An American Glassblower in the Kingdom of Crystal

Glass in Finland

2009-04-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

My trip to Finland in February was amazing. I was lucky to have befriended a native who knew all the "places to be" for glass there. Even though Sweden and Finland are right next to each other it was quite a journey. We decided to take a boat cruise from Stockholm to Helsinki, which is an economical and popular way to travel between the two countries. All and all it took us a taxi, train, bus, train, and finally a boat to get to Helsinki. I think the travel time ended up being 28 hours. I would say that at least we got to sleep on the boat, but you don't do much sleeping on the Silja or Viking Line. The boat trip is a time for party. It was worth it.
And the traveling did not end there. Our guide wanted us to see the Ittala factory and museum, the Nuutajarven factory and museum, and a handful of glass museums and schools. This meant that we traveled pretty far north working on seeing all the sites as we made our way back to Helsinki.
I want to discuss the differences and similarities between glassworking styles in Finland and Sweden, but I am still figuring that out. Until then I will show what I saw and maybe that will get my mind working.

Factory floor in Nuutajarvn.

Factory floor in Iitala.

My tour guide and friend, Anniina Tenno. Big thanks to Anniina!

Factory/Glass Pics

2009-01-17T03:55:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the factory pics that I promised long ago. I have internet at my apartment now (whee) so I should be better about posting pics, and posting in general.

Here is the factory floor.

This is one of the molds, it is set in the ground,

water sprays after each use, all operated by foot pedal.

This machine pulls out the stems for wine glasses, though a lot of the work is still done by hand.

These last three pics are from a private studio in the region.

Very cozy in the woods and seemed like an awesome place to work.

Last Semester Wrap Up

2009-01-17T03:20:00.000-08:00

After a bit the novelty of the blog thing seemed to wear off. I think that I became a bit too involved in my Swedish lifestyle to care about the writing part. But now that I stepped away and went home for the winter break I feel like writing a bit again. Plus it will help me remember the details in the future. I don’t think much about details until I write things down. Leaving Sweden and then coming back made me appreciate it a bit more. Little things like smelling the forest instead of smog. I couldn’t smell the forest after I had been here for a while. I had a good end to last semester. I went to Norway for a bit and then to Stockholm. Norway is an extremely beautiful country, and expensive, and all the people are beautiful too. Before I flew to Chicago I went to Copenhagen for a few days and had a good time. I was traveling alone and I think that it was a good test run for my backpacking that I will be doing this summer.
This semester I plan to go to Finland, so after that I will have visited all the Scandinavian countries minus one. I am especially excited about this trip because it will be glass oriented, visiting glass factories and museums with my friend who used to work at the Ittala glass museum/factory. It will be like having a personal behind the scenes tour guide. I guess it takes a certain kind of person to get excited about factory tours. I think it’s cool.
This semester I am working in the student section of the factory. Orrefors has a school building where the students are typically beginners, and then the third and fourth year students work in the factory. Then there are random international people like me who get placed wherever works at the time. I wanted to work in both areas during the year just to see everything. I started working at the factory this week and I really like it. I went back to mold blowing and realized yet again that it is a lot harder than it looks. But by the end of the week I had a pretty good handle on it.
Though I enjoy working at the factory I feel that it is bittersweet. Before the Christmas break three hundred people from the Afors, Kosta, Orrefors factories were laid off. When I returned they found out that an additional two hundred would lose their jobs, 117 at Orrefors alone. The building is so quiet and different than what it was when I first got here. There are still people working, but barely. Production will pretty much stop after the next lay off. I know that this is not uncommon anywhere right now, but it is still sad to see. And knowing that there are other factories of all kinds stopping production in the region, and with so many people losing their jobs, I just wonder what they will do.

