Making Murrine
Making murrine is a tedious, fun process where you create these rods of glass and then slice them into smaller sections, which you can then arrange into a colorful glass vase.
Here is the process that I use to make one of my favorite types of murrine, which looks like a sea anemone when blown into a vase.
Rolling it Up
I start out with aqua, black and white rods of glass that I cut to a uniform size on a cane cutter. Then I arrange them on different ceramic kiln shelves, lining up the edges. My assistant heats up the aqua rods of glass while I heat up a mass of clear glass on the end of a punty. I roll the clear glass over the aqua, and now that creates the aqua core of the murrine. Then, I roll it in white powder and then roll it again over a black and white rod set-up.
Stretching the Cane
After I melt in the black and white rods, I take a gather of molten clear and shape the mass of glass into a cylinder. Then I stick it to a post, which is a little bit of glass on another punty rod, and I just let the glass melt onto the post. When it seems to cool just a little, I begin stretching and pulling, then I hand it off to my assistant. We just let it drip and walk away from each other.
When it is the right thickness, I lay the rod down on wooden slats and break it off and put it into the oven to cool down for about 12 hours. After the murrine has cooled down, I take it to the murrine chopper, which I made from a harbor press, and I begin slicing the murrines for use in my vase.
I repeat this process for each of the murrine that I use in my vase. Once all the murrine has been made, cooled and chopped, I arrange it in a mosaic-like pattern on a kiln shelf. Then I can start making the vase.
Making the Vase
Watch the video to see my process of making murrine and blowing the glass vase. Don't forget to visit My Shop to see my latest hand blown glass murrine vases with sea anemone patterns.