One of the largest, most comprehensive interactive community arts centers in the country, the GoggleWorks offers an exceptional opportunity for members of the community near and far to come experience and learn about the arts in a working studio environment. The GoggleWorks is 130,000 square feet of dynamic space,

The GoggleWorks hot, warm and cold glass facilities are built and designed by Eddie Bernard; a.k.a "Wet Dog Glass", He and his team installed the shop just last September. The glass studio has many facets, including hot glass and hot casting facilities, lampworking with 10 torches from Glass Torch Technologies, a beautiful, complete cold shop (including two lathes), and a cold casting, fusing, and stained glass studio.

In the hot shop they melt Gaffer pellitized batch (co-efficient 96) in a freestanding pot tank that holds 500+ pounds of glass. (Their fusing studio is also a system 96 studio. They will be running many workshops that employ multiple techniques to utilize the ever expanding potential of glass). There are four workstations available to rent in the hot glass studio, with the largest glory hole having a 24-inch width opening, and the smallest measuring 16 inches.

The GoggleWorks art center has an amazingly diverse base of studios, including a complete wood shop, jewelry studio, and ceramics studio with a brand new Bailey gas kiln, 11 pottery wheels, slip casting equipment and a raw materials lab. They offer dark room access for photography, and in digital media they will be offering access to a Mac lab (still being completed), for prints, photography and motion pictures...

In addition to classes and public access to these shops, The GoggleWorks also offers individual studio space to 34 artists in varying media, office space to 25 arts organizations, and 5 art galleries.

The GoggleWorks State of the art Facilities have the potential to be a national draw for artists in all media, but Pennsylvania has been known for outstanding glass art for quite some time. They are excited to contribute to, and be a resource for the inspiring local glass community, by expanding the variety of Artists, shows and workshop opportunities available.

"Glassblowing_topics is a free discussion group about glassblowing and related topics. Please feel free to join in the discussion, post photos and bookmarks on appropriate glass related topics. Because this group is free, there are pop up ads, and the software is a bit difficult to use at first. To view messages in thread format, first click on the messages link in the left frame, then click on the threads link on the top of the message frame. When responding to a post, please enter your message BEFORE the old message, and DELETE any extra text to make the messages more readable. And, please post your NAME in the message."

THE GUILD presents The Artful Home: beautiful furnishings and decorating accents direct from hundreds of American artists. Studio furniture, lamps and lighting, glass vases and other art glass pieces, original oil paintings, fine art prints... and unique gifts of jewelry and art, for life's most special occasions.

If you are a glassblowing student, and can not afford to purchase these pieces, you may find that there are a number of ideas and inspiration you can get from looking at the beautiful art glass they offer from some of the best glassblowers in the world.

For example, you can find Anthony Biancaniello (Reevolution Glass Studio) "Fruit Series" here.

View the Process of creating the MILLENNIUM GLASS PORTAL:
Step 1: Site Survey
Step 2: Definition of Design
Step 3: Local Resources
Step 4: Finalizing the Design
Step 5: Additional Local Resources
Step 6: Visualizing the Design
Step 7: The Structure
Step 8: The Glass
Step 9: The Objects
Step 10: The Final Work
Step 11: The Installation
Step 12: The Finished Piece

Among their world renowned glass artists are Dale Chihuly, Lino Tagliapietra, William Morris, Christopher Ries, Dante Marioni, Kreg Kallenberger, Steven Weinberg and Marvin Lipofsky.

Holsten Galleries was established in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1978 and was one of the first studio glass galleries in the U.S. The gallery is open seven days a week, year round. Each of their artists has glass sculpture in the gallery on an ongoing basis. Our glass artists are listed on the "Artists" page and most of them have images on this site. Images of other available pieces can be e-mailed upon request. Many of their glass artists, including Dale Chihuly and Tom Patti, can be commissioned to create glass sculpture for private, corporate or public art collections.

As an online glass gallery, they invite you to explore their site and view the glass art of some of the world's most creative and talented artists. Please contact us if you would like more information on any of the glass sculptures you see here.

"Common glass is mostly amorphous silicon dioxide (SiO2), which is the same chemical compound as quartz, or in its polycrystalline form, sand. Pure silica has a melting point of about 2000 Celsius, so two other substances are always added to the sand in the glass-making process. One is soda (sodium carbonate Na2CO3), or potash, the equivalent potassium compound, which lowers the melting point to about 1000 Celsius. However, the soda makes the glass soluble, which is obviously unhelpful, so lime (calcium oxide, CaO) is the third component, added to restore insolubility."

