hand blown glass, blown glass
I am fortunate to live with in a one hour drive of a famous company who has been producing hand blown glass items for over one century. It is common for grade school children from many local schools to visit this company and take the tour through the factory and observe the process of how hand blown glass is produced. I can still remember my first visit and over the years I have gone back for several more tours because watching these artists make the hand blown glass is so interesting. They start with a glob of glass taken from a very hot furnace. This molten glass is held on the end of a long tube by continually spinning the tube and then the artist blows through the tube as they insert the tube with glass inside a mold. They glass expands as they continue to blow until the pattern on the mold has left am imprint on the hand blown glass. The mold is opened and out comes the hand blown glass in the shape of the mold.