It's like riding a bicycle
When someone comes to my glass studio for the first time, I almost always get the same questions: "Is glassblowing difficult?" and "Is glassblowing expensive?".
In principle, I should then immediately clarify that what I do cannot necessarily be called glass blowing, but usually I reply with "It's like riding a bicycle.
Is glass blowing difficult?
Glass blowing at the burner is no harder to learn than riding a bicycle. And once you master it, you never forget it. Now that's a pretty trite answer, because just as there are children who can ride a bike right away without support wheels, with others it takes a lot of trial and error. It is the same with glass blowing: anyone can learn it, but some succeed just a little faster than others.
Is glass blowing expensive?
You can also compare the price tag to start flamework to what it costs to ride a bike. Keep in mind, though, that you can ride a cheap used bike from the Circuit Shop as well as an e-bike, and you can even buy yourself an expensive professional road bike with ditto equipment.
The cost of becoming a flameworker varies equally. You don't need much equipment, and you can feel free to start your new hobby with used equipment. Those who don't want to buy a lot right away can also spend time at a glass studio renting a burner.
But believe me freely: once you get the hang of it, you will always want something new. If it is not a beautiful color of glass, you will buy some - in your eyes indispensable - tool. And so that fairly inexpensive hobby can often become an expensive addiction after all.
Experience it yourself
Before converting your gazebo into a glass studio, I would still recommend taking a few workshops in the various disciplines of flameworking. This way you can experience which glass you prefer to work with and which techniques appeal most to you.
Don't buy a blowtorch and some glass at random, but first experience the difference between burning beads, sculpting sculptures and blowing hollow objects. After all, the materials you need to blow vases, say, are different than if you want to make glass beads, for example.
