What item got you into glass

I went to see a Chihuly exhibit at Phipp's conservatory in Pittsburgh with my art class in 10th grade as a field trip, never gave glass blowing a thought really. Then i started seeing some sweet pipes..

i happen to be living in Eugene when Bob Snodgrass and the boys kicked it off. Pure luck of the draw i guess

i've always been captivated by glass...ever since i was a kid and i had one of the biggest marble collections in the neighborhood. fast forward to winter 2012, i saw some of Travis Weber's marbles, Josh Simpsons and then those internal fumed marbles from Juba glass. then came me watching beads and marbles being made on youtube, and told myself it would be a worthwhile hobby to try out, as i've always been artistically inclined. hobby, yea right. it's become all consuming, even more so considering how much of a newb i am.
if i'm not melting glass, i'm thinking of what i'm going to melt/blow next. pipes weren't even on my mind when i got my first torch and oxycons. i was gifted a couple small sections of 1" heavywall so i gave them a go. my first pipe is probably one of the most pathetic pieces anyone's ever seen, but i still use it regularly and i'll always keep it, much like my first marbles.
Bashi Ale's quote says it best:
“I've always been fascinated with the optic qualities that glass presents. Glass is like a suspension of time forever showcasing the artisans will. ”
- Bashi Ale

Both of my parents worked in a glass factory in Illinois until it shut down when I was 3 years old. We then moved to Indiana, where they both worked at a glass factory in Marion, In. That factory then shut down, and my mother got a different job, and my father transferred to a glass factory in Dunkirk, Indiana about 45 minutes away where he is a supervisor. My grandfather was Vice President of International Affairs at Anchor-Hocking Glass, and my great grandparents also worked in the Glasshouse. So I have been around glass all of my life, and had an interest in it ever since I was a little kid. Always loved touring the glasshouses and watching those machines crank out bottles. The factory my father works in puts out over 4 million glass bottles on a daily basis, so it is really amazing to watch.

When I was in the 7th grade my science teacher taught us about glass and working it in the flame. We cut down some small diameter tubing via score and snap. We then used a bunsen burner to polish our cut ends, and then heated the center of the tubing and bent it to 90* while making sure to not close the tubing off. Not too brag or anything, but mine was definitely the cleanest bend. LOL. I was absolutely hooked on the idea of working glass in the flame once I learned about that aspect of the industry. Later on, in my sophomore year, I had a girlfriend who was trying to help me figure out what to do with my life. The only occupation I had any interest in was flame working, so she really pushed my to get it done. About 3 years later I found someone about an hour away from me, via this website, to take a few classes from. Took five 8 hour classes with him in his garage, and been at it ever since!

When I was an apprentice back in 1996 I saw the owners son make a bong out of the furnace. I worked in glass for years but it was the first time I saw glass pipes being made. I thought it was really cool at the time. But I did not start making them until 1998 on the torch.

I saw Degenerate Art on Netflix in October of 2012. By March of 2013 I had a built a shop and knew it was what I had to do. I had not expectations about what i would make I just knew glass was the perfect medium for me.

i got into glass having no idea about the medium. it's been the most frustrating i've ever experienced.

i watched a guy make a glass elephant for me in germany when i was like 9, and it's always been in my head. he made it look so easy.

to me, glass is like playing an instrument. if you don't have the memory, you're fucked until you develop it. thinking happens before the fact. i'm a noob, so this happens a lot.

i love having a gigantic flame in front of me, and i'm used to bad burns from 12 years in kitchens. my real issue with glass addiction is the optical properties. the colors, the depth, the sparkle, too fucking seductive for an addictive personality like myself to ignore.

i want to make other people lust after the same things i lust after. need to pass around the addiction.

it's the best i've got.

I was tripping at a friend of a friends, I've always been an artist, he showed me the ropes.
His name was troy and lived in Ann Arbor. If anyone sees him tell him I said Thanks. He probably didn't realize he showed me my career. That was in 2002.

Chess Pieces - Hitman Glass.

I am a chess enthusiast and heavy smoker so this was a perfect birthday present i received in march of 2014. set up shop in june. been having the time of my life. still a hobbyist. i have a tendency to turn my art into a job and then just stop working on it. i dont want this to become my job. i want it to stay my sanctuary. it is relief from the extreme stress i've been under lately (we've all been under lately)

thank you for sharing everyone i really like this thread.

