Hot Glass Academy

[Charity Nebbe] New to the fair this year is the Hot Glass Academy. It's designed to give fairgoers an up close look at the art of glass blowing. Let's check it out. 

[Forrest Buford — Americus, GA] I know this is glass blowing, but blowing a bubble is a short part of our process. The longest part is doing things like adding those colors on, melting them down, and shaping and manipulating this ball of goo to prepare it for the bubble. 

[Charity] Forrest, this is your first time at the Iowa State Fair, but you travel all over the country to a lot of fairs. Tell me a little bit about what you do. 

[Forrest] So, yes, with Hot Glass Academy, we go all over the country. Whatever state fair, county fair, public/private event would like to have us. We'll come set up even if it's in a field. As long as there's propane and electricity, we'll be out here making glass for everybody.

But when I squish it on there, it's also conducting away heat, making a cold skin. That skin is going to be the resistance necessary for this bubble I'm initiating. You can see it growing and growing.

Glassblowing is very ancient. Began in Rome, around Italy. But of course, there's also the new projects and fun things. We also are making Iowa themed things now that we're here. Got a lot of corn, several windmills out on the table. 

Now I'll bring it out of the fire. And you can see it, it is moving. We're going to squish it straight down into this mold on the floor and add air. 

[Charity] Is it difficult to do your artwork in a portable way, to bring your forge out and set up at a fairground? 

[Forrest] Well, it's actually a newer thing in the scheme of the art community. So this equipment behind us, the furnace on wheels, that was started in the same town where our company's based. And it's only within the last decade that having a furnace and coming out as a road show has been available to the mass public.

So now it definitely does not fit in the furnace. Whatever I do now, I'm finished.

So we'll stretch out that big piece of glass like taffy. I'll grab onto my arbor here, and then we'll just whip it around. We melt that down so it'll be smooth to the touch tomorrow. That's how you do a pumpkin. Thank you, guys.

Safety glasses for you. Always important.

[Charity] Okay. 

[Forrest] Safety first. So there it is, that 2000 degree goo. Start grabbing on there. Do things. 

[Charity] Your things look beautiful, and mine don't necessarily. 

[Forrest] Now you may spin around. And all we gotta do is pat it in there. Instantly it heats up and sticks to the surface. So now we got our coating of glass. We'll come back and melt it now. Trap pressure with my thumb, gently squeezing, and then I'm going to start to inflate. Remove that from the rod. Now grab a tiny piece of glass. I'll come in here, touch down, stretch it into a nice thin line. We thusly wrap and twist into an ornament loop. 

[Charity] That was so cool. Thank you so much. 

[Forrest] I'm so glad that we were able to get this experience out here for everybody, even at the state fair. 

[Charity] It's awesome.