Final Exhibtion Setup!

It's the day before our final exhibition opening...Time to set up the show!

Last minute building and painting

The location - DesignArkivet, Nybro, Sweden

Hanging lights

Polishing the glass

Ready for the opening!

Designarkive

Coldworking

Now that my glass pieces have been blown, it's time to start the coldworking!

And for a tour of the Pukeberg coldshop facilities...

diamond lap

diamond saw and drill press

pumice and cerium

(Massive) belt sander. It got the job done!

lap wheel...Same here, it meant business!

fusing kiln

And so the many hours of coldworking begin ...

Final Workshop - Cloud Containers

Final worshop at Pukeberg with glassblowers Micke Johansson and Glenn Auker, for which I designed small, cloud inspired containers.  They were produced using plaster blow molds.

Showing Micke my design

Taking a look at the blow molds

Cuttin on color with Glenn

Starting the bubble

Into the mold

Result - Lid

Micke's turn

Result - Base

Now it's my turn to help out :)

Sprayin with sugar water

Success!

The glassblowers were able to produce between 6 and 8 pieces per 45min blow slot.  With a total of 5 blow slots. Resulting in a total of 15 containers.

Glenn Auker

Mikeael Johansson

Visit to Transjö Hytta

I love this quaint studio.  The little, wooden blowing room has numerous tall windows facing out towards the surrounding forest.  As I stood inside feeling the warmth of the furnace, I could glance out to see the fluffy snow falling to the ground.  The atmosphere was surreal.

1. Pick open bottom

2. Attach vacuum to blowpipe

3. Turn on vacuum

And that is how you suck glass out from the furnace and into your glass piece!

4. Push color rod up inside the clear glass for a suspended effect

Prinsesstårta

A Prinsesstårta (Princess Cake) is a traditional Swedish cake consisting of alternating layers of airy cake, whipped cream, a thin layer of berry jam and thick pastry cream all topped with a thick layer of marzipan. The marzipan overlay is normally green, sprinkled with icing sugar, and often decorated with a pink marzipan rose.   The story goes that the cake was invented in the 1930s by Jenny Åkerström who ran a cooking school for young ladies.  She named her creation after the Swedish princesses Margaretha, Märtha and Astrid who studied at her Stockholm cooking school.  The cake has remained a popular tradition ever since.

Plaster workshop

The school's plaster room.

My class received a plaster workshop from Danish glass designer, Sia Mai.  She provided instruction on how to construct plaster models and blow molds.


Model making process...

Turning wheel

pour plaster

remove plastic

Shape plaster with cardboard form. note: These photos are not of my model, as I was unable to take photos of my own due to my hands being covered in plaster ;)

Plaster blow mold...

Pour top section

Key joint

Turtle wax

Plaster

add sand for strength

Cracking open the mold

drill air holes

cut air vents

Time to add hindges and handles

I made 6 blow molds in total