Description
Our blown glass totem sculptures are all one of a kind, whimsical creations. They will light up a room with fun themes and brightly colored elements. We create the glass objects quite thick, so you can be confident they are safe outside to withstand wind and weather. The LED lights we include, also add to the piece with fun changing colors and light patterns.
After we decide on the theme and sketch out the ideas for each sculpture, we get right to work. We create all blown glass elements hollow to be drilled out and stacked onto a solid steel pipe. Blowing each object one by one, sometimes it takes a few weeks to create all the items we want to put on the piece. Sometimes it takes several months to make everything we want to include in the sculpture. If we are casting or fabricating the metals the process is much longer to complete.
After we make the blown elements, we have to cold work the glass by drilling down the center of each piece, making a hole for stacking it. The elements are than sanded or polished where we drilled through. When they are smooth and chip free, the items are ready to stack. Now we can work on the base by welding a 1/2″ rod to a 12″ x 12″ solid steel plate, creating a very stable base for all of the parts to be stacked on. At this time we fabricate or cast all the remaining metal elements to work with the blown parts. Once these parts are all completed we can build and stack our sculpture.
Although we have an idea what these blown glass totem sculptures should look like sometimes it takes some experimenting, playing with all the shapes, and stacking and re stacking, to arrive at the final design. After we establish the order of the elements, we can secure LED strip lights inside, along the steel rod. This lighting allows the glass to glow at night and be the most interesting version of itself. After we place all the pieces on top of the pipe, we name the sculpture. Then we sign, photograph and pack it. We really enjoy an opportunity to make these larger, more abstract pieces combining the blown glass with fabricated metals. We hope you are enjoying them also.
