From Ancient Art to Modern Craft

When civilizations firms formed around the globe, glass was only found in places where extreme heat from a natural source converted sand. It took centuries before man mastered the ability to combine the necessary ingredients to make this versatile material, but experimentation to create different colors and textures soon made it an art form. While there have been some upgrades in how it is practiced, glass making from ancient art to modern craft is still practiced in many of the same basic ways it has always been.

The basic ingredients in making glass have remained the same, but some of the materials are now more refined than before. Ancient people could not have the finest sands shipped to their location, so they made do with what they have nearby. Today’s glass makers practice their craft by combining the best materials available to make what they want, and they have the support of formal education to help them know how to do it.

Blowing glass is often still practiced in the ancient way even though there are modern methods available for practitioners of the craft, but they generally seem to prefer the control they get with the methods their ancestors used. The colors they can create today are often more vivid because they can get minerals that are much purer, but mixing them into their base material is still done the old-fashioned way. While many ancient masters kept the secret of how to make those colors as long as possible, the information is now widely available online.

There have been upgrades in equipment for those who want to practice the ancient art of glass making, but the basics remain almost the same as those practiced thousands of years ago. Modern crafters can learn their art quicker, but the beautiful pieces they make could have been admired by their far away ancestors.