Centrifugal Glass Casting

with Eli Zilke

August 2, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Tuition: $200

Materials Fee: $30

In this exciting one-day workshop in Ox-Bow's glass studio, students will use a series of sand molds assisted by a potter's wheel and embellished by found objects to make bowl shaped sculptural collages out of glass. As a team, we will ladle molten glass into the molds and use the potter’s wheel to pull the glass up the molds using centrifugal force. Students can expect to make 3-4 glass bowls throughout the day. 

Plan to bring: Students are encouraged to bring their own small textural found objects for the impressions but there will also be plenty provided for class use.

Eli Zilke started blowing glass in 2005 at the age of 12 after being accepted into the “Fired Up” afterschool program at Water Street Glassworks. From 2005 until 2013, Zilke studied closely under glass artist/educator Jerry Catania. In 2013, Zilke co-founded “Hot Shop Valpo” a production design studio in Northwest Indiana. From 2013-2018, Zilke worked for HSV as the head glassblower/designer, during this tenure the studio installed several large scale public installations in hospitals, banks, universities, and public spaces as well as had production lines in several galleries throughout the Midwest. In 2018, Zilke returned to Water Street Glassworks as the core instructor and studio manager and currently holds the “studio lead” position.

Images courtesy of the artist.