Blown Glass Pumpkins

My 8th grade class took a field trip on Tuesday to McFadden Art Glass in Baltimore where we had an amazing time making blown glass pumpkins. The kids were involved in every step of the creation process and they had a terrific experience, as usual. Here are some pics of the process, followed by the final pieces- enjoy!

Tim McFadden demonstrated the creation of a piece from start to finish as the class intently watched:

After molten glass was collected on the blow pipe from a giant furnace, the pipe was cooled in this nifty fountain to make handling it a little more comfortable:

After a second gathering of glass, students gently rolled the glass onto colored glass frit of their choice (the pipe has to be turning the entire time so the glass doesn't plop off the end like dripping honey!):

The glass is heated again so that the color can melt into the glass...:

...and then Tim helped blow the first bit of air into the piece, before we rolled against this metal table to get it to a nice even shape:

Then, after another reheating, the glass is dropped into this star-shaped mold and blown into again, creating the textured pumpkin-like ribs:

Students then worked at the bench to shape the piece further and pinch it with these big tweezers to create the top:

Meanwhile, a friend is helping out at the end of the pipe by blowing additional air into it to make the pumpkin larger (also not as easy as it looks- you have to blow pretty hard and move from side to side while blowing since the pipe is constantly twirling):

At the same time, a new bit of glass has been gathered, rolled in colored frit and is heated by a friend- this small gather will become the stem of the pumpkin. The pumpkin is detached from the pipe and the stem is attached and twirled around... 

The last step is to use a blowtorch to soften the sharp end of the stem and attach it to the pumpkin body!

 

The pieces are put in an annealing oven overnight so they can slowly cool (cooling too fast = shattering glass). I was able to get the pumpkins the following afternoon and they are absolutely beautiful on display in the showcase in the main lobby...