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Hello, my name's Todd Hansen. We're here at the Art of Fire Contemporary Glass Bowing
Studio in Laytonsville, Maryland. We're at www.artoffire.com. I've been a glass bower
for about twelve years now, I've got several different lines of glasswork that I work on,
and I'll be talking to you about glass blowing. Molten glass on the end of a blowpipe is a
really lively material. You'll notice that when you're watching glass blowers that we're
always turning our pipes in our hands. Glass first comes out of the pipe from the furnaces
around 2000, between 2000 and 2100 degrees Fahrenheit. And that's like having a blob
of honey on the end of a broomstick. You've got to continually turn the pipe to keep it
from just puddling off on the studio floor. Once you get the glass gathered up, keep it
turning, take it back, you can shape it either by marvering or by using the blocks, but you
always want to make sure you've got a good balance between your hands on the pipe. You've
got a one hand over, one hand under - one hand over, the left hand usually acts a lever,
and the back hand, the right hand, usually acts as the counterweight, so you've got a
fulcrum, you've got a balance, and that allows you to carry the glass around the studio safely.
Keep it in front of you, so you can see where you're going, and let everybody else know
when you're walking behind them. A little situational awareness goes a long way. Know
what everybody else around you is doing before you move from your bench, or your glory hole
or the furnace, and you should be able to handle that pretty safely.