Mike Krenzel found this interesting article on an artist making glass models of pathogenic microbes. If you recall, the display at Pittsburgh Glass Center when we were there in July 2013 had glass representations of life forms including microbes. I wonder if it is the same artists?

It is an interesting read: http://www.visualnews.com/2011/06/11/harmful-virus-made-of-beautiful-glass/

An article in the Herald Dispatch recently discusses the glass of Italy, especially from the island of Murano.

It is an interesting read:

Wayne County Cameo Glass Artist Featured at Tamarack

This is beautiful work.  If you are near Tamarack, it is worth stopping.

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/x174596634/Wayne-glass-artist-to-be-featured-at-Tamarack

Trip Reflections

As with prior experiential learning projects, the West Virginia Glass & Ceramics Project was a huge success.  The participating teachers learned the history, chemistry, physics, art, economics and mathematics of glass in an integrated way to bring projects to students.  The culminating trip brings all of the prior months’ study into focus by seeing the industry firsthand in the state.  How many teachers have created blown glass objects and can bring the experience back to their students?

We were impressed by the openness of the state’s glass manufacturers who shared their processes with our group.  We were able to see how each glass maker organizes the operation in different ways to produce the best quality product in the safest ways.  We produced lessons for our students that require them to learn about the glass industry and to think about how it fits with their everyday world.

While the teachers benefited from the experiential learning of the West Virginia Glass & Ceramics Project, it is the students of Cabell County who will be the ultimate beneficiaries.  The highly engaging lessons produced by each teacher will excite students to use all content areas in the context of a study of West Virginia’s glass industry.  In looking though the teachers’ individual blogs, everyone took a unique approach to using glass as a teaching tool but everyone required their students to think about glass in complex ways and to actively learn content from state curriculum standards.

Although the week of the culminating trip for the West Virginia Glass & Ceramics Project was a long one, it was very productive.  In the course of the week we saw glass being produced by blowing into molds and being shaped by wooden and metal tools.  We saw molten glass being pressed into shapes and being painted, carved and decorated after formation.  We saw china tableware being formed in multiple ways then glazed, fired and finished.  We had hands on experience blowing glass into molds to make water bottles, blowing free form to make a candy dish and blowing a hollow ornament.

The teachers who participated in the project this year have such a work ethic and always produced an excellent reflection on each day’s visit and prepared material for their students based on their experiences.  Even when plans went awry, the group maintained a positive attitude and worked with the program.  

Pittsburgh Glass Center

While everyone was anxious to return to home and family, we were also sad to see the trip ending.  We learned and saw so much that can have an immediate impact on Cabell County classrooms.

We left the Holiday Inn Express after breakfast and made our way through Pittsburgh to the Pittsburgh Glass Center where we were met by our capable instructors who demonstrated their techniques for blowing glass in preparation for our group getting additional experience with glass blowing.

Everyone selected the style (swirled, speckeled or solid) and the colors to be included in their ornament from the frit samples available.  

We worked in teams so someone could blow the glass while the other partner shaped the molten glass with the metal tools.  After repeated heating, blowing and shaping, the ornaments were removed from the blowpipe and a clear glass hook was added so it could be hung.  After the ornaments were finished they were placed in an annealing oven to cool gradually over a period of 12 hours. 

After making the ornaments, we had a tour of the facility to see the lampwork area where torches using propane and oxygen gas are used to produce glass objects from glass rods and tubing.  We saw the area where fusion and stained glass work are done and where grinding and finishing can be done on glass as needed.  We walked through the current display in the gallery which was a competition to produce glass representations of living things.  

We were fascinated with glass insects, flowers and fish that were very realistic.  There were even glass microbes like plankton, algae and even viruses.  It was very impressive.  I know we can’t wait to see how our ornaments turned out.  We made a stop at the gift shop to buy shirts and glass objects made as a fund raiser for teen art projects before leaving for the vans.

This studio has many things in common with other glass manufacturers that we have seen.  However, this is not a production facility in any way.  Objects produced here are one of a kind art glass with one or two artists working at each of the stations available.  We were impressed with the cleanliness and organization of the studio.  This seems to be important since the area is used by so many artists in the course of a week.

