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11th – 12th December, 2010 |
We have now moved into our new unit – Unit 16. After a four-month rebuild, we were finally able to blow glass on 7th May – just in time for the Summer Exhibition!
The furnace room – or ‘hotshop’ – is larger, and has a higher ceiling, making it much better-suited for glassblowing. The floor to ceiling array of windows along the length of the unit imparts a light, airy feel to the room, and, along with the extra space, gives a very good environment for working with glass. The main furnace has been rebuilt, and has a brand new control and burner system, built and installed by Peter Wren Howard (a very useful person to know in the studio glass world). We also have a new lehr and space for two glory holes and pipe warmers (and for another, smaller furnace in the future).
As you can see from the photos, we are now able to move the equipment around the furnace room, and set up different work areas according to the vessels we need to make.
We are now able to cater for larger groups for our demonstrations, and already on several occasions this year, we have entertained the maximum group size we can handle – 30 people.
We have noticed a steady increase in group bookings, and in the size of the groups that attend. Word of mouth appears to play a large part in this! One comment we had from a group member was ‘You were better than Murano!’ A compliment, indeed! We have already taken several bookings for October, so anybody who wishes to book a group demo from late September onwards – please let us know ASAP.
We will be blowing glass at the wood-fired furnace at Velzeke on 11th and 12th September 2010. Take a look at this website for more information on the Velzeke furnace. We also expect to attend the Re-enactors Market (TORM) in November 2010.
The Project Workshops Spring 2010 Newsletter is available here for download. It reports on the expansion of the workshops, and gives a short profile of the current resident artists.
The Summer 2010 Newsletter reports on the success of the Summer Exhibition.
We will be hosting our usual Christmas Sale on the 11th and 12th December, 2010, so if you want to be in the warm on those days, come and watch some glassblowing!
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Since moving into Unit 16, we have been working on a range of mould-blown Roman head flasks, using ceramic moulds. The results are very encouraging!
We are keeping August and most of September free from teaching and demonstrations bookings as we need to work on other things. The second half of September is now heavily booked, but we are taking bookings for October 2010 onwards.