Tryon Arts and Crafts School will offer an art glass lamp weekend workshop, taught by Slumpy’s on the Road, in which you are invited to create your own art glass lamp or vase. The workshop will be held on Feb. 17-19.
The method used to make the glass shade is called glass fusing. The artist layers different colors of transparent, translucent and iridescent glass in sheet, stringer and chip form. The layered glass is then heated in a kiln until it fuses into a sheet. The next step is to lay the sheet over a stainless steel form and return it to the kiln. This time the glass is heated until it softens enough to slump over the form, creating the lamp shade or vase shape. The finished one-of-a-kind glass shade can then be installed in a hanging pendant lamp or a table lamp fixture, which will be available in the workshop.
If you want to take the handmade idea to the next level, keep your eye peeled for a future workshop at Tryon Arts and Craft’s forge in which you can make a forged iron lamp base to use with your lamp shade.
Friday night, Feb. 17, from 6-8 p.m. will be a meet and greet with a brief discussion on design, color and planning. Students will have a chance to start their design that evening. Saturday’s session, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., will be the day when the students assemble their base sheets and load them into the kilns. On Sunday, the students will see their fused sheets, drill any holes required for a lamp fitting, and select a form on which to shape their shade. Sunday will also feature a review and discussion of technical information.
This workshop is being put on by Slumpy’s: The Glass Mold Company out of Charlotte, a supplier of glass, molds and equipment for fused glass artists.
Advance registration for all classes and workshops is required. For more information about the instructor or workshop, including tuition and supply costs, contact Tryon Arts & Crafts at 828-859-8323 or by email at tryonartsandcrafts@windstream.net.
More details and examples of projects are available on the Tryon Arts and Crafts website, www.TryonArtsandCrafts.org.
Tryon Arts and Crafts is a non-profit crafts school located at 373 Harmon Field Road in Tryon.
– article submitted by Julia McIntyre