Glass Blower: Job Information for Students Considering a Career in Glass Blowing

Glass Blowing is an ancient art form, originally used for making bottles and tableware. In modern times there are scientific applications for glass blowing, but the technique is more commonly used to create decorative objects.

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Career Definition: Glass Blower

Glass blowers, also called glassmiths or gaffers, use three separate apparatuses or divisions of a furnace to gather the molten glass, reheat it to 2400 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the creative process, and to gradually cool the final product.

Traditionally, glass blowing has been used for bottles, especially small ones for perfume and for tableware such as stemmed glasses. Hand-blown stemware is still a popular outlet for glass blowing artists; decorative art and glassware used in scientific settings, such as chemistry labs, are other uses for this talent.

How to Become a Glass Blowing Professional

Required Education for a Career in Glass Blowing

Glass blowing is taught at specific schools, art studios and art galleries across the U.S., but it is not a common subject at colleges and universities. An internet search can locate the beginner classes available in a given region, and artists who have a true passion for Glass Blowing will have to find their way into the small community of expert glass blowers and studios that work at the advanced levels.

Required Skills for a Career as a Glass Blower

Glass blowing involves a very specific skill set. It requires patience, heat tolerance, and willingness to work in potentially hazardous conditions. Glass blowing technique involves handling molten glass as well as a variety of tools, metals and dyes for decoration and scientific notation.

Glass Blowing Careers and Salaries

Careers typically include teaching and artistic work, and salaries vary from the hobbyist to the master craftsman. Glassware for scientific settings is usually priced by the case, so there is no specific average salary, according to the American Scientific Glassblowers Society (www.asgs-glass.org). Pricing for artistic work varies widely depending upon the skill and experience of the artist.

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