Today we get a tour of the JamFactory's glass studio and see some glass blowing in action! Today is also your last chance to leave a comment and go into the draw to win a KINK Oil Bottle that is made in the very studio we tour below. Entries close at 10pm tonight and the winner will be drawn at random and announced tomorrow. -Jenny x

JamFactory Glass Studio

Blowing glass at the JamFactory

We train through production. Every year three new associates enter our two-year training program.  Current associates are first years Emma de Brabant , Emma Klau , Andrew Ferguson, Katie Plunkard, and second years, Kristel Britcher, Madeline Prowd, and Andrea Fiebig. “Training through production” means a practical, vocational training that is orientated around the design and production of glass objects - as commissions, one off works and short production runs, including the making of JamFactory products like the KINK Oil Bottle.

Tools of the trade

Passing on skills

As with many trades, skills and sports, repetition of tasks is the only way to improve. This is certainly the case when training to be a glassblower. Our associates work 8am to 4:30pm every weekday as a minimum, often putting in many extra hours during evenings and weekends.  At the end of the program associates are well equipped to start their own businesses as practicing glass artists.

Commission work is a big part of the studio’s income such as the Science Award

Associate work helps to provide an income for individual artists, second year associate, Madeline Prowd’s Tumblers and Jugs (available from JamFactory shops)

Second year associate, Kristel Britcher’s Suspension Range (available from JamFactory shops)