Looking for something to do that's out of the ordinary? How about glassblowing?Earlier this summer, for Paula's birthday, we invited our niece to come visit us in Peterborough and take the Introduction to Glassblowing class at Terrapin Glassblowing Studio in Jaffrey. This two-hour hands-on class promised to teach us the fundamentals of glassblowing, including tools, safety and equipment... and in the process we'd each make four of our own glass pieces: a clear flower, a colored flower, a paper weight and a clear blown ornament.When we arrived for our class, we had a few minutes to explore the gift shop and all of the beautiful handmade glass items they have for sale. We filled out some paperwork, watched a safety video, donned our tinted glasses (for eye protection) and soon joined our instructor Dom in the studio where the magic happens.Classes can be held with between 3 and 8 students. In our case, it was just the 3 of us so we were in on the action in a flash. Dom showed us the equipment, the tools, how to move when holding the rod with glass on it, how to handle the tools. It all seemed very straightforward... and then we were up! Actually, our niece was first, then Paula, then me. I was grateful I was third in line so I would able to watch Paula and her niece go before me and maybe I'd learn more from watching (though I am not really sure it helped all that much). But this was a beginner's class, and for that I qualified, so I figured my efforts might at least be... well, conversation pieces.Dom is an excellent instructor and provides constant hands-on help throughout the process. This was especially significant since we were working with long sticks with molten glass on them and fiery 2000+ degree ovens! We made each of our pieces in succession... clear glass flowers and colored glass flowers, then took a short break, and came back to make the paperweights and the clear blown ornament.The blown ornaments were by far the most challenging. There is a lot of technique involved, but since you are working with molten glass, you don't have time to analyze what you are doing... you just do what you can. It really makes you appreciate the effort that goes into the beautiful pieces in the showroom!As we finished each of our pieces, they went into the annealing oven to cool down slowly. And when we were all done, we got to add our names to the many others on the hood over the furnaces. It was serious stuff, but we had some laughs, did a little encouraging (or ribbing) of each other, took a bunch of pictures and had a great time!In a couple of days, we got our finished pieces! All of them beautiful... in their own way... but some of them a little more beautiful than others. :)The gift shop and studio at Terrapin Glass are open Wednesdays through Sundays, from 9 AM to 5 PM with free tours and demonstrations available. In addition to the Introduction to Glassblowing class we took, the studio offers some Quick Glassblowing Classes that allow beginners to participate in making items such as ornaments or blown glass pumpkins without having to take the full introductory class. For more-advanced students, there are a number of advanced classes that feature making items such as ornaments, candy dishes, vases, or cups. The studio also has a large area dedicated to flameworking and they offer classes in bead making and other flameworking techniques. Most classes are scheduled "on-demand", so please call or e-mail the studio to work out a date and time or see if there are any openings in upcoming classes. For more details, see the Terrapin Glassblowing Studio website.
