Tools of the Trade: Techniques Artists Use When Working With Glass

Working with glass isn’t easy. Not only does it take temperatures of around 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit to be able to start working with glass, it also takes years of practice and dedication to the craft for contemporary glass artists to master the different techniques it takes to make glass sculptures.

To give you a better idea and a deeper appreciation of this art, here are a few of the techniques many artists use when working with glass.

Glassblowing
There are two major methods of glassblowing: free-blowing and mold-blowing. Using a combination of sand soda lime, which represents over 90% of the glass that’s used today, along with coloring agents, artists are able to produce raw material. This is melted together to form molten glass, which is gathered from the furnace onto a blowpipe. The artist then blows air, moves the glass, and uses special tools to shape the glass. Once it’s shaped, the artist places it in an annealing oven to slowly cool down until it’s stable.

Glass Cold Sculpture
When an artist wants to work with a cold piece of glass, they’ll use a variety of different techniques, including sandblasting, cutting, grinding, polishing, and engraving all in order to create a unique piece of art. Artists will also use special glues to adhere glass pieces together when working with cold glass.

Glass Hot Sculpting
Hot sculpting uses a solid metal rod to gather molten glass from a furnace, and shape it with special tools. This is a lot like the process of blown glass, but without any actual blowing. Hot sculpting is often used to make larger, solid pieces of glass art.

These are just some of the techniques artists use when working with glass. If you have any questions about them, feel free to share in the comments.