Always been drawn to glass and checking out galleries in the area. Back about 8 years ago I would occasionally go to a friend of a friends studio (Joe Peters) in a mill in Indian Orchards MA. It was very inspirational and I knew one day I would start up. I spent the next few years traveling then working construction to save for a house. I bought a home in western mass two years ago and just built my studio last fall. I try and get out there just about everyday and as frustrating as it can get I love working with glass.

The first time I went to a head shop after I started smoking was the first time I had seen glass pipes. I could tell right away a huge difference from the $20 jank and the $120 badass spoons. I bought a badass one and just staring at it and wondering "how'd they do that" made me put lanpworking on my list. That was almost 10 years ago and I JUST now got to a point with time, money, and space to give it a shot. I started september 24 2014 and I fuuuuucking love it. Just made my first sell yesterday, a matching bubbler and spoon combo.

I was walking downtown one day and saw a sign that said, "live glass blowing" outside of a local head shop. Popped in to see what it was all about and ended up taking my first class from the dude behind the torch; who would later turn out to be one of my best friends/ roommate. He gave me a demo on marbles and pokers and I was hooked. Love at first melt. Ended up having to quit blowing due to some personal issues. A year later my parents gifted me a glass class at Saw Tooth School of Visual Arts in Winston-Salem, NC. That helped keep the flame inside me alive until I was able to move back to the beach and move in with my glass teacher. Slowly but steadily learning.

I was always a fan of glass pipes as early as I can remember seeing them.I would buy a spoon at any festival I would goto. I ended up at a show where the only glass available was above my price range. I decided that I wanted to be able to make my own, and having access to my mom's minor and small kiln, I gave it a try,only to find out that I was gonna need someone to show me whats up.I put it on the back burner for a while till one day a buddy of mine told me he knew some people who were blowing glass. I arranged to meet them. at the same time the pizza place I was delivering for got a new employee who was a self taught glass blower. I learned a few things from both of them and then introduced them to each other.they moved down to ashland together and I stayed here in portland making mostly spoons till operation pipedreams hit. at that point I could not get by on glass and had to get a job.been working in the liquor industry for the last 10 years,and one day im thumbing through netflix and stumbled upon "Degenerate Art".it was inspirational. I thought to myself " I have everything I need in the garage,why am I not doing this". so I climbed back on the horse so to speak, fought through being extremly rusty,and am back at it again.

Dildos fosho

Wig-wags and tryin to unwind them and figure out how the fuck they were made.

A cane clipping i got when i was 6 in a little studio in missouri. Still have it to this day

Marcel brauns retticellos, i always bought nice glass when i was in high school like roors or toros but when they started breaking or being stolen i decided i would learn to make my own and wouldn't buy any more glass pieces until then.

Add murrini to the list. Set up my pottery booth next to Jodie McDougal's glass booth. Done deal. My pottery wheel hasnt been used for three years :)

I've always loved glass. I stare at it. I covet it. I love the way the light refracts on/in/around it. I'm the only person I know with a collection of photos of random, unexceptional glass made exceptional by the sunlight. I guess I'm like a magpie...obsessed with shiny objects.
I lived in the Northwest until I was 14 and I have dual US/NZ citizenship, so I had a great amount of exposure to art glass early on. Fast forward to living in Austin while the art glass movement there was really taking off. Unfortunately my life was utter shit, and I was too broke or busy to partake, but I did get into fusing. I like it a lot, but it's not enough.
I want...flames. I found myself opening my kiln to stare at the glowing glass, but unable to touch it. Sigh.
Over the holidays this winter, the hubs and I went back to Seattle. He took me to a 4 hour glassblowing class as my gift. The thrum of the furnace and the torches brought something out of me that was almost primal. To get to work with the glass in it's molten state was what I'd been waiting for all this time. THIS is what was missing. I'm pretty sure my husband has rarely, if ever seen me in such a contented state outside of the bedroom.
Offhand glassblowing is awesome. I'd love to explore it more, but the majority of what I want to do is actually made with a torch. And so here I am.

When I was maybe twelve, I went to a local festival. There were a few artists there with booths, but the one that struck me the most was this glassblower's booth. I looked at all his art in awe, blown away by the immense beauty, grace, and delicate appearance of everything. I bought a little pendant with a fish milli chip inside (at the time, I had no idea how that fish had gotten in there) and I just fell in love with glass. I asked if he would be willing to do lessons, but he told me to wait until I was older:/. I mean, he probably didn't trust a 12 y.o. girl around a flame haha.
Flash forward a few years, and I found a teacher near me. The very first time I went on a torch, I fell in love all over again. The amazing colors, everything. Knew I wanted to do it forever. Since then, I've had an amazing passion for glass. Saving up for my own torch :).