Facotory Tours

2008-11-23T23:09:00.000-08:00

I have been having issues with internet access which is why I haven't written in a while. I also am unable to post pictures so my blogs will be without visual aids from time to time. Enough with the excuses, let's talk about the factories.
There are many factories and studios in the region, hence the title of my blog referencing the “Kingdom of Crystal.” The three main factories are Orrefors, Kosta, and Afors. I have been on tours of all of them and I loved it. It was interesting to see glass mass produced by machine, by hand, and in some cases by both. There are three factories in the branch; Orrefors, Kosta, and Åfors. Orrefors is my favorite of the three. Maybe because it is the biggest and you feel impressed just by walking through the door. And they have robots making a lot of the work, even carrying pieces to the annealers. It was incredible. Unfortunately they will not allow people to take pictures of that part of the factory, they don’t even let the public in there. Fortunately I got to see it in person. Kosta produces mainly wine glasses and other large vases. Afors does more sculptural pieces and a lot of Bertil Valien’s work. The day that I was there they were making loads of small heads that were interesting to see being made.
The equipment in the factories was really impressive. The designs of the equipment are revolved around being convientient to use and making the workers comfortable. Though I think that no matter what it is hard and arduous to work in a factory setting. A lot of the workers will be at their stations sitting down. Most of the work benches have chair backs on them. The furnace doors are operated by foot pedal. There are doors on the glory holes that close almost completely minus a small opening for the pipe to fit through. They open and close by foot pedal also. The molds are in stations that are set into the ground, so that the workers don’t have to stand on anything, they just drop the glass into the floor. Foot pedals are also used to open and close the molds and to water down the molds after the glass is out. I thought that was pretty cool.
I was never interested in learning how to make tools or build equipment before, and I don’t really know if that is something I would ever be strong at. But being here has made me see what innovative design can make possible. Even if the goal isn’t to mass produce, being able to design tools and equipment is important.
I like the mentality of the glassblowers here. It is my impression that when working with glass their actions are fueled by what makes sense. I’m not saying this isn’t true at home, but it is different. Since the people that I have been working with have factory backgrounds they have a great understanding of the material, and they wouldn’t use the material in a way that wouldn’t make sense. I think that I have more of an art making background, and I have been working with the material in an opposite way, I try and bend it to my will. It has been an interesting contrast to deal with and see day to day. Does that make any sense?

2008-10-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

I thought that it was about time for me to post some pictures of the school and some of the work that I have been making. For the most part I have been mold blowing in the hot shop and engraving in the cold shop. I don’t save a lot of the work that I make because I am here to focus on technical skill and don’t really want to pay a load of money to ship things home, so I recycle most of things I make. It is too difficult to take studio pics during class time, so the pictures of the studio I do have are a bit stagnate. I will try to take some pics of the mold blowing process soon. For now, here are some pics of the school studio and some work, it’s all engraved stuff because I don’t save the mold stuff. And of course! I have some new exciting forest pictures. Kirstin and I had a hot dog grill party in the forest. Well, I guess that it wasn’t a party really, considering it was only the two of us. They have disposable grills that you can buy here, for one time use only. They aren’t environmentally friendly so you shouldn’t use them too often, but once in a while is okay. I was surprised that they even sell them here since they are a pretty green country in general. They are super convenient though and they weigh nothing. I was also surprised that I have never seen one in the States, but then I realized that there would be no reason for me to look for one before this because it’s not like I go grill hot dogs in the forests of Chicago.

Not to keep going on about the forest, but I also went on a night hike the other day. It was really cool. There are lights on the trails that you can turn on at different points. The weather is getting cold and it is getting dark by seven. We bundled up and went right when it got dark. It was a clear night with a perfect half moon and stars of course. I didn’t go alone obviously because I was too scared. I’m mostly scared of possibly seeing elk. I asked Kirstin and Eirene if they would attack. Eirene said “Only with child.” I said, “Oh good, I don’t have any kids.” She said, “No stupid, when they’re with child.” After the light bulb in my head turned on I decided to be quiet for a little while. I guess that I talk about the forest a lot, I think that it is because we are completely surrounded by it here in Orrefors. I also learned some interesting facts the other day in my glass history class. We stated talking about mideval times and forest glass. Glassblowers, typically monks, would use mobile hot shops and go from forest to forest cutting down trees to feed their furnace. Glass art from this time is easy to identify because of the green and brown colors of the glass and simplistic forms. The reason that the glass was always green and brown was because of the chemical process that occurred when burning the forest trees, materials used from the forest were rich in iron which made the glass those colors naturally. So it is natural that Orrefors is in the middle of a forest. Simon Gota is an artist that arrived at Orrefors in 1916. He was a pioneer who brought the factory to a new art producing level. He wrote in his personal diary upon his arrival that the trees surrounding Orrefors were no more than 2 meters high as far as he could see. So we know for certain that the forests surrounding Orrefors are no more than a hundred years old. Okay, that’s enough forest talk for now.

