By ANITA TAM
On Nov. 16 the “Gather” event at the Museum of Glass took place. It was an exclusive party for college students sponsored by the Washington State Arts Commission and supported by the Students Museum Advisory Committee.
At the museum, there were many activities in which students could take part, and there was free food and drinks. Many toured the galleries that the museum had to offer.
Glassblowing, glassfusing and flameworking workshops were some of the highlights of the event.
I started with a tour of the museum to see all the exhibits that the museum had to offer. I toured around and started with an exhibit of oil paintings of people’s faces on glass. It was interesting to see oil on glass because, from a distance, the people’s faces looked like photographs. But when I walked up to the oil paintings, I could see all the details of the oil paintings.
It was interesting to see how the artist made the oil paintings look so realistic, even from up close. To me, the artwork looked as if it was a kind of antique.
Then I went to the other exhibits that showcased glass in all different colors, shapes and sizes. There were some erotic glass exhibits as well as exhibits of glass vases with crazy designs and colors.
Another exhibit featured glass that was shaped like mushrooms which looked like chairs that you could sit on. There were also displays of vases, mirrors and other glass in the weirdest shapes, including glass that was covered in copper and glass mirrors with ripples in them.
It was interesting to see all the things that glass can be made into and the colors that glass can take on.
The copper glass display was the most interesting for me because it looked like copper from the outside, but I found out that it was really glass that was disguised as copper.
I also saw an exhibit where kids drew a picture and then the glass museum professionals made the drawing come alive through glass. I found that exciting because the glass replica looked exactly like the drawing. I thought it was nice to see kids’ ideas being turned into great glass artwork.
Then I went to see the glassblowing workshop. It was cool to see the process from start to finish since I have not seen the process before.
It all starts with grabbing molten glass with a pole. Then the glass is infused with the color.
The glass is then heated until the end is cut off with tweezers. Then the glass is blown until it makes the desired shape.
At this point the glass is separated from the pole and the final product is put into the freezer to cool.
The most interesting part was seeing how the glass is blown. I thought that the person blows directly through the metal pipe like a horn, but instead another pipe is attached to the metal pipe. The person blows through the other pipe, which shapes the glass.
Overall, I thought that the event was incredible. Seeing the glassblowing workshop was the best because I got to see others make their own art while witnessing the process of the professionals.