Issue Date: 10/30/06
Glass blowing class fires up students
By Colleen Paroli
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"Working with glass blowing and the process of the hard set and color is something beautiful," he said. Grupe has made bowls, figurines and paperweights.
"Cohen gives you a lot of exposure to the art of glass blowing," Grupe said. "If a student does not understand the protocol of glass blowing, Cohen will take you step by step. He is full of energy."
"Glass blowing is a challenge, it's always changing and it is so immediate and very exciting," Reed said. She said working with glass is dangerous and that safety is the No. 1 concern.
Students wear special glasses to protect their eyes from the intense heat that comes from the furnaces and the glory holes. They use fireproof gloves to protect their hands and arms.
Reed told a story from a few years ago when a couple of students would stop by regularly in winter to warm up near the furnaces and watch the students work.
One of the observers got sick and found out he didn't have long to live. He asked one of the students in the class if he could make him several small glass hearts with hollow spaces inside. The student agreed to make the glass hearts for him. The terminal student asked another observer, who was his friend, if he would fill the hearts with his ashes after he died, seal them and give them to his girlfriend, his daughter, some of the glass blowers and to Reed. His friend honored his request.
"Cohen gives you a lot of exposure to the art of glass blowing," Grupe said. "If a student does not understand the protocol of glass blowing, Cohen will take you step by step. He is full of energy."
"Glass blowing is a challenge, it's always changing and it is so immediate and very exciting," Reed said. She said working with glass is dangerous and that safety is the No. 1 concern.
Students wear special glasses to protect their eyes from the intense heat that comes from the furnaces and the glory holes. They use fireproof gloves to protect their hands and arms.
Reed told a story from a few years ago when a couple of students would stop by regularly in winter to warm up near the furnaces and watch the students work.
One of the observers got sick and found out he didn't have long to live. He asked one of the students in the class if he could make him several small glass hearts with hollow spaces inside. The student agreed to make the glass hearts for him. The terminal student asked another observer, who was his friend, if he would fill the hearts with his ashes after he died, seal them and give them to his girlfriend, his daughter, some of the glass blowers and to Reed. His friend honored his request.
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