Summer trip to Corning, NY

My big trip this summer was to Corning, New York to take a class with Jason Howard at the Corning Studio.  The class focused on hollow stemware in borosilicate glass.  I chose this class for several reasons, the first being that I don't do much hollow work and it's very far out of my comfort zone.  I was certainly challenged by the new (to me) techniques and I learned so much.  I've known Jason for years and love his work.  He held nothing back in the class!  We spent the first day working on flaring feet for stemware, starting with a small bubble of scalloped tubing (which is a lot harder to work with than regular tubing), opening a small hole, and then flaring it out by spinning (evenly) to get it to flare into a flat foot.  It's terribly fun when it goes well, and comically torturous when it doesn't.

As part of the class, Corning live streams a demonstration from instructors.  If you'd like to see Jason's demonstration of a Tazzo (wide flat bowl shape), click here.  The demo lasts about an hour, and it's time well spent: it's a joy to watch him work on the torch!

Below are pics of a couple pieces and parts I made during my time there.  Hopefully next summer I'll return to Corning for another week-long class!