Glass Information and Education

July 24, 2008

Summertime and the studio is hot! You already know this is the best time to buy color, or any other supplies, because, well it’s summertime, and the studio is hot. Many small art studios turn off heat and use this time to repair the furnaces and build new kilns. There aren’t many people in the studios blowing so prices of rod and frit and jacks etc. fall.

Speaking of fall, in the other sense of the word, the season will soon be upon us. Glass artists have learned form retailers that now is the time to check the fall inventory.

Have you made your pumpkins yet? It’s a simple process to blow one, and even easier to fuse one so you might want to get started.

There are some good colors out there - Kugler tangerine comes to mind but Gaffer 86 (mandarin) and 71 as well as Reichenbach 119. If you are a lampworker, R 119 and R 67 are probably on sale now.

Anyway, we’re assuming you have an optic mold so color that bubble, plug that mold, and blow yourself some Cucurbita pepo, or make a really big one Cucurbita maxima! You can even add a green stem on it as you would a Christmas ball. Blow early when it’s cool, and stay hydrated and by all means, HAVE FUN.

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