Detailed Course Description

Teaching exclusively online for Zurich Glass School we would like to present master lampworker Shane Fero from the USA. In this initial Shane 2 (Level -beginner to blowing and refreshers) course Shane will teach how to blow with tubing with a focus in soft glass. No special equipment other than your normal lampworking torch is required. Our course will look at the core elements essential to using tubing to create sculptures. Shane will show us how to both pull points and create long point ends which act as both handles and blowing tubes. Centring those initial points is an indispensable aspect of the process and Shane will show us how it is done. After perfecting these initial tasks Shane will help us learn how to blow a bubble by sculpting the shape with both breath and hand movements. He will instruct us on how to adjust asymmetrical or misshapen bubbles as glass is the art of readjustment, and arguably a percentage of our work is spent fixing things which are not correct. Shane will also show us how to adjust the thickness of the wall of our tubing and prepare us for setting up our bubble in the form of creating spheres, donuts, elongated ovals and other variations. Finally, Shane will introduce you to adding colour, "we must think of the coloration of our glass as a form of painting in that we can apply color in stages with layers of powders, frits, shards and canes to achieve tonal qualities as well as shades to achieve our results. The viscosities of the particular chemistries of glass add an extra problem or resolution to our results. It can be challenging, but also rewarding to experiment and bring about new effects and colors." Part two of this exclusive set of Shane Fero courses consists of six Sunday morning zoom sessions (USA) every week starting in September. Within the price you will be invited to a private group to view our recorded sessions and discuss your wins and failures during the class. At the end of class in October you will be invited to our Shane 2 channel. The Shane 2 channel is valid for six months until April 2025 and you will have easy access to all the demos to watch over and over. You will also receive two one on one consultations with Dr Julie or our consultant Gail Oldroyd to help you overcome any tricky parts you are personally experiencing in the projects. You will also have free access to our one-hour interview between Shane Fero and ZGS about his career, filmed in Oct 2020.