About

About Lampworking

All the pieces shown on Artistic Glass Creations are individually hand blown in San Diego, California, using the glassblowing technique called lampworking.

Lampworking is glassworking using a torch to melt and shape the glass. It is also known as flameworking or torchworking, as the modern practice no longer uses oil-fueled lamps. Although the art form has been practiced since ancient times, it flowered in Murano, Italy in the 1300s, and spread from there to the rest of Europe.

Early lampworking was done in the flame of an oil lamp, with the artist blowing air into the flame through a pipe. Most artists today use torches that burn either propane or natural gas for the fuel gas, with either air or pure oxygen as the oxidizer.

Once ready to begin, the lampworker slowly introduces glass rod and tubing into the flame so that the pieces won't shatter from thermal shock. The glass is heated until molten, merged with other pieces, and shaped with various tools. All parts of the workpiece must be kept hot, at similar temperatures, or else they can crack or shatter. Once finished, the piece must be annealed in an oven, or kiln.

Annealing, in glass terms, is heating a piece until its temperature reaches a stress-relief point, that is, a temperature at which the glass is still too hard to deform, but is soft enough for internal stresses to ease. The piece is then allowed to heat-soak until its temperature is even throughout; the time necessary for this varies depending on the type of glass and thickness of the thickest section.

The piece is then slowly cooled at a predetermined rate until its temperature is below a critical point, at which it can no longer generate internal stresses, and then the temperature can safely be dropped to room temperature. This relieves the internal stresses, resulting in a piece which should last for many years.

All items featured on this site are hand-blown, unique, and one of a kind. None of the pieces are made from a mold or produced by a machine; each piece must be custom created, by hand, in the flame, by an individual artist. All flameworked pieces have been annealed at 1050 degrees; all glasses are fully washing machine safe and graded to withstand high temperature content.

About the Artist

Artistic Glass Creations is a website showcasing the glass art of David Savarese.

A 1998 graduate of Middlebury College, David first came into contact with glassblowing after moving to Boulder, Colorado, following a chance meeting with a local artist. His curiosity piqued, he soon found himself working as an apprentice at Prometheus Design studios, making a wide range of functional art glass.

Following the end of his two year apprenticeship, he opened his first studio in Boulder in 2001, inspired by the camaraderie and artistic quality of the local lampworking community.

Since then he has studied lampwork technique through formal instruction at Glasscraft in Golden, Colorado, and through the generous instruction of fellow artists.

In 2003 he opened a studio at his home in San Diego, California, where he lives and works today.