Vincent Dlamini has been with Ngwenya Glass Village since 2001, and after he studied in Swaziland for two months to perfect the art of glass blowing, he has become a local weekend attraction
Dlamini learned to mould glass in a furnace and has only been using a torch for his art for the past three years. He claims if you know how to blow glass, you can work with either a torch or a furnace.
“I like to work with my hands, I also like to work with the torch and the furnace. My favourite items to make are animals and bowls,” said Dlamini, who creates many different without a picture to copy from.
Dlamini demonstrates step by step how to make an apple and a rhino out of glass:
Vincent Dlamini prepares the blow-torch to the correct temperature for glassblowing.A 30mm hollow glass tube is heated, pulled and cut, leaving enough of a spout to blow through.One side of the cut tube is sealed to create a round apple shape.The closed end of the tube is heated till it is molten.Vincent Dlamini blows through the thin glass spout to enlarge the molten glass.Once the body of the apple is complete, a second piece of solid glass is heated and used to mould a stem.A solid glass rod is heated and flattened to make a leaf to be connected to the stem of the apple.The apple is complete but Dlamini blows a hole in the side of the apple as a variation. The hole is used to put something inside the apple as a decoration.The apple is complete and already cool to the touch.
Dlamini leaves the apple to cool completely and starts with the rhino:
To make a rhino, Dlamini heats a 10mm solid glass rod.Dlamini melts to rod in half and so both sides are molten.The molten glass-ends are rubbed together to mould the body of the rhino.First the back legs are moulded using one half of the rod to design each body part.After the back legs, the front legs and face are designed while constantly measuring and correcting each body part to keep everything in proportion.The last details are added to the face, such as the eyes, nostrils and horns.The attached rod is knocked off the back of the rhino and the hole is sealed and smoothed with heat.After about an hour, both glass artworks are finished and ready to be displayed.
Dlamini’s talents are not barred by any design and he is not afraid of a challenge and enjoys commission work, which pushes him to create something different from the normal items he makes over his weekend demonstrations.
