Every time I go camping I spend at least a few hours every evening staring at the fire. There’s something positively mesmerizing about the way the colors and shapes of the flames move and change. If you’re a fire watcher like me, you’ve probably got a healthy respect for the stuff, but wouldn’t mind an excuse to safely play with it sans widespread disaster and crippling injury. Solution: Third Degree Glass Factory. Glass, beauty and fire converge on Delmar just west of Kingshighway in a renovated warehouse space that’s part gallery and part workshop. They’re open from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

The third Friday of every month Third Degree hosts an all ages, totally free, open house from 6-10 pm. Glass artists demonstrate various techniques for working with glass including flame work and glass blowing. Live music, snacks, activities and a cash bar round out the party. There’s also a gallery to peruse and a gift shop with lots of beads and baubles for purchase. For folks interested in trying their hand at studio art, Third Degree runs a full schedule of classes ranging from short one-day workshops to semester long courses through University College at Washington University. The facility is also available for rental and is a popular spot for wedding receptions and fancy parties.

Over the summer I signed up for the semester long course, “Introduction to Glass,” and last night I got my first taste of what working with glass is like. The course is split in to two sections: flame working and kiln work. Last night we started work on our first project which is to make a glass platter. We talked about basic shop safety and how to use the tools, then came the best part where we got to start designing our first piece. I sketched out a dozen designs and scrapped most of them settling on a simple striped design that didn’t look like it would tax my patience too much. Once my instructor, Mark, and I talked over the design I started cutting glass. There’s something oddly therapeutic about the process of scoring and snapping glossy sheets of color in to strips. Being me, I made a big old mess that required a shop vac to clean up and I found out that I can’t measure with any sort of consistency. On the up side, surprisingly, I didn’t injure myself or anyone else – I felt pretty proud of that being the #1 klutz around these parts. (Shhhh…don’t tell my teacher, they’ll never let me play with fire if they know that!) Next week there will be fine tuning and cleaning to prepare the project for the kiln. Finally, fire! I’ll keep y’all posted on my project process, here’s a picture of what I’ve done so far. I’m hoping it looks much cooler when it’s all melty. Hope to see you all around the work shop!

Holly is the Arts Editor for Girls Guide. You can check out her site, South City Studio, to see her handmade jewelry, read about her upcoming craft shows and learn more about her artsy self. You can contact Holly by Emailing her – holly [at] girlsguidetothegalaxy [dot] com, and you can follow her on Twitter – @southcitystudio.