Glass
Today I blew glass.
I sculpted glass too.
Heavy.
Hot.
Massive equipment using huge amounts of electricity and gas.
I struggled with the newness of the environment, the different temperature and quality of the glass, the heaviness of the annealer door, the furnace door too. The height of the marver, the height of the bench. New to me and yet not new. It feels foreign and familiar. A skill that I reacquaint myself with like riding a bike. Sort of. But 2100 degrees.
Struggling today, until the very last piece, in which I felt I was beginning to get my chops back. Gather right on center. Blown out with the first breath. No fighting the temperature. A centered punty which let go of the piece with the slightest tap. And the annealer door didn’t feel like a ton of bricks to lift.
Tomorrow is a new day- fresh with a returned skill and most likely ideas from my sleep state tonight.
I think of Susan Ford, who I apprenticed with in Mississippi, everyday before work, she would light a candle and say,
“I thank God for everyday that I get to blow glass!”
“I thank God for everyday that I get to blow glass!”
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