July 2023 Class - Fusing Glass in Whitewater

After taking a two-week residential class in June, and knowing I was taking a one-week residential class in August, I hadn’t really planned much for a July class. So, on a Saturday late in July, I took a trip to Whitewater to check out The Vinery Stained Glass Studio. There are so few glass studios around my house, and I had never been there.

It is about an hour from home. I got there, and before the door even closed behind me, I was greeted by a nice guy with a baby strapped to his front. The baby was FRESH!!! He asked if he could help out – but I just wanted to get my bearings and look around.

The font retail area is not all that large, and very soon, a different lady came by to see what I was looking for. Since I had purchased a kiln, I was looking at things for fusing glass, but since I didn’t know what I was doing, I told her that, and just was looking.

I soon figured out that they had fused glass projects that you could do on a walk-in basis. I figured this was a great way to learn more about fusing, AND I could get my July class done! I asked her to set me up to do the fused glass flower.

She took me to the HUGE back room – that has a TON of glass for fusing and for stained glass projects. There are large tables back there to work on, and a bunch of massive kilns. They were so nice and showed me around before setting me up at a table with the materials to design the flower.

They pretty much left me alone to play with the glass. When I was done, I filled out a little form with my name on it, and they would keep that with my piece so it wouldn’t get misplaced. They were doing all the firing.

I went back a few days later and picked up my piece. The folks there are so nice, welcoming, and knowledgeable. I’m excited to be taking a two-day class in September there!

A few of the key take away from this:

1. There IS a glass studio in Wisconsin that is near enough for me to go get supplies and potentially go to play with glass.

2. The Vinery does not have flameworking, which is a bummer.

3. The Vinery is hosting visiting instructors and I am totally going to watch for classes from there!