SUNDANCE-MADE WINE TUMBLERS, SET OF 4

Gustavo, Octavio and Vincente are glassblowers from Guadalajara, Mexico who are currently in residence at the Sundance Resort for 7-8 months at a time. They recycle all of the glass used at the resort  - mostly wine bottles. The bottles are cleaned and the labels scraped off. The glass is separated by color then - using a shovel - they smash it down into little pieces in an old wheelbarrow. The glass is then put into a kiln for 24 hours at 3000F to melt it down. Once the glass is melted, it is retrieved from the kiln with a long steel pole. The glass is rolled onto the pole like taffy. One person begins blowing the glass. Once the form takes shape, another person helps form it with a long steel tong-like instrument. The third person does the finishing touches. Once the glass is blown and formed, it is placed into another kiln for 14 hours. The glass is tossed in and rests on fine silica sand where it will harden for up to 14 hours. A piece of paper is thrown into the kiln to judge the temperature - if the paper burns up within 3 seconds then it is the right temperature.

To create our wine tumblers, it takes about 3 minutes with each person doing a specific part of the production.