Glass artist Steven Webber holds the end of a five-foot metal blowpipe over a fire blazing in one of the reheat stations along the “hot wall” at his Humboldt Park studio. Sunglasses protect his eyes from the intense flame, which can reach more than 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit. Sweat rolling down his neck, he pulls the pipe from the “glory hole” (as glassblowers refer to the fiery opening), balancing a red glass glob the size of a fist on the end.
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Bracing the pipe on a bench, he rolls it steadily with his left hand. With a wooden paddle held in his right, he shapes the molten red bulb, and small flames shoot up from the wood. He flattens the bottom and the sides, then returns it to the fire, still turning the rod so the glass stays evenly heated and doesn’t drop into the furnace. He looks like he’s roasting a marshmallow over a high-tech campfire.
Now a computer consultant and glass artist, today Staples is working two glory holes over from Webber. Enlisting the help of another artist, Liz Fink, Staples successfully delivers a clean cut to separate his vase from the blowpipe without shattering the greenish black glass. Quickly but deliberately, he transfers the piece to an annealer–a computerized slow cooker that starts at 900 degrees and cools over a number of hours, bringing the glass to room temperature without subjecting it to the thermal shock that would cause it to break. Staples and Fink make the process look easy, but even after years of classes and practice, Staples says, his works don’t always turn out as he envisions them. Different colors of glass respond to manipulation in different ways, so an element of surprise is a fact of life for even the most experienced artists.
Chicago Hot Glass will host a free opening gala with glassblowing demonstrations, an exhibition of work by resident artists, and food, wine, and music on Saturday, May 25, from 4 to 10 at 1250 N. Central Park. For more information call 773-394-3252 or see www.chicagohotglass.com.
