At the Thames Glass Glassblowing Studio and Gallery, you will find dedicated artists and glassmakers at work, sculpting and blowing some of New England’s finest hand blown glass products.
History of Thames Glass
Owner, Matthew Buechner, has glass blowing in his roots. His father worked for Corning Glass in New York state, and his mother was an artist too. He always enjoyed physical activity and had a deep appreciation for glass blowing. Glass blowing is both a physical sport and an art. Buechner designs the products, builds the equipment, trains the glassmakers, and supervises production in his Newport studio. His goal is to produce the highest quality hand blown glass products for his customers. He finds great pride in creating glass art and hopes all who visit his studio will enjoy and understand the art of glass blowing as well.
Items in the gallery include miniature figurines, ornaments, salt and pepper shakers, vases, and jewelry. Not all of the glass at Thames Glass is designed by Buechner. He has invited a few equally talented glassblowing friends to showcase their pieces in his gallery as well.
Glassblowing Classes at Thames Glass
Just to the left of the entrance, you can admire the glassmakers at work. Behind a large glass window, the glassmakers are diligently teaching students or working on their own creations everyday.
I decided to step behind the glass window, and try my hands (and my mouth) at glassblowing. Thames Glass invites students of any level to make ornaments, paperweights, or vases with the help from a skilled glassblower.
I visited the Thames Glass Glassblowing Studio last week to take my first glassblowing class. I decided we would make ornaments. It was a week after Christmas after all, and of course, they are the cheapest option. It costs $38 to make one ornament. You can pick your ornament up two days later at the studio or have it delivered to your home for an additional charge.
Sam, our glassmaker, stumbled upon a career in glassblowing by taking a glassblowing class himself. He has been working at Thames Glass for a few years, and is dedicated to the art and understanding of the ancient culture of glassblowing. Sam made us feel very comfortable and explained how the equipment and machinery in the studio works.
We started by choosing three colors of glass shards to use for our ornaments. Thames Glass gets their glass sheets from Germany and the sheets are broken into tiny pieces and then remelted in the glassblowing process. After we chose our colors, we stepped over to what appeared to be a giant vat of molten glass hidden behind a heavy metal door. The glassmaker dipped a glassblowing pipe into the pot and removed a small portion. This portion would soon become an ornament.
We then took the molten glass on the stick, much like a giant lollypop over to the colors we had chosen and Sam taught us how to dip the lollypop into the plates to achieve our desired designs and colors. Next, a bunch of reheating, cooling, and blowing. The glass constantly needs to be reheated in order to achieve the desired texture, shape, and thickness.
Why I loved Thames Glass
Blowing the glass is super interesting. I never really realized that you actually BLOW the glass. Literally, no clue. After blowing into the long metal tube with all my might, cheeks puffed out and eyes bulging, I felt like the glass hadn’t changed shape at all. To my surprise, multiple attempts of soft blowing and heavy blowing, gave me an amazing final product. My ornament is perfect!
The ornaments and almost all of the glass products designed and created in the Thames Glass Glassblowing Studio, sit in a 900°F oven for at least 48 hours to cool slowly. This prevents any cracking or exploding.
Visiting the Thames Glass Glassblowing Studio is an amazing experience! The entire process only takes 10-20 minutes per person and you wind up with your very own, one of a kind, handmade glass product. I learned so much about glassblowing and had a super fun day in Newport. If you think Newport is only for the beach, think again! This is a perfect rainy day activity for locals and tourists alike.
Thames Glass Glassblowing Studio and Gallery, 688 Thames Street, Newport, RI
