Have you always dreamed about taking glassblowing classes?  Do you want to learn to blow glass? Want to start back after a lengthy hiatus?  We love teaching and sharing our knowledge and enthusiasm for glass as the material of choice. We use a systemic approach to teach glassblowing in a series of three progressive six-week classes.

Classes are scheduled individually for 90 minutes in a session.  To get through the Introduction to Glassblowing takes 7-8 lessons which you can schedule at your convenience. Each class and course builds on the previous one. You can make a reservation to attend via our online booking system.

If you have no or limited experience, you begin with the foundation course, Introduction to Beginning Glassblowing. If you have experience and want to be placed in another class, we will give you a skills test and, based on the results, will put you at the appropriate level. After you complete the first 7-8 class sessions, if you feel ready (and we agree), you can begin renting time in the studio to practice and build on what you have learned.

Introduction to Beginning Glassblowing Session (7-8 Classes):

The class always begins with safety and studio protocol. We will provide you with references and critical internet links to enhance our teaching and your learning. You will learn to gather from the furnace, mount the bench, and use the tools! Then you will learn to shape your glass and blow a bubble. There’s an art to each one of these skills. It takes a lot of practice, building muscle memory, and getting used to the studio environment. You will learn about equipment, working temperatures, and how glass must cool slowly.

We will teach you the fundamental skills you will use whenever you blow glass for the rest of your life! You will do simple projects in clear glass, including a cup with a handle and perhaps a 7-inch cylinder. What you end up with is your creation, not something made by the instructor.

Focus on Forms Session (7-8 Classes):

During this session of classes, you will build on what you have learned in the Intro classes. During the initial 7-8 classes, you learned how to make a cylinder, the first of the six primary glassblowing forms. This series focuses on learning how to make the other five fundamental glassblowing forms. You will start learning to assist others and work together as a team. Both the Intro and Focus on Forms classes are taught using clear glass. That way, you are learning skills without the influence and complication of color. 

Focus on Color Sessions(7-8 Classes):

This is the third and final six-week session in our progressive series. You must have attended our first two six-week classes (Intro to Glass Blowing and Focus on Forms) or the instructor’s approval. The expectation is that you have experience gathering from the furnace, making a punty, working as both a gaffer and an assistant, and successfully making the six primary forms.

These classes are focused on the application of color. It starts with applying colored frit and learning to transition from one color to another, twist the color, and apply it as a backing. It moves on to the use of color bars and the application of color in an overlay. During the last two classes, there will be demonstrations (only) of cane & murrini making and incorporating them into a piece.

1 Hour Skill Building Class:

Glassblowing experience is required. You may sign up if you are one of our renters, who have already undergone a competency test, or you are currently enrolled or have previously taken at least one of our Glassblowing Class Sessions. Define what skill you want to work on and sign up for the time. You may not make a piece, but you certainly will get practice. We will work with a maximum of two people in this one-hour class. You can sign up for multiple hours if needed.