John Riepma Creates...

 Furnace with melted glass, reheat furnace, pipe warmer, and annealer in John’s studio  

 Blowing a starter bubble in the first gather of glass; he will gather more glass and then melt in color  

 Using a wet wooden block to keep the glass bubble round and centered on the blow pipe  

 John blows into a ribbed mold to set the lines within the design  

 Using the marver table to smooth the ribs before gathering more glass  

 John reheats the glass multiple times to enable continued shaping  

 The design appears on the hot bubble  

 John blows while using a carbon pad to shape the vase  

 Using the jacks to ready the vase bottom for transfer to a punty rod  

 Transferring from the blow pipe to a punty rod in order to create the vase top  

 Torching to keep the bottom hot; note the shape and small top opening  

 Drops of water create fine cracks to separate the piece from the rod: the blown glass is then placed in the annealing oven.