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»HISTORY » TECHNICAL PROCESS
»History
Born in Santa Ana, California, Robert Held aspired to be an artist from an early age. His father, a sculptor, passed on the talent and appreciation of art that gave Robert the beginnings of a quest to create beauty in form and color.
In 1968, after a visit to the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, Robert Held discovered a new love: the art of glassblowing. He returned to Sheridan College, where he was a teacher, inspired and succeeded in launching Canada's first college level hot glass program in 1969. This program allowed many Canadian artists to become skilled in this medium, and crowned Robert Held as the pioneer of art glass in Canada Eventually, Mr. Held left the teaching world, and in 1978 he began his own glass studio known as Skookum Art Glass Inc based in Calgary, Alberta and operated there until 1987. At this time, he moved to his current location, Robert Held Art Glass studio, in Vancouver, BC.
»Technical process
This is how they proceed, step by step:
1.The Glory Hole - the most used tool on the hot shop floor.
2.The Color Pot Furnace - filled with colored glass.
3.Continuous Melt Day Tank - filled with 1000 lbs of clear glass.
4.Robert Held gathers from the Continuous Melt Day Tank.
5.Robert's fresh "gather" of glass on the end of a blow pipe.
6.Robert has brought the piece of glass to his bench to allow the glass to air cool.
7. Using a wet paper pad, Robert begins to shape the glass into an egg shape. The wet paper pad and the air allow the glass to cool slightly.
8.The glass is taken back to the glory hole to be re-heated.
9.Robert blows into the pipe in order to form a bubble. This step, called the "blow & trap" allows steam from the breath to cause a bubble to push through the glass, thus expanding the glass form itself.
10.Glass is cooled once again.
11. Robert prepares the glass for his next gather.
12. Robert rolls the molten glass in crushed color in order to decorate the surface of the piece.
13. Robert inserts the blow pipe into the glory hole once again. This step allows the color to fuse itself into the glass in order to create a more uniform surface.
14. Robert dips the glass into the secondary color. At this stage, the glassblower can add as many layers of colours as he or she wants.
15. The piece is reheated again and the surface is smoothed.
16. Robert marvers the glass to give it a consistent shape by rolling the piece along a cool steel table or "marver". This step allows the glassblower to shape the outside of the glass while allowing the core of the piece to stay heated.
17. Robert takes a colored bit out of the color furnace so that he can hand apply the ornamentation of his choice.
18. Robert applies the bit to the surface in an abstract way around the centre of the piece.
19. The piece is reheated again to create a smooth pattern.
20. Robert chooses the tools he will require for the final shaping of the glass.
21. Robert uses pliers to twist and shape the surface design.
23. Robert using a papering technique to smooth and reshape any inconsistent surfaces on the glass.
24. Robert lifts the glass above level to allow bubbles to move through the piece evenly.
25. Robert hangs the glass over his bench, while constantly turning the piece, keeping it moving and he continues to blow out the glass to maintain consistency.
26. Robert allows the glass to cool a bit more.
27. Robert reheats the piece.
28. Robert continues to blow out the piece.
29. The bottom of the piece is flattened out with the heel of the jacks.
30. Using a "pontil" (not hollow, like the blowpipes), Robert takes a gather of clear, molten glass, shapes it and affixes it to the bottom of the piece.
31. Robert uses a file to score the neckline of the piece. The transfer stage is generally considered the most precarious stage of the glassblowing procedure, if done incorrectly, the piece is now succeptible to breakage. The scored neckline now provides the piece with a weak spot to break from.
32. The transfer is complete and Robert proceeds to open the mouth of the piece so that when it is reheated once more in the glory hole, this insures the lip of the piece won't shut.
33. The neckline is opened to create the lip of the piece.
34. The neckline is shaped and re-shaped until Robert achieves the desired effect
35. Robert "flashes" the glass: a quick 5 to 10 second heat to ensure the entire piece is one consistent temperature so it won't undergo thermal shock.
36. The neck of the piece is chilled with a compressed air hose to balance the temperature.
37. The piece undergoes the flashing procedure once again.
38. Robert removes the pontil from the bottom of the piece which is now ready to be annealed.
39. The final stage: Robert puts the glass into the annealers. The annealing process entails a slow drop in temperature over 10 to 12 hours. The glass must cool slowly to remove any thermal stress in the glass.
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