One of the most memorable classes I’ve ever taken was Glass Blowing. This was an intense, 16-hour weekend workshop for people with no previous experience. It was offered by The Toledo Museum of Art, which is one of the top glass centers in the nation. The class was expensive and they only let 8 students register; of course, it was already full. I asked to be put on a waiting list and called them every day until they finally took me.
I came home with the ugliest, most amateurish pieces you’ll ever see, but they are proudly displayed in my home. It was so exciting to work around a 2,400 degree furnace with old-design tools and time-honored techniques!
I learned that glass blowing terms easily lend themselves to sexual innuendo, too. The artisan slides his “blow pipe” into the “glory hole” to access the molten glass. You can imagine the T-shirt slogans . . .
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