But before that, we made a quick visit to the Hatfield Marine Science Center, a free interactive museum by OSU all about the science aspect of the sea and fish. We came here primarily because Caleb and Luke could pass some of their cub scout stuff off. Dennis had to stay back at the room to do some work.
How oysters are farmed.
What happens when foreign species are introduced into an ecosystem.
How different items look under different frequencies of light.
Luke identifies fish as a requirement.
Hands on tide pool.
Probably their favorite exhibit: You build a house out of legos...
then generate a tsunami large enough to knock it down! See. Boys' stuff.
The boys wanted to stay longer but we just couldn't.
We had places to see, people to meet, places to go...
And GLASS to BLOW!
This is what I was so excited about! I have always been really interested in glass, and every time I am at an art show or someplace where there is a glass blowing demonstration, I could stand there and watch for hours. I find the whole thing completely fascinating how they can manipulate and create such beauty out of molten colored glass, and yet not totally control how it will all turn out.
Oh the power and beauty of creation!
But I knew the boys would dig it too, because this was not just art, this is a manly 2300-degree-furnace-playing-with-hot-lava-always-on-the-brink-of-disaster kind of art! Bring it on!
The boys all made ornaments. We chose ornaments because they were the cheapest objects that they could make that actually involves blowing, and you've go to try the blowing! But that was perfect because we have a tradition of giving the boys an ornament every Christmas so when they go off and start their own families, they have a boxful of memories to decorate their trees with. These ornaments will be perfect for that, and now I have something checked off my Christmas list. Done.
The process starts, as everything does in glass blowing, with sticking a pole into a tub of hot molten clear glass.
Then you roll the blob of glass onto the edge of the table to push to up to the end of the pole. It quickly cools and gets hard to shape so it goes into a hat furnace for a few minutes to heat it up again.
Then you roll it into a small pile of colored glass.
Nathan was man enough to go first. He chose yellow and brown.
Then the glass goes back into the furnace to heat up the colored glass pieces, and then it is twisted on the table top to try to get the colored glass to swirl into the blob.
Pretty already! (A very manly lava kind of pretty.)
Then back again into the furnace. The trick is that you always have to keep the glass turning at a steady pace, otherwise when it gets soft it can sag and then just fall off into the furnace or onto the ground.
When it is hot enough the glass is then rolled into a wooden mold that has been soaked in water. It spits and sparks and steams, adding to the coolness factor for my boys.
Then you watch as she blows a tiny bubble into the glass. It take several seconds, but the pressure of the air will start to expand the glass.
I bucket of colorful glass fragments under the work area to catch any mistakes. I thought it was art in itself.
The comes the best part: blowing!
You keep spinning it as you blow, and use these metal rings to keep the shape consistent.
Then she sets it carefully into a bowl of insulation, scores the top of the glass, and Nate gives the pole a gentle tap with a wood paddle, and the glass ball breaks right off.
The she uses a bit more molten clear glass on top to form a hanger. The ornament is done. It is put right away into a kiln to "cool", and by "cool" I mean 900 degrees.
Luke jumped at the chance to be next.
His color choice: red and black.
Into the furnace it goes.
Caleb decided on a very manly black and white.
I'm melting!
Making the loop. See how she uses big snips to cut the class.
Derek's turn to try his hand at glassblowing.
He chose purple and green.
Blow, Derek, blow!
Dylan's choice: light blue and green - the colors of the sea.
Yes, this is light blue and green, but so hot it glows red! That is what makes glass so fun. You aren't sure just how it will turn out.
Alex patiently waits his turn.
This blob's for you, Al.
Alex' colors are cobalt blue and white.
Look as the glass quickly changes form red to purple to blue as it cools.
Alex, not knowing his own strength, hit the pole a little too hard with the wood paddle to release it, and it made a rather large hole in the top of the ornament. Not a problem. Just a bigger glob of glass on the top to make the loop for an easy fix.
Finally it was my turn! Instead of making an ornament, I decided to make a traditional glass float that the Oregon fishermen would use to float their nets before the invention of styrofoam. The process is pretty much the same with a few changes. My colors: pink and black.
She started with a blob of glass, but this time she blew a little starter bubble into the glass at the beginning, then dipped it back into the clear glass to get a lot more class on the pole.
Then I rolled it and dipped the end into my colors.
Then back into the furnace.
Because the glass was so much bigger and heavier, we couldn't just twist in on the table to swirl the colors. Instead she continued to roll the pole back and forth along the stand while I use some metal shears to jab them into the glass and twist, over and over again. I'm glad that I was able to do this part because it gave me a really good feel for the consistency and texture of the glass. It was thick and taffy-like, and I could feel how quickly it cooled and I had to use more and more muscle to jab and twist.
All that jabbing and twisting made my ball of glass a lumpy mess, so it had to be heated again to smooth it out. But it was hard to do, because my glass was so much heavier than the other's so when it got hot it was really floppy, and I had to be really careful to keep twisting the pole evenly.
Then it was my turn to blow. Again, it was amazing how fast the glass cools and hardens. At first you have to blow very softly so you don't pop the class, but very soon you have to blow very hard just to get it to expand at all.
You can see how my jabbing and twisting created a very different texture than the others.
Into the 900 degree kiln to be slowly cooled to room temp overnight. We'd have to wait until morning to see what they really look like.
Friday we got to see the results. Some were much different than we had expected, but they were all still really pretty.
What a memory they are going to have hanging on their Christmas trees!
There is not a tree strong enough to hold up this baby. It will be hanging in the window of my craft room/art studio to give me creative inspiration.
It was amazing how even though we only sprinkled a little black glass into the mostly pink, the black really took over. If I did it again I would probably have chosen pink and white instead, since I loved how Alex and Caleb's ornaments turned out.
I hope I do get to try this again! Now that I got a feel for this art, I love it even more, and I respect the amazing glass artisans even more because I know how hard it is.
I'm really glad we did this. I think the boys are too. It was one of the highlights of our trip!
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