Anemone Vase

The vase measures about 11.5 inches tall and 8.5 inches wide. I am inspired by the patterns and movements of the ocean. This vase is made up of small colorful pieces that I make called murrine. Murrine are created by layering colored glass from the center outward. This layering of colors created a molten piece of glass about the size of a soup can that I stretch across the studio to create a 1/2 to 3/4 inch rod. We then put the rods in the annealing oven to cool over night. The next day we slice the rods onto 1/4 inch wafers that get laid out on a ceramic kiln shelf into a mosaic like arrangement. The wafers are heated and fused together into a rectangular piece of glass. A blowpipe is then rolled along the edge and the flat sheet of glass turns into a cylinder. The bottom gets closed off and now there is a bubble of glass on the end of my blow pipe. Three layers of molten clear and gathered onto the bubble and it is blown and shaped with the help of my assistant into the vase pictured.