Oxbow

Glassblowing at Oxbow


Earlier this summer I took a class at Oxbow in Saugatuck, MI. Oxbow is connected to the Art Institute of Chicago and offers summer classes for credit and non-credit. I am pretty sure I was the only one who's parents dropped them off below is photograph of my mom and I in front of my cabin. I can hardly call it a cabin it was more like a nice condo. 

I was fortunate to receive the Grellner Scholarship to attend a one week class at Oxbow. With a busy summer ahead I chose take Beginning Glassblowing in early June before the wedding. I have always been interested in glass. Having collected since childhood on my walks along the beach. I always wondered how I could connect glass to my ceramic work. The week of glassblowing was frustrating, overwhelming, and so hott! But I learned so much form the experience. Working with hot glass forced me to think of my objects in different ways. As a ceramic artist I consider my hands the best tool in the box. Glass forced me to reconsider how I would form a vessel using tools that I found uncomfortable and hard to use. At the end of the week and a splash off color I really was enjoying myself. Glassblowing is a team art form meaning I spent the week working with a partner. My partner Shanda is an undergraduate art major currently attending Calvin College and a very nice girl, I so enjoyed working with! And although I don't see glassblowing in my near future I am still very interested in glass and I think glass casting might be my next class! Below are a few pictures Forrest took when he came to visit the last night of classes! Enjoy