Here I am eating my forest dog. I guess it isn't as good as a Chicago dog considering the look on my face.

Here I am next to the disposable grill.

Coldshop.

Furnace. It has three sides with three doors.

The annealers are nice, metal shelves instead of fire brick.

Engraved whiskey glasses that I made. This is pre-acid bath, after they go into the acid they will be super shiney.

Goblets! I never had the time or patience to learn how to make goblets, now I have all the time in the world here in Orrefors. These are my first but I have been getting better.

Hand engraved vase that I made. Yes, it's a swan. Very pretty.

Deep carved bowl.

Where's Waldo part deux.

Sitting on a little bridge over a little creek.

It took me a month to find this lake. Maybe I had help this time, but I am still very proud.

The very awesome mold room.

Swedish Meatballs Go with Everything

2008-09-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

I have discovered something, Swedish meatballs are a versatile food item. You can add them to almost any dish and the dish will turn from good to fabulous. I am very lucky to be living in Sweden where you can buy pre-made meatballs at any store. And they are really good.
Okay, I guess that I don’t eat them everyday, that would be gross but I do really like them. It was a bit of a running joke about what I would be eating when I got here. The truth is that I make three meals a day for myself here, so I eat pretty much the same things that I ate in America. My Swedish is getting better everyday, and many of the items have similar names, and common sense helps too. I have had a few bumps in the grocery store road when choosing certain food items. For instance, they have mjolk (milk, see, not that hard) and filmjolk. Filmjolk is some sort of sour milk (?) that the Swedes put on their cereal. Luckily I bought the right kind. Contrary to popular belief I have not as of yet eaten any herring, though I did consider buying it yesterday. I do eat a lot of salmon and lox, it is quite nice here. We don’t have very many restaurants here in Orrefors, and it is very expensive to eat out, so my cooking abilities have improved ten fold. We do, however, have a pizza/kabob shop right by my apartment. Being from Chicago I am pretty much obligated to say that the pizza here sucks, and it is pretty awful, but I still go there about once a week just to do something with my friends. It’s still good hang-over food, and it’s all we have.
There are other things about being in a foreign country that throw you through a loop when you least expect it. Sometimes I feel like a child again, not knowing how to do basic things. Like when it took me 20 minutes in the airport to figure out how to use the payphone. Or when I did my laundry for the first time. It didn’t even cross my mind that the machines would be different. They have about 1000 different settings that you can wash on, all explained in Swedish, and not easy to translate. It was embarrassing because I had to ask one of the high school students to explain the washer and dryer to me. I don’t have very many things here and I couldn’t risk ruining all my clothes, so I had to suck up my pride and admit that I couldn’t figure it out myself. They have been really kind and patient with me which is nice. Especially with the language. Everyone is helping me learn, even though my pronunciation is helpless at times, but always getting better. The other day my teacher Stip-Allan was giving me change from the coffee machine. As he put it in my hand I counted out loud, in Swedish. He was so proud and kept telling everyone. I am like a two year old again, people get excited when I count to ten.

Life in the Forest...

2008-09-17T06:26:00.000-07:00

Life in the Forest…..

