You can take a yoga class or learn to make jewelry at community centers all over Saratoga County this fall, but there’s only one place where you can learn the art of flameworking.
On Saturday, Sept. 22, and Sunday, Sept. 23, at the hot glass teaching facility operated by the National Bottle Museum in Ballston Spa, you can learn the unusual skill from a professional artist. The museum is located at 76 Milton Ave. in the heart of downtown Ballston Spa.
Students have their choice of making glass bells, candleholders, goblets or sculpted figures, and the class is designed for people with some previous experience in the fine art.
The most important requirements are patience and good hand-eye coordination, said Gary Moeller, collections manager at the National Bottle Museum. `There is an aspect of it that could be somewhat dangerous if you’re not careful.`
Flameworking is a process of using a torch to melt and shape glass. Also known as lampworking or torchworking, the art form has been practiced since ancient times, and was started in the 14th century in Italy
Early lampworking was done by harnessing the flame of an oil lamp, with the glass manipulated into shapes by the artist blowing air into the flame through a pipe. Today, many artists use torches that burn either propane or natural gas for fuel, with either air or pure oxygen as the oxidizer. It wasn’t until the late 1960s that flameworking became recognized and sought after as a serious art form. Flameworking is used primarily in the creation of artwork or jewelry, but can also be used to mold scientific tools.
Different kinds and colors of glass are used to create various shades of color and web effects. Artists try to avoid bubbling inside the sculpture, which can happen easily when working with high temperatures.
`Bubbling can happen when the temperatures fluctuate,` said Moeller.
`There’s also a process to cool the pieces after they’re completed by placing them in a device that brings it to a single temperature and then steadily cools the glass. It’s a very careful process and cracking is a danger.`
Trained as a scientific glassblower, Prasch has earned an international reputation as a gifted glass artist and talented instructor. Her work is featured in books on `Art Glass` including `Formed of Fire` by Bandhu S. Dunham, and in many major art glass magazines such as `Glass Line,` and `Flow.` She has achieved special awards including the Kimble Award for Excellence in Glassblowing, and the Corning International Glass Music Award for Outstanding Performance.
Over the years, Prasch has been the glass instructor at several universities, and has held flameworking classes at major studios throughout the United States and in countries around the world including Tuscany, Italy, Ireland, and Japan. She maintains a studio in Montague, Mass., and holds the position of scientific glassblower at Syracuse University.
The National Bottle Museum is a nonprofit educational institution chartered by the Regents of the New York State Department of Education. The museum’s mission is to preserve the history of the nation’s first major industry, bottle making. Millions of glass bottles per year were manufactured by hand for the mineral waters of Saratoga County alone, nudging the county to participate in world commerce during the early 1800s. A glassworks company near the town of Greenfield employed hundreds of workers and glassblowers from the 1840s to the 1860s. During this time, the bottles were all manufactured exclusively with hand tools and lung power.
The museum, however, is run on a shoestring budget made up of some grant funding, donations and its membership, which includes people from all but two of the United States. Budget constraints and the rising costs of fuel have forced glassblowing classes to be cut back significantly.
The museum opened a glassworks studio several years ago in a separate building close to the main building. The site was equipped with a full-size glass furnace so students and visitors can practice and observe techniques used by both glassblowers of the past, and artists in current times.
After operating for about four years, however, the glass furnace went cold.
`We had to turn the furnace off because we couldn’t afford to run it,` said Moeller. `Right now, it’s off until the situation changes.`
The museum had to stop offering certain glassblowing classes such as a popular course in paperweight design. The museum holds a large collection of paperweights in a stunning array of colors, many carrying large price tags among collectors.
Village Mayor John Romano said officials are committed to helping find ways to keep the museum’s furnaces burning.
`This is one of the village’s most valuable resources, and one of just two museums in Ballston Spa,` said Romano. `It’s a hidden gem in the village that more people need to know about and support.`
Visitors to the museum can learn about early bottle making methods and view the surviving hand tools, a miniature model of a typical 1800s glass furnace and exhibits of hand-made bottles often overlooked as legitimate artifacts. A research library is available during museum hours.
Museum members include the Albany/Schenectady League of Arts, The Saratoga County Council for the Arts, the Museum Association of New York, the Saratoga County Association of Museums, and the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau. Members receive a monthly newsletter containing information on the history of antique bottle manufacturing, identification and collection
The flameworking classes will begin at 9:30 a.m. and end at 4:30 p.m. each day. Class size is limited to six students on a first come, first served basis. The class is designed for people with previous experience in flameworking. Reservations and payment in advance are required. Cost for the weekend including all materials is $250.
For information or to reserve space in the workshop, contact the National Bottle Museum at [email protected] or 885-7589 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily.
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