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928 Orange Avenue Coronado, CA 92118 |
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Artist's Biography |
 Mark Sigafoos is a native of Tacoma, Washington. Because glass is so abundant in this area Mark had always been attracted to the art form. He was first introduced to glassblowing in 1997 at The Seattle Glassblowing Studio. Here, he took beginner to advance classes throughout the year. At that time his instructor Jon Bennett introduced him to Martin Blank, James Nowak and Jennifer Holmes. The next three years he worked in these studios, as well as with the Jim Mongrain studio on the Chihuly Belagio Ceiling Project. In 1999 Mark moved from Seattle to Southern California. A year later, he was given an opportunity to work full time on his glass in Northern San Diego County. In just six short years Mark has developed his glassblowing skills and is always challenging himself to create new ideas. You can see Mark’s glass in a number of galleries and at his art shows throughout the year. |
The Art of Making Glass
The glass begins its life in a form somewhat similar to the sand found at the beach but much more refined. It is placed into a crucible in a 2400 degree furnace where it melts down into a molten liquid.
A five-foot long stainless steel blowpipe is then used to gather a small amount of molten glass. The molten glass in the furnace is coloress so color is added by rolling it through small pieces of colored glass or a part of a solid color bar which then adheres to the molten glass. The piece (which is on the end of the five-foot long blowpipe) is then placed into the "glory hole". A "glory hole" is an area of the furnace which is used to re-heat the piece as it is being worked on. It is important to keep the piece at a consistent temperature, so the piece must be inserted into the "glory hole" often. This melts the color chips into the molten glass to form one mass of colored glass.
The colored molten glass is now shaped by blowing into the blowpipe and expanding the mass. After the piece has been blown to the desired size, it must be transferred to another pipe for further shaping. This is a very crucial part of the glassblowing process - the point of contact and the breakoff point need to be at the correct temperature. Ninety percent of the re-work is due to unsuccessful transfers.
Once the piece has been successfully transferred to the new pipe, it can be further opened and manipulated into various shapes. When the desired shape has been obtained, the piece is placed into an annealer for eight hours. The annealer cools the piece slowly and adds strength to the piece. And finally, the glass piece is removed and is ready for use.