Most of the trip south from Pittsburgh was uneventful.  However, a couple of downpours along I-79 slowed traffic to a near stop.  As we neared Charleston we learned that a truck was burning on I-64 near Teays Valley and had the westbound lanes closed.  We rerouted to US 60 from South Charleston to Milton where we were able to reenter I-64 to Huntington.  With the group’s teamwork, we were able to empty the vans and replace the rear seats quickly.  We returned the vans to Enterprise and came home.

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Carnegie Museums & Phipps Conservatory

The excellent breakfast at Holiday Inn Express got us ready for a full day in Pittsburgh.  Everyone really likes the motel here since the rooms have king beds and plenty of space.  It is nice to have a full breakfast to get the day started as well.  We are sharing the motel with a number of body building competitors.  It is pretty obvious who are the body builders and who are the teachers since the body builders have some serious muscle.

We arrived at the Carnegie Museums when they opened at 10 am and enjoyed the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Art.  At both museums, we saw glass objects going back thousands of years.  We were really impressed that glass objects were so well made and have endured for the thousands of years since.  We saw both molded and blown glass of great antiquity and appeared to have been made recently.  Although everyone was interested in different aspects of the museums since we all teach different things, everyone found things to enhance their teaching.  When we left the museums at 2 pm everyone wished there was more time to explore more.

Our next stop was the Phipps Conservatory where the group saw beautiful examples of the work of glass artist Dale Chihuly.  There was Chihuly glass in most rooms in the conservatory that was well integrated into the plants.  The forms of the glass fit the room as well as the colors in the plants.  It was a perfect pairing of glass art and plant displays.  One especially impressive display was made by Pittsburgh area students that used glass fragments from waste to produce stained glass representations of Pittsburgh scenes.  Colorful glass vases in the sunken garden area were a beautiful way for us to leave the conservatory.

We drove to Hofbrauhaus for dinner.  Most of us really enjoyed our dinner of authentic German food.  The wurst, scnitzel and sauerbraten were all well prepared and tasty.  We ate in the main room which was very noisy but the accordion played provided entertainment and even sang a birthday song for Wes.

We returned to the Holiday Inn Express to debrief and blog after our full day.  Everyone is looking forward to the final stop of the trip at the Pittsburgh Glass Center on Saturday.

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Mosser Glass and Station Square

We had another great day of experiences for our group as we continue our visits for the glass and ceramics project. 

We left Oglebay Resort at 8 am and drove to Mosser Glass in Cambridge, Ohio.  We could not have had a warmer reception and that is no take off on the intense heat of the day.  Our guides gave us a great deal of insight into the processes of making pressed glass.  Mosser makes a lot of mugs, pitcher, candy dishes and figurines of pressed glass.  They also make specialty glass items such as the headlights for vintage autos that were being made while we were there. Their sister companies make scientific glass such as vacuum chambers, desiccators, and funnels.  

We were impressed with the teamwork of the glass makers there.  The skilled craftsmen placed exactly the correct amount of glass in the presses and applied pressure to force the molten glass into the desired shapes.  The items were treated with direct flame to smooth the glass surface and soften the edge for hand shaping.  Once complete, the items were placed in an annealing oven to cool over a 40 minute period.  Like many other small glass and ceramics manufacturers, Mosser Glass is committed to the community and providing good jobs making quality products. 

Mosser is a family run business and has family members working the production floor and giving tours of the factory.  The techniques at Mosser were an appropriate combination of old and new technologies to fill their niche market.  After our tour we visited Mosser’s gift shop and purchased Vaseline, carnival and all sorts of pressed glass.

We left Mosser Glass for Pittsburgh and arrived at the Holiday Inn Express around 1:30 without incident.  After a brief rest, we drove the short distance to Station Square for sightseeing and dinner.  We split into small groups and enjoyed the walk along the river and had pleasant dinners.  Many of our group took the incline up for a spectacular view of Pittsburgh.  We came back to the motel for blogging and preparation for tomorrow.

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