| These three panels of pictures are much reduced here.
Click on them to pull them up as a full sized image that you can scroll.
You will have to scroll here to see them all anyway. Afro has that name from a Greek mother who admired Aphrodite, not from his hair style. He is an Italian master glass blower. The piece he is making is similar to the one at the bottom of the last panel. In this panel we start after the initial 3 gathers have been shaped without measuring except by eye and experience and used to exactly roll up canes fused in the glory hole on a ceramic pastorelli. These were reheated and shaped to the form shown in the first image. At this point, Afro is heating a spot on the side of the form to open a hole. (A) The hole is opened out and lipped (B) and a large cup punty built on a pipe is applied. (C) In D, E, and F, the torch is being used on the basic shape to remove the neck left (up top in D) and, according the the studio owner providing narration, to reduce the size and increase the wall thickness. G shows the gather over the other shape, which at least doubles the size. |
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| In this set of pictures Afro is working the final shape
up to applying the punty. In A and C, because of the size of the
piece, newspaper is used for shaping and smoothing while blocks were used
earlier. Although not evident in these pictures, the piece is
eventually flattened on two sides (compare the shape in the last two punty
pictures as it is turned.)
The punty in D, E, and F is seriously hot and thick, it will be necked after application. There is also a cookie on the bottom as the piece will be ground and polished on the bottom. |
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| The neck is heated and pulled, with small chunks being
broken off as the neck is cut by the shears. This could be heard,
but not photographed because the gaffer blocked the view. As he
walks away the bent neck is visible, also in the image (D) when the piece
is held up. A similar piece in the gallery window shows the
neck shape. Before doing this piece, Afro warmed up with a clear glass pitcher that would hold about a gallon! 2004-11-18 |
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