Handmade Glass Turtle donated by The Glass Academy

This stunning turtle was made by hand during a live filming.  The colors are mostly green which is made from adding iron oxide to the raw materials of glass.  The glass is dipped these small granuals and attached to the surface of the clear glass.  Looking at this turtle, you can see the various layers of green layered to get an amazing color pattern beneath the clear top coating.

Each flipper and leg is attached to the main body of the turtle with an additional piece of glass, brought over at the perfect temperature and applied to the main body.  It’s important that the temperature remain in a range of 2,100+ degrees while the glass is being worked on so the team making the turtle needs to be on the top of their game and coordinating everything together.

Using a variety of hand tools, take note of the patterns and textures on the turtle.  Those are made with different tools like scissors, crimping tools, and optical molds to get the textures you see here.

The turtle is sketched out prior to the start of making the piece so the team is all on the same page and then working together, they can create the full turtle and the finished result is stunning!!

Learn more about The Glass Academy at https://www.glassacademy.com/