Made by hand, shaped by fire. Pure satisfaction!
"Flameworking challenges every part of me; my creativity, my talent, and my mental and physical strength. My purpose is to create beautiful, lasting pieces for the modern marketplace. And now, I am excited to share my knowledge and learning process with you, offering a window into the deep satisfaction and magic of this unique artform!
Melanie Cech - Sumner
This introductory course pulls back the curtain on my self-taught process, showing you not just what the foundational techniques are, but exactly how to apply them to structural glass sculpture.
Together, we will fast-track your studio setup. I will guide you through building a safe, efficient workspace, choosing the right torches and equipment, and understanding the specific glass rods and frits I use—and why. Finally, I will break down the exact techniques and exercises you need to practice until muscle memory takes over and torch control becomes second nature.
The videos are filmed with the use of a UV camera lens that filters out the ultraviolet rays produced by the bright flame. You will learn basic gathering, pulling and fusing, and then how to add color to clear glass. You will learn how to put together a simple, small sculpture and then how to apply and adjust these techniques to make jewelry as well as larger scale sculpture with a surface mix torch.
Why this Course is different from other Videos or Courses?
Most workshops only teach you how to replicate a single project, design, or a specific technique. This course is different. It provides an end-to-end foundation for glass sculpture:
Studio Foundations: Complete torch setup and workshop configuration.
Safety Protocols: Essential procedures to keep your studio and yourself safe
Scale & Control: How to confidently transition your skills to work with a variety of torch tips and a larger torch
The Complete Bridge: Every single developmental step in between
Course Curriculum
- Session 7/Module 1: Adding Color to Clear Glass - Colored Rod Application (8:27)
- Session 7/Module 2: Encasing Clear rod with Color (5:40)
- Session 7/Module 3: Adding Frit to Clear Rod/Encasing (6:07)
- Session 7/Module 4: Making A Dolphin with Clear and Color Rod (19:40)
- Session 7/Module 5: Making Sculptures with Color Frit (20:46)
- Section summary
- Session 9/Module 1: Advancing to a Surface Mix Torch (9:44)
- Session 9/Module 2: Techniques on the Phantom Torch: Heating and Shaping larger sized rod (15:22)
- Session 9/Module 3: Adding Color Rod to Large clear Rod (14:31)
- Session 9/Module 4: Adding Frit and praticing encasing techniques with Larger Rod (9:46)
- Section summary