We just returned from an overnight trip to Corning, NY, to visit the Corning Museum Of Glass. As a technical person I found the displays of how glass is formed, and the innovations made from glass to be very interesting. As someone who enjoys art I was fascinated by the sculpture and various pieces of art glass which fill the museum. There is an entire historical section which shows examples of the development of the glass working art throughout history (starting in 2000 BC or so).
The highlight of the visit was certainly the opportunity to go into the glass studio and make our own glass pieces. K and the in-laws made Christmas ornaments while I made a paperweight. We were each able to select the colorings to add to our pieces, and the ornament folks got to blow the end of the pipe to inflate the pieces. The paperweight was considerably more hands on. With no air required, the blob of glass had to be colored and smoothed (by them), but I held the tools to twist it and round the covering gather of clear glass on top. It was fascinating to feel the hot glass flow under the pressure of the block.
K made this ornament:
and I made this paperweight:
Glass making fact: A water soaked wooden form called a block is used to form shapes in the glass. Although we’re used to water causing hot glass to crack, the glass is so hot that the water flashes to steam, and the glass is actually formed by the layer of steam.
January 4th, 2007 at 10:56 am
That’s pretty cool. I never got to the museum while I was in NY. I drove past it several times but never stopped.