No one can fail to be excited by the sight of hot molten glass being blown into shape. This beautiful book captures that excitement and explains with practical detail the secrets of the glass blower's art. Topics covered: tools and equipment - includes advice on the tools and workspace required, as well as instruction on designing and building a furnace, annealing oven and glassmakers' bench; solid glass objects - introduces basic techniques such as gathering glass from the furnace, shaping glass, blowing a bubble and using the pucellas; glass blowing - explains how to make tumblers, bowls, vases, wine glasses and jugs, with advice on how to deal with common problems; colour - covers the different forms of colour, how to use solid, chips and powder, as well as basic and advanced techniques. Lavishly illustrated with some 200 photographs and line drawings of step-by-step processes and finished examples of studio glass.