Glass Fusion: Studio 8 Bermuda

While on vacation in Bermuda I learned something new. I learned to fuse glass. In the dockyard mall there is a shop named Studio 8 Glass. This shop offers a glass fusing class, it was a lot of fun.  I love making jewelry and I loved blowing glass, so this experience actually "fused" those two together in a way I did not expect.

My teacher was a woman named Heidi. She was extremely helpful and allowed the class to look at the pieces already made for inspiration in making our own pieces. (proving she is also a good manager because it inspired me to buy something!) She showed us how glass looks when you stack it and put it in the kiln. The kiln is ultra hot and it melts the glass so it is all together.

When the class started we all had spots on a large table with tubs of pieces of glass. The glass was beautiful. Our spots were set out with various tools to cut the glass, break the glass into shapes, and help design the pieces. As I looked around the shop I saw many pieces that gave me some idea of what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted something colorful and bright. I made four pieces. One for my mother, because mother's day was approaching, one for my mother-in-law, one for a friend of mine, and one for myself. It was honestly easier to make the pieces for other people because I know what they wanted, what colors they like, pink, green, orange, and myself I had a difficult time with, but because the first piece of glass for practice was purple, I went with that color.


Digging through the various pieces of glass was fun. The colors were so vibrant and the choices were so exciting it was hard to choose. Honestly, I could have sat there all day and designed pendants, earrings, and sun catchers. The interactions with the other people were pleasant too because we were all learning together.



After finally making my designs and stacking the glass Heidi told us about how the glass fuses together in the Kiln. We set out glass atop a brick and the brick goes into the kiln. The kiln heats to 1200-1500 (F) degrees. After the glass is fused it cools for a day and the studio places a bale on it so it can hang from a necklace. You don't have to make a necklace, some people made earrings or suncatchers.

When the piece is finished fusing it was not exactly how I imagined it. You have to remember any edges are softened by the heat and the glass, so any of the triangles I tried to make got a little rounded. They still ended up beautiful and I still got amazing results from the colors. It's exciting to have something you have made yourself.

The class was $120 and it was worth every single penny. It was a fun social opportunity and a great learning experience. If you are ever in Bermuda- via cruise ship or resort- this is a place to check out. You can usually book it as an excursion on the ship or come in the store directly. It does take a day for the glass to cool, so make sure you are staying more than one day!








This was where we went:
Studio 8 Glass- Facebook page