceramic mold to create three dimensional forms – vases, soapdishes, glasses, etc. These objects can be made from plain colored or clear glass, or from sheets of glass that you’ve already enhanced with other colors and shapes that have been preapplied.
If you are interested in glassblowing, this may be your forte! You can learn the very basics of glassblowing in our hotshop, either as a single lesson or in a series (see our course catalog), and given your interest create all manner of vessels, sculpture or simple items such as plates and glasses. See our GALLERY to see what the items are that we’ve already seen emerge from the hotshop! Be inspired! |
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