From glassblowing and casting to flameworking and glass fusing, Pratt Fine Arts Center offers the most extensive and enticing array of glass classes in Seattle. Whether you are a complete beginner or an established artist, our experienced instructors will give you the skills to create and to express yourself in this versatile medium.
Introduction to Flameworking and Blowing Borosilicate | 5.25 – FULL
Learn to work with borosilicate tubing to create blown ornaments, beads, vessels, and other forms. Learn how to transfer a section of tubing to a blow-pipe, proper use of a blow hose, and apply even heating to form bubbles. We will introduce color techniques and how to control heat and handle molten bubbles of glass to shape them with your breath.
Beginner glass enthusiasts: here's your chance to try your hand at this fascinating and engaging art form. You will learn to gather glass from the furnace, blow, shape bubbles, and much more. Gain an appreciation for this process while you create paperweights and other basic forms with individualized assistance from the instructor.
This course will focus on efficient glassblowing. By breaking down the processes and working in clear, the course will address blowing it at its fundamentals with discussions on heat and heat placement. Tumblers, cylinders, bottles and bowls will be approached with simplistic methodologies, as instruction will be personalized and detailed according to your level of experience. Through repetition, error and discovery, students will gain the confidence and skills needed to establish a solid foundation.
Prerequisite: 2 years of blowing experience required
Moldmaking is an invaluable skill for a sculptor and this class is a great introduction to learning about the sculptural possibilities of plaster. You will practice making one and two-part molds, watch a demonstration of three-part moldmaking, and learn which materials can be poured into plaster molds to create multiples of your original.
Prerequisite: None
Discover the universal appeal of shaping molten glass. Ease yourself into this art form with individualized instruction that covers all the basics of glassblowing, from gathering glass from the furnace, to blowing and shaping bubbles. Learn to use the marver, shape with jacks, and begin paper shaping. In addition, learn valuable techniques and safety rules that will give you a solid foundation on which to build your skills. In this class, you will have plenty of time to practice.
Prerequisite: None
Expand on and refine your basic glassblowing skills while working with the four basic shapes: bowl, cone, vase, and cylinder. Learn about teamwork and tool use as well as annealer and glory hole operation. Explore all the details of bits, handles, lip wraps, and beginning color application. Learn by designing a piece of your own and analyzing the steps needed to complete it. Students are encouraged to repeat this class.
Prerequisite: Beginning Glassblowing
Glass Beadmaking is your chance to work with hot glass on a small scale at a bench torch. Learn techniques such as basic bead shapes, surface design, and molten glass manipulation. You will also learn various methods of creating internal design which will give you the ability to create more depth and interest in your work. Basic skills including bead cleaning and proper work habits will also be covered. Although oriented toward beginners, continuing students are always welcome! You may also be interested in: Flaming Fridays.
Prerequisite: None
This class is an opportunity to find the nuances in creating bigger, thinner, and more complex blown forms. Through teamwork, students will refine skills in communication, timing, set-up, and finishing for a new, higher level of professional practice. Having more hands will increase communication and team working skills, shorten production times, and increase the complexity and size of works possible. Color applications, bit running, cane and murinni pick ups, pole turning, bench assisting, torches, and garage work will all be emphasized.
Prerequisite: Intermediate Glassblowing
Learn the fundamentals of flameworking - melting and manipulating glass over a bench-top torch - and explore the artistic possibilities of this warm glass technique used for creating everything from beads to vessels to sculptures. You'll learn the basics of tools, safety, equipment and techniques so you can take advantage of this versatile and popular art form. The emphasis of this class is on borosilicate glass. Beginning and returning students are welcome. You may also be interested in Flaming Fridays.
Prerequisite: None
Take your flameworking skills to the next level and learn standards of blowing borosilicate techniques, including advanced hollow forms, incalmo, and experimentation with color and design. Layering colors and shapes can create infinite options for your artwork. Applications of design for technique and annealing processes will also be discussed. You may also be interested in Flaming Fridays.
Prerequisite: Beginning Flameworking
Learning to blow glass is like learning to play a musical instrument; it takes a lot of practice and expert instruction. Develop a working routine and method to refine shapes and thin forms using steady heat and efficient moves. Focus on more complicated techniques such as handles and bits, blown feet, and wraps. Learn more about the garage, optic molds, and the fluffy torch.
Prerequisite: At least two quarters of Intermediate Glassblowing or equivalent
If you are fascinated with hot glass, try casting it! Ladle molten glass into molds pressed into sand. Learn about sand molds and how to use other mold-making techniques such as plaster bandage, steel, and CO2-bonded sand. Participate in weekly demonstrations and discussions. This is a fun, active class that requires 100% student involvement. Work as part of a team for safe and efficient use of the studio. Beginners and continuing students are welcome! Prerequisite: None
Learn the basic fundamentals of fusing and slumping glass, a common form of kiln-glass. Explore glass cutting-straight and curved cuts, apply glass frit, and compose designs to create fused and slumped work. Discussions and demonstrations will cover the basics of kiln forming from glass to molds to kilns and firing.
