Hey everyone —
I’m collaborating with glass artist Silica Burns and we’re hauling a mobile glass blowing studio out to my son’s place in southern West Virginia — Will Survives’ land. For seven days we’ll be blowing glass on the side of the mountain.
Kugler Colors is sponsoring the trip, along with Smoker Friendly, the local chain out there. We’re also hitting the Blenko factory while we’re in the state. Between that, the collab with Silica, and a bunch of other ideas we’ve been cooking up, there’s going to be a lot of fun, messy, off-grid glass content across all our pages.
I’m posting here because one of the experiments we want to try is bushcrafting a fire-fed annealing oven.
The plan:
• Build a small shelter over the mobile studio
• Dig into the hillside / ground
• Use wood fire to help anneal some basic pieces
I’ve never seen anyone try a proper wood-fired, earth-dug annealer in the field like this. Has anybody here heard of it, tried it, or got thoughts on what would actually work vs. what would just crack everything?
We’re keeping it simple — small pieces, not trying to run a full production lehr in the woods. Just want the glass to survive the mountain.
Any experience, warnings, or wild ideas are welcome.
Appreciate it.

my piece broke at the joint. Hoping one of you skilled individuals could blow some glass to help repair it.

Thanks all!

For about twenty years now, I’ve been creating pieces where I engrave favorite phrases onto small glass hearts.

Today’s phrase is "ITAINO ITAINO TONDEIKE."
I just shipped an order containing this piece to a customer.
I imagine they’re giving it as a gift to someone special.
It’s a phrase I really love.

In Japan, when a child falls and cries, their mother will rub the painful spot while saying, "Pain, pain, fly away."

It makes the pain feel like it’s gone.

I used to think it was just a superstition, but apparently, it’s actually been shown to be effective.

Do you have little magic phrases like this in your country, too?

*By the way, I finally figured out what "OC" means today!😜

Hello! I am a glass blower but I am starting to try flameworking. I have the cheapest sodium flare lenses that I could find on Amazon after a few years into glassblowing and I am wondering if it is worth it to invest in a better pair? I don’t know if they are acceptable for flameworking or even if there is a type that’s good for both?

I’ve been looking at Phillips safety’s website and there are the three options of; Phillips 202, sodium flare poly, and BoroTruView

I don’t want to waste money on glasses that are only useful for flameworking but I also don’t want to ruin my eyes. Just hoping for some advice :)

Greetings. I have been asked if someome can come in and make a glass heart as part of a workshop but they want to add a pinch of beach sand from a special memory. My gut reaction is "no adding things to glass...." but you can add cremains...and copper.... so wanted to double check with y'all.

Anyone have an idea? How did they keep it from melting in? How did they reveal the inner cane?

Besides the glass strawberry sculpture, I also make glass ink bottles and brooches 🍓

In Japan, glass pens are popular, so I made ink bottles for fans.

Manufacturers even sell strawberry-colored ink. Strawberry-colored ink is so cute, isn't it? ♥️

JUNKO GOKITA

Hi everyone, I'm putting some feelers out for some potential opportunities around the US.

I have a 6 year BFA in hot glass (I took my time so I could learn more lol), was given individual private training by a very skilled blower, along with several years of experience teaching make your owns and production work. While teaching public workshops has been a rewarding experience and refined certain things, I’m looking to pivot into a role with a stronger focus on artistic collaboration.

Glass is my passion, and I’m eager to bring my skills to a team, or studio where I can continue to refine my craft, learn from the maestros, and pursue this material with a fire burning over 2000°!

I’d love to connect with anyone who knows of open roles, or general leads worth looking into. Feel free to comment or send me a DM!

Thanks!

🍓Today, I shipped three glass strawberries.🍓

I am looking for a custom glass piece to repair a broken part of a chandelier. The Chandelier is made of five lights each encased in two pieces of glass - one on each side. The individual pieces are approximately 10 inches across by 8 inches high, and rounded in the middle for the light.

The custom piece would need to closely match the existing pieces. This is a rather important piece, so willing to pay appropriately. I am in the Denver area, but can pay for shipping, can ship one of the existing pieces to someone for the work, or can work something out.

If anyone feels they are able to do this, or knows someone who could do this, please reach out. I really appreciate it.

Pictures attached for reference

https://ibb.co/7xmxcV04

https://ibb.co/jv574YTw

https://ibb.co/TqmVwvBD

🌈If you have a rainbow-colored glass, everyone is always happy, right?

Hello! I was out on a walk and saw these beautiful flowers and immediately thought about how they look like whimsical wine glasses/cups.

Is it possible to make something like this? Im not a glass blower but would be extremely interested in buying a commission of something like this!! ✨I apologize of this is the wrong place to post something like this and would love to be redirected to a different subreddit if it is :)

I am new to the craft and just completed a beginner intensive workshop. Needless to say I am hooked and want to get more involved in glassblowing. Are there any glassblowers in Charlotte that would be willing to let me tag along? Happy to assist if it means I get exposure and someone that can teach me a thing or two.

I realize this may be a long shot but hoping to get connected with likeminded people!

Hi everyone!

I recently purchased a full-scale replica of the Wicked Witch’s hourglass from The Wizard of Oz. Unfortunately, the glass hourglass itself was broken during shipping, and I’m hoping to commission an experienced glassblower to recreate the damaged glass portion.

The complete prop is approximately 21" tall x 11" wide. I still have all of the broken glass pieces, which are currently packed exactly as they arrived, and can provide detailed photos and measurements of the original from multiple angles. I can also provide reference images of the hourglass as it appears in The Wizard of Oz. I’m not looking to recreate the surrounding frame, only the glass hourglass component.

Quantity: 1
Size: Approximately 21" tall overall; I can provide exact measurements of the glass component
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Budget: Ideally $500–$1,000, but I’m flexible and completely understand that a custom piece of this size and complexity may fall outside that range.

The replica was originally made around 20 years ago by a gentleman who specialized in recreating this particular prop, so replacing the entire thing really isn’t an option. I’d love to find someone who could use the surviving pieces, measurements, and reference photos to reproduce the broken glass as accurately as reasonably possible.

If this is something you might be able to make, or if you know an artist who specializes in large/custom hourglass forms, I’d greatly appreciate any recommendations. Thank you!

I recently came into a good handful of more tools, and am wondering how you all store yours. I have a wrap that I’ve used for the past few years, but with the new tools there’s too many for the wrap.

I’m debating getting a few more wraps to divide up the tools, and maybe something sturdier to keep the tweezers safe, but I was wondering how others approach the problem. What are your guys hacks for keeping tools safe and accessible?

Always fun working with Mark Hill! I make the Graals for him, and I love seeing the different patterns he comes up with. It’s always a bit of a surprise when I see what he’s done with them.

Obviously you can kick my arse out at your whim, but I frankly do not know of a place to get more informed information.

Ill keep it real short and sweet...bought a Dunlop Tempered Glass slide for my guitar, and I want to etch my name into it as engraving it would likely shatter it. Would something like Armour Etch be sufficient? or that only good for basic "low quality" craft-like glass.

Thanks and y'all do awesome work, glassblowing is truly an artform.