It’s physical, it’s sweat inducing, and at times, it’s even heartbreaking. But for those who try their hand at it, glassmaking is mesmerising: a fact that visitors to the Canberra Glassworks are fast realising.
Happily, as a newcomer to the medium, you won’t have to toil for hours over a hot furnace to get a sense of what’s possible. Every weekend, newbies flock to the Kingston Foreshore location to take a Make Your Own class. While it’s time efficient (you’ll come out with a paperweight in just twenty minutes, or a glass tumbler in forty), these sampler workshops also offer a real taste of the craft, in what many in the art world recognise as Australia’s leading glassworks facility.
You’ll work the punty (the long pipe which is an essential in any glassmaker’s toolkit); choose your coloured frit (little pieces of glass later embedded into the larger piece); and learn about shaping a compelling form.
Beware though: it’s not just the furnaces here that are hot. These courses are popular, so book ahead.