Our Pumpkins Don’t Spoil! They are made of Glass!

The harvest of our pumpkins is beginning.  Our official annual pumpkin patch for 2024 is October 5-6. This is October’s first weekend, so our Free 1st Sunday Demo is from 3 – 5 pm.

Our pumpkin seeds don’t come from the ground but from the minds and hearts of the glass makers. 

Collecting a gather of glass from the furnace is the first step in starting a  pumpkin. Then depending on the size of the pumpkin, another gather or two are made. The maker then decides what color to adorn the hot glass – perhaps a traditional orange or a purple and pink passion mix. The choice is yours. The next decision is whether the skin is ribbed or not, and if so, how deep the ribs should be. The rib size and shape determine which, if any, optic mold to use. The glass is heated, and then it gently stuffs into the mold. The pumpkin is ready to sprout! Shaping starts, heat is added, and the pumpkin is blown and grown to its full size. Shaping continues using the jacks, marver, and paddle to make the pumpkin’s final oblong, oval, or squat shape. Added heat provides tender loving care to the pumpkins at this point.

The pumpkin body takes one last flash in the glory hole while the stem is being created. Glass is gathered on a small bit rod with two-three gathers of glass depending on the pumpkin size. The maker selects and applies the color.   It could be a traditional brown,  green, or perhaps it is raspberry. What fits your personality? The stem is heated and stuffed into a smaller optic mold to give it texture. Additional heat is applied so that when the stem is attached, it can be twisted and turned to complete the look. Torching removes sharp edges on the end of the pumpkin stem. In some cases, this can change the stem’s color. 

Then off to the box, where it sits safely from all the predators until it’s plucked some  24 hours later (the annealing process). Ah, the joys of the pumpkin and the glass pumpkin patch at GlassblowingHouston.  

Come on out and join in the fun!