Let’s Talk Shop: George Machart

Abby Leon, Paradigm Gallery Director

In case you haven’t noticed, the FWMoA is a champion and supporter of all things GLASS. The museum even dedicated an entire wing to showcase our extensive and ever-expanding collection (many works acquired through the generosity of donors!) illustrating the medium in the context of color, form, and technique from artists around the world. The Paradigm Gallery naturally continues the celebration, representing talented glass artists closer to home. We proudly introduce you to one of our more recent additions to the PG team, George Machart! George discovered the magic of this enchanting medium through thrifting, which left a lasting impression and inspired not only his career path but his own artistic vision. George’s designs have a vintage flair with opalescent sheens and elegant shapes that evoke a timeless quality.

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I became captivated with blown glass as a kid going to antique shops with my mom. I thought Tiffany, Loetz, Durand, and Stueben glass were so incredible. It made me want to learn how they created such fascinating art; so, I read every glassblowing book I could find and watched master glass blowers at work. After all my research, I decided I could construct my own studio behind my house. [This is the length of my little shop (see photo, left). In the foreground is the furnace holding color pots and clear glass. The reheating furnace, benches, tools, safety equipment, annealing ovens, and workbench for frit is also all in this 276 square foot space.] I economized by building my furnace from scratch, from the ground up. I also built my annealing ovens, benches, flat lap grinder, glory hole, and modified tools. The shop is a very small space for the work I do, but it is efficient. Since I work alone, it is my own creative space. Due to the designs I desire to create, I have my own color crucible pots within the furnace. I batch my own blue, green, white, and lustre in those pots. I work off hand and also do some modified torch work for decorations. I enjoy the process of finding new designs that have my own personal style infused into them. 

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My process begins with a heated blowpipe gathering some molten glass from the furnace and twisting the pipe several times to get enough hot glass. For this vase, I do a gather of hot glass three more times. The gather is rolled in pulverized glass, called frit, to add some color to the piece.

I then start forming the glass using wet cherry wood blocks to get the piece nicely rounded. I use several cherry wood molds as I work to shape the glass. You can see the veils of glass gathers in the photo.

Throughout the entire process, I must reheat the glass many times in the reheating furnace, called a glory hole. I made this out of a steel drum. The glass must be kept glowing hot at all times until the vase is completed. It is heartbreaking when you lose one and it crashes off the blowpipe to the studio floor! 

I use an old WWII paratrooper knife to index the glass so I can get the proper spacing on my design.

Time to decorate with thin rods of lustre glass I made previously. Using a special torch, I start to lay the lines of the meteors I want to incorporate onto this vase. Here, I am checking the spacing of my lines. 

Next, I take a thicker rod and heat it to apply the sphere for the fireball of the meteor. Then I smash down the spheres with a tool I made for this purpose. 

After more reheating, I use a small gather of lustre glass and spin it to thread it onto the top of my vase for a web-like look. I use a thin steel pick to shape the detail.

Time to begin blowing through the pipe to expand the glass to its round shape! 

In this step, I am preparing a small gather of glass to act as “glue” to transfer my piece from one rod to another. 

Next, I attach the vase to the hot glass on the new punty rod and transfer it.

Now, the top of the vase is open, and I can begin shaping and decorating the lip. I am applying some lustre to the top for a beautiful finish.

I use a small pick and wood tool I made to shape the lip of the vase. I use my Jacks (an iconic glassblowing tool) to further shape the interior of the vase. Finally, I look it over carefully before I commit to taking it off the pipe.

I drip a small amount of water on the punty with a knife to fracture and cool the connection. Then, I break it off, grab it with a heat glove, and place it in the annealing oven. It is safe inside the annealing oven where it will ramp down in temperature all night.

It is a bit like Christmas morning when my finished work is out of the annealing oven. I can hardly believe I made them!

Check out the meteor vases and more of George Machart’s work in the Paradigm Gallery: Tuesday-Saturday 10am-6pm; Thursday 10am-8pm; Sunday 12pm-5pm!