For me, fumed honeycombs always made me go "whoah".

This isn't it, but when I first saw mille' chips w/ Bart simpson in ...like 1997, I was like WTF? How do that do that?

Always loved glass, my folks had a soft glass paper weight egg that was an Easter decoration and I was never allowed to touch it. Then later my first pipe, I bought it and went to go use it, I just sat and stared at it for a while till everyone there was like dude pass it around. By the end of the session I was saying u wanted to make those for a living. Then seeing dudes on lot at concerts, idk seems all threw my life glass has always been a focus until it became my life

www.kaglass.com

I have always loved fire! Any kind! Bigger, hotter, better! At 16 I really fell in love with the cosmic colors in the striking and fumed boro glass department. My first exposure to boro was through pipes, and as an artist/pyro I knew I had to utilize this amazing medium! At 16 though, no way would my parents sponsor such an endeavour. So beads it was! I got a hot head torch, fibre blankets, and all the bead basics with an assortment of soda lime. Sold my first set after a few days practice, and before I knew it I had purchased all the essentials for making boro beads! I developed my skills as a boro bead artist and worked up to getting 3-400$ for a set of 5-6 of my focal beads. At that rate even when switching to pipes was an option I held off for close to a decade. On a trip not to long ago, I met an artist in Eureka and decided then and there, no more beads! I have a lot to learn in the pipe making area, and using an alpha to start with wasn't ideal. But I am a couple hundred pipes deep and loving it! Tomorrow I hook up the redmax and am looking forward to all the doors a bigger flame opens! Happy lampworking everyone!

Definitely pipes for me. i can remember way back when i bought my first pipe from a local headshop, it was nothing fancy just some iso fuming. That was when i came to the realization that there are people out there who actually do that for a living.. i was so fascinated. probably like a year or two later i saw 'Degenerate art' and signed up for a furnace glass blowing course at a local college. there i met a guy who was actually doing some flameworking, just making little beads on a nortel minor. but i was so intrigued, i must have sat there watching him for the whole class. i probably asked him a thousand questions, and in the end i left that class with the goal of setting up my own garage studio and just start trying to learn.. i've been torching a bit under a year and a half now, and i'm completely obsessed with the medium. pipes are still what i make most. mainly because i love the subculture that comes with glass pipes. something about the fact that its a tool for someone to use and not just an object to be admired is really awesome to me.

I remember when I was like ten I seen a artist make a clear dragon and fume it heavy with gold. I was hooked I spent all my allowance on it and still have the dragon to this day( what's left of it. Mother broke it dusting when I was a kid.) :(

Go ahead. I'll be your Huckleberry.

Ever since I got my first simple wrap and rake spoon I was always fascinated by glass. I spent my teenage years admiring giant pieces by Mike fro, cowboy etc. Old school gigantic line work pieces. This was back when I feel like as a consumer, you didn't really know who made the piece, all that really mattered was if you liked it. The first signed pipe I ever saw was a hammer my buddy bought by Darby. We cleaned out our local headshop buying up a ton of sick bubs dries etc. I got out of glass for a while but a few years ago a buddy of mine turned me on to what guys were doing this day in age. the first recent head piece I purchased was an ease Nate dizzle collab swiss off my buddy who re ignited my passion for the glass scene. Once I got the swiss it was on like King Kong. Went into full on collector mode for a few years, I still have an amazing shelf full of insane head pieces. It is so incredibly inspiring to look at some of that stuff. And then after seeing degenerate art I said " that looks easy enough, I can do that!". LOL. Melting boro has giving me an IMMENSE appreciation for what ALL artists do. I learned very quickly that making aesthetically pleasing glass was NOT easy and was a skill that takes years to refine. Once the glass scene became rediculous (in my opinion) (I watched a buddy of mine sell a piece for over 5 times profit) I decided I could no longer afford to try and keep up with the heady boys and my energy switched to wanting to try and make the stuff. Now I get as excited for new tools and raw glass as I used to get when buying a new head piece. Glass is amazing and I love it and it really is something I feel like you could spend your lifetime learning about and still not know everything.


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Sculptures, but it's not in the list. Fleming is amazing and the artist I would most like to emulate.