A DANCE WITH AIR AND FIRE

A Dance of Air A Dance of Air and Fire and Fire

Meet some of South's very own glassblowing pros. | By Wesley Patrick, Photos by Elise Paul Modeled by Sam Michlowitz and Dakota Wilson.

When Sam Michlowitz (senior) was a freshman, her friend, Dalton Bradley, introduced her to glassblowing for the first time when he gifted her a box full of ornaments and roses made with glass. After watching him in the glass lab and seeing the art form in person, she knew she had to fit it into her schedule. As a meterology major with little to no scheduling room, she wasn't able to attend a class until this most recent semester. However, she had plenty of experience watching her boyfriend and glass-blowing partner, Dakota Wilson, work in the hot shop. She mentions how relaxing watching the process is, and how by the time she had her first actual class, nothing was foreign to her and she was able to pick up the art form pretty quickly. Glassblowing is one of the most beautiful forms of art, coming to life in a carefully coordinated dance involving air and fire. Since 1500 BCE people have realized the importance of shaping glass, because the craft can be used in both decoration and everyday practical situations. I was lucky enough to sit down with Sam over zoom to ask her some questions about this amazing and difficult art form. Finishing a glass project on your first try can be an intimidating feat, even for those who have been blowing glass for years. It's an incredibly difficult task and can require starting your piece over several times. Sam is fortunate and claims that she has beginner's luck. After initially receiving instructions, she can usually finish her projects on the first go (when she doesn't it's not something that affects her spirit). With glass blowing, although the process can be complicated as it involves mathematical and critical thinking to manipulate the glass, it's something that everyone can learn regardless of predetermined skill. Sam was intimidated at first by the process because she doesn't consider herself artistically gifted, but soon she found herself succeeding without fear. Sam also mentions how people are often afraid of how hot the lab is, since the process requires quite a bit of fire; However, not only has Sam been able to encourage herself, but she has also helped others to step out of their comfort zone. She assures them that it’s not nearly as scary as they might think. From drafting an idea to finishing one, Sam starts by drawing out her step-by-step process in the lab. The actual process begins with a glass ball being formed, then using the glassblowing pipe to blow a bubble through the glass to expand it outward. Sam explains,

“It gets really really really hot, and you drop it, letting gravity take it to the ground, then you blow it out even more so it has this tapered neck kind of feel… as for the stylistic part of it, say you have a vase and you want to add a little spout on it or a handle, you can definitely do that.”

South's glass lab allows students to essentially use as much glass as they want, allowing for a trial and error process without fear of running out of material. The process is somewhat cathartic to Sam, letting her disconnect from the rest of the world's distractions by focusing all of her attention on the piece she's working on. I was interested in how Sam often does her work in the lab with her partner, Dakota. Since glassblowing is a very elaborate and hands-on process, I can only imagine the connection you must have with someone to be able to work in a team. "It's really nice because he's almost like a TA in a way, and he's been teaching me at my pace, " Sam says, "We kind of split it up into assistant (and student) mode, and when we step out of the glass shop it's back to boyfriend and girlfriend mode." She explains how there's a lot of moving parts with glass and they both have to stay focused, even when he burns himself and she wants to revert to ‘girlfriend mode’ to run and grab the burn cream.

"He's there to be the teacher, but also the encourager,"

she continues, bringing up how they've grown together through the process of glassblowing and are often able to shed insight on each other's projects. "Once on our anniversary,, I got him a card and wrote 'hot gathers' on it," I was clearly confused here, but we both laughed when she explained it’s just the process of pulling glass out of the furnace. I also wanted to ask Sam about a favorite piece she's made, to which she has two. A beautiful blue rose with a green stem is the first piece, and then a special vase is her second. She elaborated that the two pieces have very different processes: one piece is blown glass and the other is molded and formed. She mentioned how she loves making roses since the process is unique every time, but making a vase is much more complicated and requires much more practice and refining of a certain skill: one must keep the rotation speed the same while also relying on centrifugal force.

"I really enjoy the process, but I prefer giving my pieces away."

Dakota gifted her with the first rose he ever made in the glass lab, and she goes on to say how precious it is to her and how she always feels joy when seeing it.

Knowing the impact of his gift on her, it moved her to give her own handmade pieces to friends and family. In terms of other glassblowers that Sam looks to for inspiration and technique, she was quick to name Matthew Patterson and her partner, Dakota Wilson. Often, she finds herself mimicking their techniques after just watching their hands. She also draws inspiration from the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, N.Y. for their elaborate glass designs; She went on to mention how with most majors, like meterology, learning is done through a textbook, but the world of glassblowing is so large and can be found anywhere on the internet giving her the freedom tolearn from glassblowers all over the world. After graduating, Sam will be taking a position at North Carolina State University as a teacher's assistant as well as working on her master's degree. As soon as she got the offer, she started researching how many glass studios were in Raleigh, N.C. and found plenty of resources to continue her passion for glassblowing while attending N.C. State. Although her major is meteorology, she loves glassblowing and wants to make sure to keep her skills in tune. Before I started preparing to interview Sam and write this article, I knew next to nothing about glassblowing, I didn't even know we had a glass lab on campus. However, after talking to Sam, I personally started to feel inspired and encouraged to attend a glassblowing class at South. After learning it's a fine art credit, I'll definitely be trying my hand in the elaborate art form, following in the footsteps of Sam, Dakota, and many other talented and underrated glassblowers in Mobile.

When you register for your classes next semester, don’t forget to look up ARS 212 (intro to glass blowing) to see if it’ll fit in your schedule.