Orange vs. Yellow

Last night was my final evening of glassblowing and it was great!  Glassblowing has always been an art form that I have wanted to try and I am so glad I did.  One of my favorite parts of glassblowing however, was realizing I am not a glassblower nor am I interested in becoming one.  The last evening of our two months of classes was supposed to be spent mastering the art and creating your final big project.  All week I thought about what I would create, what my final piece would turn into, but when I got there I really didn't care; not in an apathetic way, I just wasn't interested in making anything else.  I was satisfied, completely content with what I had already made and I wanted to focus on those items instead.  Typically I would have gone to class and blown glass from the beginning to end, not missing out on one minute to ensure that I created the best piece ever and made the most of my time.  But throughout this process I have realized that glassblowing isn't my thing and I don't need to make it that way.  It is really difficult, seriously too hot, and not something I am able to go home and practice on my own.  I knew within the first few weeks that I wouldn't be going any further in it.  Now typically I am a very competitive person and this response just wouldn't have sat well, but for some reason something was different this time.  I was fully willing to accept that glassblowing was not my forte and I didn't need to stress myself out trying to make it that way.  I don't know if I am explaining myself very well, but either way it was a pretty neat discovery for me.

Now don't get me wrong, although I am not becoming a professional glassblower any time soon, I still enjoyed each and every class I had.  Week after week I challenged myself and learnt something new.  I focused my mind on art for a minimum of four hours every week, which is great habit to get into and something I really need to do more.  Most of all I had set aside time each and every week just for me.  It gave me an opportunity to clear my mind, to think things through, to be distracted, to learn, to meet new people, to try something new.  I was able to learn the importance of classes, of having a schedule set out to spend time with myself, doing something I love.  Since I was young and in sports or music (which was just a tiny bit ago) I haven't done anything organized like this; I really enjoyed it and learnt that I need to be doing it more often.

Here are some pictures of me blowing glass and of some of my lovely masterpieces.  The small ones are what I started off making.  Most people would walk by those blobs of glass and not think twice, but I look at them and am able see how much effort and time goes into even the smallest piece of glass; they make me proud.  The three vases are my favorite things that I made in class; I think they are so pretty.  I noticed last night that although they were all done in different classes, I unintentionally used the same colors each time.  I decided to look up the meaning of those colors and I found it very interesting.  I read that dark orange is "the color of heat or darkness" and it "can mean deceit and distrust".  Yellow on the other hand "is the color of sunshine" it also "produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness" and "indicates honor and loyalty".  I liked that the only two colors I chose contradicted themselves and represented my inner wars (or some of the wars I am facing).  Those colors swirled about my art in a battle of which would be the dominate one, and swirled about in myself of which would be the dominate reaction; I am happy to report that in both cases yellow won!

In my first blog about glassblowing I said I was excited to see what I would make and what it would mean to me.  I really didn't think such a small piece of glass would be something that would mean this much; something that would teach me this many lessons.  Now, when I look at my vases, and even my paperweights, they will mean more to me than I ever thought they would, more than I can put in words...at least in here.