Glass blowing keeps Elk County Fair attendees captivated

KERSEY - The art of glassblowing kept Elk County Fair attendees mesmerized Wednesday as Mobile Glass Studios delicately formed glass moldings into art.

Robert Immello and Emma Shannon with Mobile Glass Studios, which is headquartered in Nashville, said they travel to county fairs all over the country throughout the summer to show people the art of glass blowing. With all the equipment needed on site, Immello and Shannon shared how they form glass into beautiful objects keeping people at the fair captivated by the process.

“It’s something you have to see to fully understand,” Immello said.

Immello explained that the on-site furnace burns at 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit and they spool out the glass, which has the texture of honey, to begin to form it into a shape.

“We work the glass with many different metal and wood tools and we shape it into an object. We’re constantly heating and shaping,” he said.

He explained there is only about a minute and a half of shaping time before the form is put into a cooling chamber, which is about 900 degrees Fahrenheit where it will stay for about an hour. The glass is then put through the process of annealing which is the process of slowly cooling the piece down.

All the glass-blown art created during the fair by Mobile Glass Studios will be auctioned off on Saturday with all proceeds benefitting the Elk County Fair.