July Issue: Behind-the-Scenes with SkLO Glassblowing
July 2023
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Feature
Recently the SkLO Partners - Pavel Hanousek, Karen Gilbert and Paul Pavlak - made one of their regular trips from California to visit our facilities in the Czech Republic, the heart of SkLO artisanal production. Every visit by the Partners involves stepping into the world of the "hot shop" to immerse themselves in the craft of glassblowing that lies at the core of SkLO identity. The design philosophy at SkLO places great importance on process, and the SkLO Partners work side-by-side with our master glass blowers to explore new techniques to push the boundaries of materiality and design. Here are a few moments captured by photographer Tereza Valner that reveal how deeply this process informs the beauty of the SkLO collections.
A view inside the "hot shop" at a SkLO glass studio in the Czech Republic. Here a glassblower brings a pipe prepared with glass to the furnace for the next dip into the crucible.
A SkLO glassmaster and lead assistant forming and shaping a glass bubble in a wooden block.
Gathering molten glass onto the pipe out of the crucible from within the glass furnace.
The SkLO Partners Karen Gilbert, Paul Pavlak and Pavel Hanousek observing a process of experimentation. We blow molten glass into moulds and materials resistant to burning but that will also shape and manipulate the glass in new ways. We try to explore the process of glassblowing and how it can relate to opposing materials that shape it.
Karen Gilbert and Paul Pavlak, the SkLO Design Partners, discussing an experimental piece as it is lifted out of a mould.
A triangular wooden mould being blown into for the first time. Wooden moulds are stored submerged in water to minimize burning. A new mould always smokes when glass is blown into it for the first time, but it is part of developing the protective charred finish that allows it to be used over and over. Wooden moulds eventually wear out after many uses and have to be re-made.
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Making Of
"My background as a jewelry designer directly informs the Bead and Bead Chain Wallpiece series. When you make pieces over and over again such as one does in jewelry production, small moments and details feel large and important. To me, these pieces are like looking into a microscope and projecting process onto the wall. The solid structure of brass and the transparency and beauty of blown glass create a deeper story and visual pull to these connections."
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