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• Glass Blowing Open Studio

  • When
    02/03/2025
  •  
    3:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    Red Mountain Makers - Forge Area
  • Spaces left
    3

  Register

  Start your own journey in glass, weather with sculptures or vessels you can begin exploring while the furnace is hot and an assistant is available.

  This is an invite only unless you have taken the prerequisite intro/intermediate glassblowing or have glassblowing experience from another studio.

  $45 per person. Feel free to bring your own tools or supplies. However, tools and annealer time are supplied and glass/color is provided at near cost for those that have a project they can finish.

  Talk through with the instructor and find a plan for how to get to your desired design.

  Note: this is not a guided class, you have access to an assistant for your work. If you need practice on basics this is a great opportunity to do so.

  About the Instructor: Garrett began teaching at a young age, first as a martial arts instructor and later at a trade school for massage therapy. While teaching massage, he found a glass studio in town and was accepted as an apprentice under Daniel Bell of Red Flower Studios and Jeremy Thomley of Hot Glass Mississippi. After about a year, Garrett was hired on as an assistant in the shop. For 2 years he assisted full time in the studio while honing his glass basics. The shop focused on customer experiences and instruction. In an industry where most artists are fighting for four hours of furnace time Garrett was thrown into 12 hour days 6 days a week. After his assistantship Garrett was placed in charge of student glass experiences for 2 seasons.

  During the off time he found his way out to Utah and Texas for more education and glass work experience in other studios. After moving to Birmingham , Garrett began growing his education in furnace building with the help of Charlie Correll of Correll glass studio and now has his own portable furnace for demos and classes on the go allowing him to open his own studio: Whimsies Hot Glass. The name comes from an old glassblowing term for the creative items a glassblower may get to make at the end of the work day for themselves; whimsies are all the beginnings of glassblowers personal creativity and so it will be your beginning as well!

  While his focus and passion is in student experiences, blow your owns and classes Garrett's personal work can be found at local artist and makers markets in the Birmingham area.

  What to wear: At RMM, you must dress safely and appropriately. Arrive for class in all-natural fiber clothing (100% cotton), long pants, and closed-toe, closed-heel shoes with socks that protect up to the ankle. Long hair must be tied back. Nylon, polyester, spandex, or other synthetics are not allowed around machines, equipment, or processes that can produce hot fragments, sparks, or flames. Additional protective gear will be provided as needed. The CDC has a guide to acceptable cloth masks that help prevent the spread of infection.

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• Intro to hot glass: Gathering, Sculpting, and Flowers

  • When
    02/17/2025
  •  
    5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
  • Location
    Red Mountain Makers - Forge Area
  • Spaces left
    6

  Register

  From light bulbs to fiber optic cables, vases to garden sculpture -, everything in glass starts with a "gather". In this class students use traditional glassmaking tools to learn the basics and sculpt hot glass into a desired shape or design. Our focus is to gain the beginning skills of glasswork imperative to working in a "Hot shop." This class is taught by Garrett of Whimsies Hot Glass.

  About the Instructor: Garrett began teaching at a young age, first as a martial arts instructor and later at a trade school for massage therapy. While teaching massage, he found a glass studio in town and was accepted as an apprentice under Daniel Bell of Red Flower Studios and Jeremy Thomley of Hot Glass Mississippi. After about a year, Garrett was hired on as an assistant in the shop. For 2 years he assisted full time in the studio while honing his glass basics. The shop focused on customer experiences and instruction. In an industry where most artists are fighting for four hours of furnace time Garrett was thrown into 12 hour days 6 days a week. After his assistantship Garrett was placed in charge of student glass experiences for 2 seasons.

  During the off time he found his way out to Utah and Texas for more education and glass work experience in other studios. After moving to Birmingham , Garrett began growing his education in furnace building with the help of Charlie Correll of Correll glass studio and now has his own portable furnace for demos and classes on the go allowing him to open his own studio: Whimsies Hot Glass. The name comes from an old glassblowing term for the creative items a glassblower may get to make at the end of the work day for themselves; whimsies are all the beginnings of glassblowers personal creativity and so it will be your beginning as well!

  While his focus and passion is in student experiences, blow your owns and classes Garrett's personal work can be found at local artist and makers markets in the Birmingham area.

  What to wear: At RMM, you must dress safely and appropriately. Arrive for class in all-natural fiber clothing (100% cotton), long pants, and closed-toe, closed-heel shoes with socks that protect up to the ankle. Long hair must be tied back. Nylon, polyester, spandex, or other synthetics are not allowed around machines, equipment, or processes that can produce hot fragments, sparks, or flames. Additional protective gear will be provided as needed. The CDC has a guide to acceptable cloth masks that help prevent the spread of infection.

  Refund and Cancellation Policy

  Show details