Overlay and Hot Ariel Class at BRGC
- Gregory Lastrapes
- Apr 28
- 2 min read
Updated: May 11
I had the joy of teaching my first course out of state at Blackstone River Glass Center in Providence, RI in late March. A lot of exciting things happened during this class, including learning new Swedish Overlay tecniques myself from my friend and mentor, Eliza Potenza.
This class was originally going to follow the same format as my Swedish Overlay Weekend Intensive course that I have been teaching and refining at Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle. On a whim, though, I reconnected with my friend Eliza Potenza, my first glassblowing teacher at Alfred University, who I recalled had studied with master glassmakers in Sweden for two years. She agreed to teach with me, and our students got a TON more information as a consequence.
As always, day one was about practicing the overlay. The highlight for us, though, is that Eliza was able to demonstrate the method developed at Kosta, which uses two small wooden spoons in paccioffi handles. We determined that both methods have niche applications, but it was fun to see the students discover which appealed to them more.
Students made a wide range of work, and many of them made their biggest ever pieces (four gathers!) while taking the class. I so rarely encounter folks who have experience working with this much glass, so teaching the fundamentals of large glassblowing is another very rewarding aspect of these courses. HINT: stop turning so fast!
The best part of the class was Eliza teaching us how to do a hot Ariel, whereby metal stamps are impressed into the glass and cased with an overlay. I had never done this before, as the Orrefors-style Ariels rely on sandblasting a design in while cold. We chose to collaborate on a demo, which turned out to be huge and very fun to make. I have been exploring more hot Ariels in my personal practice since the class, and Eliza and I are hoping to co-teach another course next year! Hope to see you there!
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