Blenko Glass

We went to Blenko Glass in Milton W.Va. on Monday. I think they're one of the last American companies still blowing sheet glass. It's amazing the way they do it. They blow a bubble of glass that they form into a cylinder with either iron or wooden tools. They cut off the ends and score the open cylinder down the side and put it in a kiln where it opens to form a flat sheet of glass.

Usually, they use iron shaping tools to form the glass into a cylinder but they had 2 sheets of red that they'd used the wood shapers on and they were incredible! Looking at this glass you can really see it's true nature. Glass is a super cooled silicious liquid. In other words, a liquid that has become solid without having a freezing point.

Blenko is a very strange company. If you want to buy their sheet glass you have to order from them or go to their factory, they don't go through a distributor. But if you go, set a limit to how much you're going to spend, cause you'll be like a kid in a candy store; "I want this and this and this..." and first thing you know, you're way over budget.

I'll talk more about the nature of glass later, but check out Blenko glass at www.blenkoglass.com

j

http://www.homestudioartglass.com