Sorry for the pun. I’m not the first one who’s made it, and I won’t be the last. I’m talking today about Zimmerman Art Glass in Corydon, Indiana. Here’s their sign.It’s a family business, and always has been. I dropped by the other day, and was lucky enough to see a piece in progress.

First, the guy sprinkled out some colored glass. The main part of this piece was going to be clear, with some colorful bits in it.

Then he got the clear glass on the end of a long metal pipe. The clear glass is kept molten (melted) in a super-hot oven. The door is called the glory hole. See why?

He picked up the colorful bits with the molten glass.

When he had all the bits stuck on, he sat down and rolled the pipe back and forth across the wooden arms of the seat. That keeps the glass more-or-less symmetrical as it cools. “Cools.” After it stops glowing, it’s still too hot to touch!

This is as far as I got before I had to leave. He may have stuck it back in the glory hole to heat it up some more. He would have rolled it some more and shaped it with hand tools. He might have smoothed it or pinched it or poked holes in it and put more colorful bits in.

It might have looked like one of the pieces on this Zimmerman page on eBay. Gorgeous? You bet!

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: What would your main character have the Zimmermans make for him or her, if money were no object?

MA