Tried it in C’ville: Glass-blowing at Studio 1050°

What do you give people who have everything—especially if they’re decluttering? Experiential gifts have been the answer to that question for some in my family. We did a paint-n-sip night once and
had a lot of laughs, made memories, and left with our own (kinda) matching piece of art. Studio 1050°, a local flameworking and glass art studio, offers a variety of hands-on classes to make things like tiny blooms in a vase, plant-watering globes, and winter wonderland ornaments.—Kristie Smeltzer

What

Taking a Tiny Blooms class at Studio 1050°

Why

To make a gift and scope out the studio as a potential experiential get-together with family.

How it went

I overcame some fear of burns and got an adorable little (somewhat Seussian) vase of glass flowers for my efforts.  

Arriving at the building with a friend, the placards by each door led us to the glass-blowing studio where we were welcomed by a dog resting in an armchair, basking in warmth from a nearby heater. The pupper looked so utterly content, that I took it as a sign of good things to come.

We read and signed an agreement/waiver before beginning the process—fairly standard when participating in potentially dangerous activities. A brief studio tour highlighted safety features, and we learned more about its operation. In addition to group classes, the studio offers memberships to glassworkers, individual instruction, and offsite flameworking demonstrations.

Then it was time for a tiny bloom-making! Owner Elder McMurtrey gave us gloves and safety goggles. For folks with bigger glasses, he has clip-on flip-up options—very ’90s. He pointed out the torches we’d be using, and showed us how to light and control them. Let me tell you, friends, I was not prepared to control what seemed similar to a baby dragon.

We looked at examples of vase shapes and flower varieties. Then we walked over to the supply end of the large workbench. McMurtrey gave us options of glass rods in different colors that could become our blooms’ stems and petals. After we chose materials, we returned to our torches. Full disclosure: I was very frightened that I would have to light the torch myself. I don’t know if McMurtrey always lights it for first-timers, or if he read the terror on my face, but I didn’t have to worry about that. He lit our torches and again showed us how to throttle the flame.

McMurtrey demonstrated everything step by step. First, we pulled our flowers’ stems free from the longer glass rods in the flames. Color-wise, we chose basic greens, but people could go as whimsical with their selections as they liked. Next he showed us how to shape one end of the stem into a little ball to be the center of our tiny blooms. Then McMurtrey did the petal demo. Afterward, we adhered small molten blobs of our petal color onto the stem. We repeated this for several rounds to build up the size. When we built up enough petal glass, we heated the dots and then compressed them between hot tips of large tweezers—learning that what McMurtrey had made look easy just moments ago was not so easy in our novice hands.

Occasionally, a torch popped harmlessly and I squealed. We laughed as we went, trying to make our petals less abstract. I only burned myself once. And in the end, we made these wonderful little funky flowers in tiny groovy vases. I’ve decided to keep mine, to have a memento to remind me of the happy memory. Now I have to see if my family members are up for playing with fire and making winter wonderland ornaments. 

Studio 1050°

Studio-1050-101822.square.site