Glassblowing Field Trip!

My 8th grade class just returned from a field trip 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... We will most definitely be going back! We will be able to pickup the cooled pieces later (check back for pictures!), but here are some pics of the process- enjoy!

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, the owner of the studio 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 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 (Tim is helping guide the tweezers as well as shielding some of the heat with the wooden paddle- it's HOT working so close to the glass!):

 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!)

 Here we are before getting back on the bus to come back to school- no one wanted to leave!!!