"The word glass, Latin glacis (ice) German Glas, M.E. glas, A.S. glaes was also used by the Aesti-Old Prussians. They used the word glaes to describe amber, recorded by Roman historians as glaesum. Angle-Saxons used the word glaer for amber. Another German word for amber, Bernstein (English translation : burning stone), came into use because of its transparency as glass, to shine (glare) and its ability to melt."

I actually have a 2,000 page Latin dictionary and it does have the following listings:
glacies: "ice" No doubt "glacier" derives from this!
glacio: "to make or turn into ice", "to freeze or congeal".
glaesum: "amber" (from the German word for "glimmer")

Check out their web page describing, with photos, the step-by-step process of creating one of their pieces of beautiful art glass!

Currently, Jeremie is working with Hiram Toraason at Toraason Glass Works, 208 Morton st., Peoria IL. Currently her work can be viewed at the Peoria Riverfront Market on Water st. and in various galleries in IL and OR. For more information please call 309-495-0919 or e-mail jeremilinn@yahoo.com

Louisville Glassworks opened in 2001, and was born from the Architectural Glass studio.
Architectural Glass Art is one of the oldest American glass studios in continuous operation,
and has become internationally recognized for its innovative development and application of new technologies.
Louisville Glassworks is unique in its many different strengths including:

• Architectural Glass, including Warm Glass and Coldworking
• Hot Shop (Hot Glass) including gallery
• Lampworking (Torchworking)

The Mayne Island Glass Foundry is dedicated to the process of making environmentally friendly glass art and designing super energy-efficient studio glass equipment.

See especially Fused Mosaic Glass (Venitian Style)

Mark also offers a series of instructional videos, including

• "Bead Kiln video"
• "40-Pound Electric Furnace videos"
• "Surface-Mix Bead Torch video"
• "15-Pound Electric Furnace videos"

Take a look at these very educational web pages that Ed Schmid has created.

• AD 500-1050: The Iron Age included historical ages such as the Roman and Frankish Empire and Viking Age.
• Medieval Period: Middle Age inspired glasses, used by farmers, soldiers, preasts, kings and queens for 500-950 years ago.
• AD 1500-1700: Included ages such as the colonial times, the Napoleon Empire, the French and the Russian Revolution.

The glass shown in the image on the left is described as:

• Iron Age Trunk Goblet with Double Rows (AD 500, England, Norway)
• Replica of glass found during the archeological excavations in Castle Eden (England) and Borre (Norway).
• Volume: 1.7 cups (40 cl).
• This glass is produced by hand with the same techniques they used for almost 1500 years ago, which means that the size and thickness of the glasses may vary slightly.
• The color of the glass may also vary as well as the number of small bubbles inside the glass.

• Furnaces
• Glory Holes
• Annealers
• Kilns
• Garage & Pipe Warmers
• Benches
• Marvers
• Heat Shields
• Yolks
• Control Components
• Safety Systems

See the 14 videos I took while renting time at PGC

Hot Shop - 2,560 square feet includes:

• Two - 975 lb furnaces
• Eight - Glory holes all with pneumatic doors ranging in diameter from 17. to 29.
• All eight benches are equipped with compressed air, Nortel multi mix oxy-natural gas hand torches and propane Exact torches.
• The shop has a portable garage to accommodate any bench.
• A wide range of Carlo Dona, Jim Moore, and Cutting Edge hand tools

Pittsburgh Glass Center
5472 Penn Avenue (click for Mapquest)
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Phone: 412-365-2145
Fax: 412-365-2140
Email: info@pittsburghglasscenter.org

Ruben Romero received a BFA in glass at Temple-Tyler School of Art and an MFA in sculpture from the University of the Arts. He currently runs the glass program at Harrisburg Area Community College in Pennsylvania.

The 700 square foot cold shop is equipped with a vertical belt sander, diamond flat wheel, circular saw, Merker lathe, sandblaster, chemical etching bath, flex shaft, and three reciprolaps.

Experienced glass blowers may rent the studio for half day, full day, or evening hours. Blow slots are scheduled in 4-hour blocks:

Half Day Slots: 9am -1pm, 1:30pm - 5:30pm
Full Day Slot: 9am - 5:30pm (includes a half hour lunch break)
Evening Slot: 6pm -10pm

PRICES:
The 700 square foot cold shop is equipped with a vertical belt sander, diamond flat wheel, circular saw, Merker lathe, sandblaster, chemical etching bath, flex shaft, and three reciprolaps.

