I went back to checking Groupon for Date ideas. I saw an Introduction to Glass Flower Blowing Experience for 2 and thought it sounded fun! The fact that the experience was for 2 just meant I was going to be able to make 2 flowers.

I’ve always been intrigued by glass blowing and glass related arts. There is a shop in Bisbee, AZ that sells some of the most amazing marbles that I’ve ever seen. That sounds weird, but these marbles look like they contain the entire universe. I also have always loved Italian Murano Glass and marveled at how they could create the crazy little millefiori details. So, why not see what it’s all about?!

I scheduled my experience with Sonoran Glass School . I wasn’t sure what to expect when I showed up. I didn’t know if I would be lumped into a group of people getting assembly lined through the process. It turned out to be a one-on-one session. The heat from the furnace was INSANE and you really have to get right up close to gather your gooey molten glass blob from the cauldron on a long steel rod. The instructor who was guiding me through the process of making my flowers told me that we were “cooling” my glass blob down to 1000 degrees to be able to start working with it.

I learned how to collect the molten glass on the steel rod, then how to cool the steel rod, which cools the glass, how to collect the color glass beads into the glass and cook them into the blob to color the glass. Once the glass was colored, I shaped the flowers and the instructor helped me with the stem. When I was happy with how the flowers looked, they were placed in a 950 degree kiln to “cool” slowly. This glass needs to cool very slowly to prevent shattering.

A quick check of their website informed me that they offer a variety of glass art classes that I definitely would like to check out. I would like to take some of their fundamental glass blowing classes, marble making, glass pendant making and the warm shop offers glass cutting/fusing classes, which looks like something I would love. I see myself exploring more options there for sure.

This was a fun introduction to furnace glass blowing. It was really intimidating because of the extreme heat, but the instructor was so helpful and put me at ease. I’m looking forward to exploring more glass art experiences!

26 Dates Down! Thank you for reading!