Prerequisite: None
Immerse your passion for sculpture through kiln-casted glass! You will create both a casted glass bowl and a tray or tile. Have these sculptures as the centerpieces for your next party! Discover your creative potential for glass without needing mold-making experience! In this class, we will learn the hand-built refractory process through a series of casting projects. For the bowl, we will use the lost-wax process and melt glass inside the kiln into the molds. For the tray, we will explore the silicone positive process and buoyant core techniques for creating an open-faced form. Prepare to complete assignments between sessions. Cost of glass is not included. This class includes mold room access on Fridays during the class.
Prerequisite: None. Continuing Kilncasting students are welcome.
Intensive: Extra Texture – Intermediate Caneworking | 6.19
In this intense five-day workshop we will unzip all the secret compartments in the caneworking suitcase to reveal what lies beyond the basics of Venetian cane and murrine. Taking simple, traditional cane techniques as a starting point, this workshop will explore the potential that lies in combining and synthesizing methods of generating regular patterns in glass in order to achieve innovative, original results. Cane techniques can be understood a means of assembling a glass envelope, which offers a different starting point from the more usual methods of inflating a homogeneous mass of glass. As such, a glass object becomes more related to collage and opens new avenues of discovery.
Work small and create wearable glass art. You will be introduced to special glass types including textured, dichroic, and reactive glasses, to create unique kiln-formed jewels. Through discussions, demonstrations, and practice, you will learn kiln glass techniques and the cool affect temperature has on your projects. Learn how to finish your jewels into pendants, earrings, and pins by adhering findings and wire wrapping. Thoughtful design as well as simple coldworking methods and multiple firings will be encouraged.
Prerequisite: None
Enhance and refine your kilnformed glass skills in this continuing class. Practice the techniques introduced in Beginning Kilnforming and improve your work through thoughtful design, planning, and execution. Perfect your circle cutting, learn about color dilutions, test advanced slumping techniques, and practice your coldworking skills. Come prepared to work hard and learn how to get your best work out of the kiln.
Prerequisite: Beginning Kilnforming or equivalent
This fast paced, multifaceted class is not for the faint of heart. Students will develop wax modeling techniques to complete refined wax positives of human figures. Using live models and reference photographs, students will gain a basic understanding of the human anatomy. We will focus on the intention of the figure rather than exacting representations of the body. The class will have two opportunities to construct complex investment molds for two separate kiln cast firings. Simple coldworking demonstrations will allow students to fully finish their work. Expect to work diligently.
Glass beadmaking is your chance to work with hot glass on a small scale. Learn to melt rods of glass in a propane-oxygen flame, wrap the molten glass onto a mandrel, and then use heat and gravity to shape a round bead. You will pull stringers (thin strings of glass) and use them to decorate your beads with dots, lines and simple flowers. We'll also cover basic torch safety, glass terminology, annealing, and bead cleaning.
Prerequisite: None
Workshop: Intro to Flameworking & Blowing Borosilicate | 7.6
Learn to work with borosilicate tubing to create blown ornaments, beads, vessels, and other forms. Learn how to transfer a section of tubing to a blow-pipe, proper use of a blow hose, and apply even heating to form bubbles. We will introduce color techniques and how to control heat and handle molten bubbles of glass to shape them with your breath.
Prerequisite: None
Alter the shape and/or surface texture of glass using tools and processes that don't rely upon heat. This includes grinding, carving, engraving, polishing and sandblasting-- all of which provide opportunities for artists to resolve aesthetic and functional issues, ranging from shape and surface quality to strength and stability of edges. In this class, you will try your hand at many coldworking methods, using state-of-the-art tools. You will also discuss ways to adapt basic methods to home studio practice.
Prerequisite: None.
This class will take intermediate blowers back through the basics with a new comprehension of what to do and, more importantly, why. We will keep our focus on thoroughly understanding the material and how the relative heats are affecting it. The approach to making basic forms (cylinders, cones, pulled necks and bowls) will be broken down into step by step skill drills. Working in clear glass and finishing the pieces in stages, we can repeatedly and quickly practice our skills until they become second nature. There will be daily chalkboard discussion concerning individual expression, color applications, surface decorations and approaches to more complex projects. There will also be daily demonstrations by Randy.
Students should have more than 2 years of blowing experience.
Reverse Painting On Glass, Fused Pendants & Rolled up Beads | 7.19
This is an intermediate / beginner class focusing on how to work with enamels and how to apply them. We will be focusing on applying wet enamel, capturing your own line drawings, on a flat surface then after the enamels are fired, we will stack them to create one-of-a-kind pendants. This is also a class for lampworkers. The last day we will take our tiles, and roll them up into beads.
Beginner glass enthusiasts: here's your chance to try your hand at this fascinating and engaging art form. You will learn to gather glass from the furnace, blow, shape bubbles, and much more. Gain an appreciation for this process while you create paperweights and other basic forms with individualized assistance from the instructor.
Prerequisite: None
Any form can be realistically rendered in glass when reduced to basic shapes using a methodical approach. This hot-sculpting class will enable each student to examine shapes of interest, imagine them structurally broken down into parts, and then develop the necessary techniques to re-create them at the glassworking bench. Students will learn how to approach sculpting glass as they are introduced to the use of various torches, intricate bit work, components using the garage, and teamwork. Through sketching, practicing, and observing demonstrations, students will acquire a variety of shaping techniques and tricks for color application that will add a sense of realism and humanity to their work.