Experienced glass blowers may rent the studio for half day, full day, or evening hours. Blow slots are scheduled in 4-hour blocks:

Half Day Slots: 9am -1pm, 1:30pm - 5:30pm
Full Day Slot: 9am - 5:30pm (includes a half hour lunch break)
Evening Slot: 6pm -10pm

PRICES:
Small Glory Hole (12 inch) $35 per hour
Large Glory Hole (20 inch) $45 per hour

Additional costs apply to rental for tools, blocks, pipes, and extra equipment.

The cold shop is available for rent in 1-hour blocks to those with cold working experience.

Simple Syrup currently offers several glass classes and workshops to introduce beginners to traditional techniques. The classes currently being offered include: a six week Introduction to Glass Blowing, a one day Glass Paperweight Workshop, a two day Glass Blowing Workshop, a six week Introduction to Kiln Casting, and a two day Kiln Casting Workshop."

C&R Loo sells the Spectrum 96 sheets by the square foot for between US$4.50 and US$7.70 per square foot. The following section is from Spectrum Glass's "Basics" page

I have a lot more information, including all the colors, on my page here.

• Glass I
• Glass II
• Advanced Classes, and
• Weekend Workshops

Particularly noteworthy is their "General Information" document at STLsyllabus1.htm Although Dexter and Trinkley have each exhibited internationally they wanted to create a unique line of work separate from their own styles. The result...colorful dynamic forms and superlative craftmanship in one of a kind and limited editions of hand blown glass. Taylor Backes Gallery represents a wide variety of fine American crafts and art including wood, clay, metal, fibers, jewelry, paintings and other various interesting items from throughout the United States. Dexter/Trinkley and Taylor Backes maintain studio galleries and a showroom in Boyertown, PA."

• Image 1
• Image 2
• Image 3
• Image 4
• Image 5
• Image 6
• Image 7

Information about the BFA (Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts) in Glass can be found here.

Information about the MFA (Masters Degree in Fine Arts) in Glass can be found here.

What intrigued me the most is his "make your own" glassblowing lessons web page which lists:

• $25 - Make an ornament! (approx. 10-15 minute lesson) (that is yours to keep!) with lots of help from a skilled glassblower!
• $45 - Make a paperweight! (approx. 20-30 minute lesson) (that is yours to keep!) with lots of help from a skilled glassblower!
• $90 - Make a Vase! (approx. 30-40 minute lesson) (that is yours to keep!) with lots of help from a skilled glassblower!

and offers the following useful "what to wear" information for the prospective student:

• Long cotton pants such as jeans or khakis & a cotton T-shirt - no fleece, polyester, or synthetics. Bring a long sleeve cotton shirt that you can put on over your t-shirt.
• Sneakers & socks (no open footwear).
• Sunglasses if you have them.
• Long hair needs to be tied back.
• Bring a camera!

University of the Arts
Crafts Department - Glass
320 South Broad Street (click for Mapquest)
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Phone: 215-875-1050
Fax: 215-875-2238

Vetri was conceived as an opportunity to present this remarkable resource to a broad audience.

The mission of Vetri is to offer innovative work of the highest caliber, in an attractive setting at accessible prices.

Here are some of the more than 7,000 Glass Art Technical Forum discussions:

• "Colors of goldstone"
• "Gold aventurine powder - what can I do with it??"
• "Reduction frits, kugler, gaffer, etc"
• "System 96 Studio Nuggets"
• "pulling fins and wings"
• Glass Saw/Grinder"

To quote from their "Who Are We" page:

"WetCanvas! is an effort to bring information relevant to today's artist to an online format. It is part magazine, part virtual classroom, and part reference site. More importantly, it is all about community. We are currently the largest community site on the Internet with a specific focus on the practicing visual artist. This site concentrates on providing the following services to our visitors and members: * A virtual community where artists can share ideas, critiques, and other information
* Tools for managing and promoting virtual/online galleries of work
* A complete array of art lessons and tutorials for all levels of artists
* Product comparison and research information for art supplies and services
* Our award winning content selection has helped thousands of artists, aspiring and otherwise, to achieve their goals and broaden their horizons."

Other more general Wet Canvas Glass Art forums can be found here.