Before I went to watch glassblowing, I thought that it was just a hobby and it would be almost impossible to make a living off of it. Upon arrival to the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, I realized that this art form has artists that are both doing this for a living and doing this for a hobby. Glassblowing is an art that everyone should know about but many people have never actually witnessed it. I had the honor of observing and interviewing Lino Tagliapietra, who is considered by most to be the greatest living glass blower in the world. He changed the history of glass blowing and impacted people's styles that they use today. He was born and raised in Florence, Italy, where glass blowing had been practiced for centuries. Lino brought his techniques to America, began teaching seminars and completely changed the glass blowing
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At the age of 80, it can be very difficult to do the whole process by himself. So he has an assistant that helps and pick out the colored beads that they melt to make marinis. Marinis are what they later use to create the colors in the blown glass, and an assistant that helps transfer the glass from the glory-hole back to the table. The glory-hole is where they melt the glass, it is over 2100 degrees. He also has an assistant that does the glassblowing, and another one that is creating additional pieces used to add on to the base piece. It is almost as though Lino is the conductor of an orchestra and his team are the performers. With his whole team working in harmony, it only took them an hour and 15 minutes to create a piece. The amount of teamwork Lino's crew actually has is amazing. He has one person holding the glass on its pole and turning it, one person opening and closing the glory-hole and another person ready to catch the glass at any
At the age of 80, it can be very difficult to do the whole process by himself. So he has an assistant that helps and pick out the colored beads that they melt to make marinis. Marinis are what they later use to create the colors in the blown glass, and an assistant that helps transfer the glass from the glory-hole back to the table. The glory-hole is where they melt the glass, it is over 2100 degrees. He also has an assistant that does the glassblowing, and another one that is creating additional pieces used to add on to the base piece. It is almost as though Lino is the conductor of an orchestra and his team are the performers. With his whole team working in harmony, it only took them an hour and 15 minutes to create a piece. The amount of teamwork Lino's crew actually has is amazing. He has one person holding the glass on its pole and turning it, one person opening and closing the glory-hole and another person ready to catch the glass at any