Life in Orrefors. Things are different here. Slower, more calm, more relaxing. I am learning how to use this thing called “free time,” another foreign concept to me that I have had to adjust to. I’ll admit that I am getting used to it and enjoy it. I don’t have to rush when I cook for myself, or getting ready in the morning, I don’t have to rush to do anything. There is a part of me that doesn’t want to get used to this, because I know that when I go home it won’t be this way. But I have made a deal with myself that I won’t squander this gift of free time with worrying. I think I’ll take up knitting or something instead.
School is going great. We are allowed to stay there and blow or cold work until 6pm on Mondays and Tuesdays now. Typically we are only in class until 3:30 so I like having the extra studio time. And in October I will be starting a Tiffany stained glass class on Thursday evenings.
Outside of school I have been spending quite a bit of time outdoors. The other day I went on a hike with my new friend Kirsten from Norway. It was raining that day but we decided to go because it has been raining almost everyday. And I think that it is pretty cold here considering that it was so warm in Chicago when I left and when I got here I had to deal with a twenty degree temperature difference. Anyway, we found a section of the forest with tons of blueberry bushes. The blueberry season is over but we found a good patch that had a lot left. We started picking them and eating them and it was kind of addictive. We kept eating and eating even though at the same time I was being eaten alive by Swedish bugs. Swedish bugs love me. Then Kirsten showed me the traditional way to pick blueberries. You take a straw and string them on, kind of like a candy necklace. Then you hold it above your head and slide all the blueberries into your mouth at once. I wasn’t very good at it, some of the blueberries went down my shirt instead and left big black stains. Maybe next time I’ll do better.
Here are some pictures of the forest. When I started getting the pictures ready I realized that I probably spend half my time in the studio and the other half hiking. I have way too many boring pictures of trees but here are some that I like in particular.

Ah, pretty forest, I can only go so far in before I pysch myself out and get scared of getting lost.

This is me with the traditional blueberry straws. I have crazy eyes, exposed to too many antioxidents. Antioxidents make you happy.

Climbing.

My version of "Where's Waldo." I'm in this picture somewhere.

There was this awesome giant bird in the distance, it flew away by the time I took this picture. Must be faster next time.

Hiking in the rain.

2008-09-04T06:32:00.000-07:00

It was a long trek for me, but I am finally here. I haven’t blogged until now because I needed some time to settle in. After I arrived in Stockholm I bought a train ticket to Nybro. It was nine in the morning and the agent told me that the first train didn’t leave until noon. She also informed me that I would have to take a train, switch to a bus, take another train, and then one more bus. I was thrilled considering that I was carrying over a hundred pounds of luggage. There was nothing that I could do so I decided to make the best of it. Oh, then she told me that I wouldn’t arrive in Nybro until 9pm. Damn.
I contacted Peter, one of the instructors at Orrefors who was going to give me a ride from Nybro to Orrefors. He told me that he would pick me up in Kalmar so that the journey wouldn’t be so awful. He made my day because that meant that the long haul ended at 7pm and I didn’t have to take the last bus. It was pretty hard getting from train to train, especially when your Swedish is severely limited. I made fine tough, and reduced jet lag by sleeping a bit on each ride. It wasn’t very restful sleep though because I kept dreaming that I missed my stop.
In Kalmar Peter and his partner took me out for Sushi, my first Swedish meal was Japanese fare. It was awesome though, and they were so friendly that I felt that things would be okay here. In fact, everyone has been really helpful. I arrived at my apartment that was arranged through Stig-Allan (another amazing glassblower and instructor at Orrefors) and I was pleasantly surprised. I am taking it over for a girl (another glassblower) who is going to be working in Seattle for the year. She left me all of her furniture, kitchen supplies, cleaning supplies, and it is so cute. All IKEA’d out. It is kind of a studio with a separate kitchen and bath. I love it.
It is interesting living alone because I’ve always had roommates. To be honest it is pretty lonely. And to be more honest the second night that I was here I thought that I had made a mistake. Now I realize that my feelings were more a combination of shock and jetlag. Once I started class my mind had changed. The school is amazing. They are tailoring my education to my wants and needs. I get to work with glass all day. The school concentrates more on technical skills in glass. A lot of mold blowing and engraving. The first couple of days I was making whiskey glasses. They do things differently from what I know, but I have enough skill to learn quickly. I am also really excited about the engraving and deep carving. I told them that for the beginning I would like to spend equal time in the hotshop doing mold blowing and in the coldshop doing engraving. They split up my days so that I do one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. I love it and now I know that I made the right decision to come here.
Some of the advanced students work at the actual Orrefors glass factory. I was told that I will be up there at some point, but I am happy where I am for now. The work that the students do in the factory is more similar to the work I already do back home, so I would like to get a nice balance of education between the school and the factory. I did get a tour of the factory yesterday and it was incredible. I will post pictures soon, they will allow me to take photos in the tourist areas, not in others. Some of the glass is handmade production, but a majority is made by machines and robots. Yes, I did say robots. Seeing the robots makes glass work was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I originally thought that the majority of the work was made by hand, but this isn’t so. I was told that with the competition of other countries making such cheap glass they had to step it up. But I think the work they are doing with the machines is very innovative and still very interesting. My instructor pointed out that not only are these robots able to make the glasswork, but the metal used can stand up to the high temperatures which is quite a feat.
So this is my new life. The days are fun filled and I am figuring out what to do with my nights. I walk around the town a lot, I cook, I read, I study Swedish, I work out, I watch Swedish television which is mostly American shows with Swedish subtitles. I actually think that watching TV is helping me learn Swedish. Luckily I have started to make some friends. They are not just from Sweden, there are people from Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland.
Here are some pics of my apartment and my new hood. The town is kind of like a Swedish suburb surrounded by forest. It is very pretty and I can’t wait for the leaves to change, I know it will be gorgeous.

