UpCountry Magazine, July/August 2019

Glass-blowing students work to shape a vase with direction from Glass Artist Andrew Weil. Photos by George Forbes

CREATE YOUR OWN GLASS MASTERPIECE AT MANCHESTER HOT GLASS

A mind-blowing experience off Manchester’s beaten path

By Cherise Madigan MANCHESTER, Vt.

Stepping through the doors of Manchester Hot Glass, there’s no shortage of stimuli for the senses. Everything from the light gleaming off the vibrant glass artwork, the radiating heat as you move closer to the studio and, most prominently, the boisterous voice of glass artist Andrew Weil draws you into the action — even if you’ve only come to browse.

Over the years, the shop has become a fixture off Man-

chester’s beaten path. Just past the hustle and bustle of Depot Street you’ll find Weil leading artists and amateurs through an experience as unique as his designs, facilitating a hands-on glass-blowing experience that’s one of a kind.

“Working with glass is the great equalizer,” he explained.

“I don’t care how great of an artist you are — if you’ve never worked with glass, you’ve never worked with glass.”

Weil is something of an expert on the subject, having worked with glass since his

teenage years and eventually earning a bachelor’s in fine arts in the subject from Franklin Pierce College. He then entered the world of production art glass and spent time honing his craft in Sweden before opening the doors of Manchester Hot Glass in summer 2000.

“Right from the start I learned a great lesson in humility,” Weil writes on his website. “Glass is an amazing material — it can be hot and malleable and cold and delicate all at the same time. There is nothing like it. The surprises

it can produce are equally as unique. Needless to say, it is a very humbling experience to watch as your work hits the floor, or cracks in the process of being made.”

Working with private groups of all varieties, the artist and educator initially offered the classes out of necessity during the Great Recession.

With a degree in art education, and a passion for working with the material, it just made sense.

Today, Weil welcomes everyone from tourists to celebrity students into his studio.

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