Horizon Glassworks: Ubud, Bali

Craftsmen who create pieces of art or jewellery in glass hold my admiration. It is a skill that I would not like to learn mainly because of the delicate process and my patience would be limited.

This entire process of creating glass can be observed at Horizon Glassworks near Ubud, Bali, which was opened just this April by Ann and Ron Seivertson. I am not aware f these premises and it will be on my list of places to check out when I am back up that way. Ubud abounds with craftsmen of numerous mediums but it is the glass blowing and the pieces that are created which astound me personally. You are able to visit the shop and watch the whole process of glassblowing and purchase works of glass art.

Here is a small but excellent article on glass excellent article including the experience attained by Ann and Ron Seivertson in this fascinating art:

The beauty of flowing glass

Did you know that glass is a liquid? That's right; even though it is very fragile and may break into tiny pieces when dropped scientifically speaking it is still a liquid.

It is just that under normal conditions it flows very, very slowly, and we cannot see its movement. But when conditions are not exactly normal - that is, when expert hands put it into a furnace measuring 2,000 degree Centigrade - it begins to remember its real properties.

The place and date of the origin of man-made glass - not the natural one that Mt. Merapi is spewing at this moment - are not known. The oldest known specimens that come from Egypt are about 4,000 years old.
And although most glass is machine-blown these days, fine ornamental pieces are still made essentially in the same way as in ancient times. The materials are fused at high temperatures then the molten glass is gathered at the end of a long, iron blow-pipe and blown into a bulb which is rolled on an oiled slab, shaped, and then re-blown. The glass is reheated periodically in a small furnace, also called a glory hole.

This entire process of creating glass can be observed at Horizon Glassworks near Ubud, Bali, which was opened just this April by Ann and Ron Seivertson.

Ann studied art history and design at Virginia Commonwealth University and became an accomplished jewellery designer in the early 1990s while Ron studied glassblowing and sculpting in the U.S. and Australia.

Ron has also attended The Pilchuk Glass School - a world renowned school just north of Seattle, Washington, that was founded by Dale Chihuly. Chihuly is a famous glassblower responsible for bringing glass art - and we mean "art", not just functional pieces like drinking glasses - to the U.S.