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She ’ s a traveler , artist and daredevil , all rolled into one . She loves the aesthetics of art , but it ’ s really the fire of the thing she does that lights her up . Gracie Peck is a glassblower .
“ I think what got me , I think , is the heat ,” the 25-year-old said . “ I really think it ’ s like the extremeness of it , the elegance of it . I mean it ’ s so extreme and people don ’ t want to touch it . People are OK to see it [ people working with molten glass ] from a distance , but they ’ re so scared of it . But it ’ s such an elegant material , so gentle ; everything about glass when it ’ s hot is so smooth and simplistic ; but it ’ s so covered up by all this heat and drama and process . ‘ Oh , my gosh ! You can really get hurt !’ Yeah , it ’ s the extremeness of it .”
Peck , who first saw glass being blown at age six when her mom took her to a studio demonstration in Silver City , MO , said she was blown away , hooked by the beauty and awe of the art . It never left her , the awe . She said that over the last five years she has “ grown into it ,” but was quick to add she has by no means
mastered the fiery craft . “ I ’ m still new to glassblowing ,” she said . “ Five years is nothing . I ’ m still figuring out who I am in glass .”
Leaving the glasswork aside , an artistic bent has always been evident in Peck . As a child , she fashioned ponies from the firm yet pliant red clay of her family ’ s pasture , incorporating some fresh-cut Barbie hair for mane and tails . Last year she graduated Texas A & M Corpus Christi with a Bachelors in Fine Arts / Sculpting . Her gran still has one of the original red-dirt ponies . The Weatherford native has also painted in oils , but feels most engaged , absorbed , by 3-D mediums .
Man has been manipulating molten glass since he stumbled on to heated silica ’ s fluid quality . Excavations have unearthed glass bottles well-BC in age . Once the magic of blowing caught on , it quickly replaced older technologies , like glass casting and core-forming .
Glass commonly consists of heated and cooled silicates found in sand and quartz . The trick is to achieve rigidity without crystallization in the
glass .
Peck refers to glassblowing as a “ dance .” “ I mean , you start to feel like you ’ re dancing , moving around all the time in the different steps you have to take , how you hold the pipe , or whatever . You ’ re always rolling your pipe , always , you never stop .” Routine procedures , steps , are required to successfully blow an acceptable decanter , wine glass or other vessel or item , and the gaffer ( the blower ) and her assistant ( s ) must follow them , must do the dance . It ’ s a tedious yet oddly fluid undertaking .
“ I know it ’ s so difficult for people who don ’ t know about glass to visualize when I tell them about it , and use all these craft terms , and strange tools ,” she said . “ You should see some of the facial expressions I get from people : it ’ s like , ‘ What ? Can you say that again ?’” ( It ’ s true . When Gracie holds forth on glassblowing a veritable torrent of articulated knowledge gushes forth — gushing Gracie . The enchantment is real ; Gracie loves glass .)
According to Wikipedia : “ As a novel glass forming technique
Justin Collins Realtor , BPOR 817-598-9663 justin @ terinrealty . com Terinrealty . com
6189 Silver Creek Azle Rd . | Azle , Tx 76020
Call us to see this property or others like it .
Terri Lynn Stokes Broker , GRI , MCNE
817-613-1010 terri @ terinrealty . com
Terinrealty . com
SEPTEMBER 2017 PARKER COUNTY TODAY
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