Last month, Jeff and I took a day off of working and parenting, and spent it pretending to be glass artists. Along with four friends, we spent the day at an artist’s studio and he very patiently taught us how to work with glass–the kind of glass that is molten and hanging off the end of a steel rod. Here is a hugely simplified explanation of the process (you’ll notice I use technical terms. Like “blob”).

The first task is to gather a blob of glass on the end of the rod, being careful not to put your thumb over the hole (the one you’ll be blowing into later); otherwise, you’ll trap steam inside and burn yourself. Then, carefully carry the blob over to a steel-topped table called a marver and roll it back and forth to shape it (so this is called marvering). Keep twisting the steel rod continuously. Repeat the gathering process until the blob is a suitable size.

Then, blow! But don’t forget to keep twisting the whole time. Blow hard enough, but not too hard. Once the bubble is the right size, reheat the glass (the furnace used for this purpose is called the glory hole). Then shape the glass using tongs, damp wooden molds or several thicknesses of newspaper, also damp. Side note: I have heard from more than one glass artist that the Wall Street Journal is best suited for this job. Once the shape is satisfactory, the finished product is snapped off the end of the rod and goes into an annealer to cool (depending on the size of the piece this can take days or weeks).

It took me at least 30 minutes of this process, with constant supervision and assistance from the artist and his team, to make a sad, deformed little cup, the type of thing you could buy at IKEA for 99 cents. Still, I MADE IT with MY OWN HANDS from MOLTEN GLASS how cool is that!

Next we tackled paperweights. For this we used bits and pieces of colored glass and canes. These are like long straws made of glass, which may have colors or designs embedded within them; you can snap or cut them into pieces and stand them vertically to reveal what’s inside.

Arrange these pieces onto a stone tile. Place this into a small warming oven to bring it closer in temperature to the clear, hot glass that will be added. That glass is again gathered  from the pot and then gently pressed against the pieces on the tile (the artist had to do this part for us). Once they have adhered, the entire blob is reheated in the glory hole and then shaped with the molds or damp newspaper. Once you are happy with the shape, the paperweight goes into the annealer to cool. After a few days or a week it is ready for polishing.

I am pretty happy with my finished paperweight. It’s very hard to predict what you’ll get after the colored glass pieces are picked up and melted into your clear glass. I chose based on color and didn’t try to plan a finished arrangement or design for how they’d look, so I wasn’t disappointed.

More photos on Flickr.

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Over on the Reviews tab, I have a giveaway for you: kids’ winter boots. Go see.

Madison Children’s Museum, October 2010

My favorite piece of kid art to date: A giraffe named “Ewok” (see collar) with a tiny girl riding on its neck.

When I went on a trip to Urbana illanou. My uncal said my hol famliy cood see a huge mashing called Shop Bot work.
In orter to make it work my ant Amy, hoo is an artist, and I had to cerate a dasine. We drew a bunny for a dasine on her conprter. My ant Amy sent the dasine on her conprter to my uncal. My uncal uploaded the bunny dasine into the Shop Bot. The Shop Bot cut the bunny shap out of a picee of wood.

Then we took it back to my ant and uncal’s house. To pant it with my ant. We panted it wite and this weekend we will pant it with pingk spots.

I named it Stefeany.
The end.

By Jo and My Dad

(Editor’s note: Opie got a plane, natch.)

Okay, Day 2 of Photo Week and I am totally cheating by 1) using an image that isn’t really a photo and 2) using kid art that isn’t even MY OWN KID’S. Jo received this from a classmate and it is too fabulous to keep to myself (it is also one in a series of five).

See if you can guess what superfamous performers are depicted here and what’s happening in this scene. If you get it right I will send you a sticker from the dentist’s office and some valuable cents-off coupons that my husband brought home from work.

Love your mother
Originally uploaded by mayberrymom

I love kids’ art — I’ve found ways to post several pieces here already. But it’s not just my own children’s stuff I love. Lo these many years ago when Jeff and I first started dating, we went to a bar in the West Village one Halloween. They were having an auction of kids’ paintings to benefit some cause. We were crushed when the bidding got too rich and we had to leave some our favorite pictures behind.

Now the tables have turned and I’m offering some of my children’s prizewinning works for a good cause: the Kid Art Auction for Earth Day 2008.

Clickety the button to find out how it works.

Mermaids cavorting beneath magic flying cat. Jo, 2007.
Collection the artist’s mother.

If this is what I can do to ease the suffering of my morning-sick sisters, I am so there. Someday soon (very very soon) may your stomachs settle and your appetites return.