Airport

2008-08-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

I realized when I got to the airport that I forgot to buy a calling card so that I can call my ride when I get to Stockholm. I paid $6 to use the airport internet to buy one online. I guess that I could have just bought one in Stockholm, but I am bored and feel weird about leaving and it gave me an excuse to use the internet and blog.

Everything at the airport has gone smoothly thus far, but I have a long journey ahead. I'm already exhausted. My bags are really heavy and I look like a sherpa walking around. I'm really proud of myself that I didn't go over the weight limit with my checked in baggage.

I'm too tired to think or write so I am going to post pics from my going away party. It was awesome and there was a great turn out. I will miss my friends....

Packing

2008-08-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

Moving out of my apartment and packing to live abroad for a year has proven to be quite difficult. I am exhausted, packing in general was tough. I only want to bring two bags with me so there was a lot of deciding what is going and what is staying. I started by making two piles, a "yes" pile and a "no" pile. Here is what the "yes" pile looked like at the start:

Well, the yes pile was far too big, so I had to cut it in half. Then I had to cut that half in half. Then I had to have my buddy Ian come over to help me cut that half of a half in half. He was an awesome packing buddy, super rational and super fast. I would hold up an item and he would say yes or no in less than a second. We also blew glass this morning. Ian has been my main glass partner for the past few years. It was sad knowing that we wouldn't work together again for a while. When you blow glass with someone consistently over the years your timing is perfect and you trust that person and it makes making work a lot less stressful. But I am really glad that we spent that time together this morning. Here are some pics of us at the studio:

So I am grateful that I am almost done packing. I fly out tomorrow.

Not there quite yet.

2008-08-22T09:44:00.000-07:00

When I tell people that I am going to be living in Sweden for a year, they always ask "Why Sweden?" It's a tough question to answer. The simplest is that everyone has a place that they wanted to go, or live, I guess Sweden is that country for me. It's also a tough question to answer because there have been a long series of events that have gotten me this far, but I will get into that another time. Basically I wrote a grant, found out in June of this year that I was receiving funding, and then had a few months to drop everything in my life and get ready to move. It

wasn't easy, but I'm not complaining. I am going to be able to blow glass and make art everyday for a whole year - without having to work a day job! I'll get into that another time as well.
I included this picture because apparently it is where I will be living.