A deep sigh of relief…things in the hot shop are looking up!
I’m not sure if it was the full eight hours of sleep I got the night before or the enormous coffee I had at the start of class. One way or the other, blowing glass was actually making sense on Saturday. Not only did I manage not to break anything, I also managed to make (and keep) both a cup and a very tiny vessel with a neck. These are the first two pieces I’ve kept from Hot II.
My partner and I took turns making vessels and pulling necks. Instead of using newspaper to begin the neck (like we did last week), we used our jacks to put in a line for the start of the neck and then pulled the neck out (still with the jacks). Although you get pretty much the same result with either jacks or newspaper – I think I like the jacks better. Maybe I should try the newspaper again before making any serious commitment to jacks.
After finishing one piece each, we had a little time left over to play (practice). I used my time to crank out a cup – although I’m still not able to do it in 15 minutes!
Although success was enjoyed by all, it took us an awfully long time. We each spent about 45 minutes on our necks. Also, even though Everett keeps showing us how to use a soffietta to blow up shapes after they’ve been transferred to puntys, I’ve yet to do it. Two new goals for the last three classes: speed up my steps and try out a soffietta.
