"Painting is easy when you don't know how..."

"...but very difficult when you do." ~Edgar Degas

This is true for any form of art. It's easy when you're experimenting and just putting yourself into your creation. Once you've "learned" how you are supposed to create it and what you are supposed to create, it gets far more difficult. So with my first attempt at glass-making, it was easy! And I love my little pumpkin.

Here it is! I finally started my glass workshops (I had them spread out one a month starting in September but the first one had to be moved to November). So my new first one was the hot glass blown pumpkin in early October. We were able to pick whatever colors we wanted, although they had out some typical oranges and yellows. Another woman in our group also wanted purple and the guys who instructed us (Travis and...Bill maybe?) were more than happy to provide us with whichever colors we wanted to experiment with. It's hard to see but if you look closely at the top of my pumpkin underneath the stem, I threw in a little bit of orange mixed with the purple.

The class was only two hours and there were 6 of us in the group. I wasn't sure how the workshop would be taught but they had each of us take turns making one (with their assistance) while the others watched. The later you went in the group order, the better the result. Don't get me wrong, the first guy did great, but you learned something new from each student's mistake or problem/difficulty. I went third and I think the only perk to going later would've been having my stem turn out a little better. But I'm pleased with my results. And it's heavy! I'm used to purchasing glass pumpkins that are very light but this glass is THICK.

The only part of the workshop that I didn't like was having to rely on the assistance of our instructors so much. I get that it's only a two hour workshop and there's only so much you can do when you're allotted approximately 15 minutes. And Travis and Bill did let you do more yourself if they took note that it was easier for you, you picked up on it quickly, or insisted on doing some of it yourself. It was my first time but I think I picked up on it well, so they were able to let me do a bit more on my own than some of the students. I appreciated that but ultimately, I did not get to blow the bubble in the pumpkin. *Frowny face* Only the instructors were able to do this. I think if I take a longer workshop (maybe a 6 hour or all day one), I'd be happier but I still have several other types of glass-working workshops scheduled to figure out which ones I enjoyed most. But the hot glass was very thrilling. It made me want to make thick globs of nothing, just clear glass, to play with the physics of it's movement and watch it cool and solidify.