Blown Glass
Discover
Craft branch of relatively recent appearance, highlighting the ability of the artisans to simultaneously use their hands and mouth, regulating the air that exhales while giving shape to the figure manually, to later cover it, paint it and decorate it giving it the final finish is Tlalpujahua the most representative municipality of this craft that is exported in large quantities.
To speak of blown glass in Michoacán is to refer to the handcrafted production of spheres and, in particular, to the Magical Town of Tlalpujahua, a community prolific in artistic expressions, in its natural environment and in the quality of its people.
Process
The production of spheres begins with the molding of the glass tube, which is heated with a lighter and blown manually until the desired shape is obtained.
The main shapes include bola, chimborro, chupirol, chilaca and, recently, torcido.
Figures such as animals are also created by joining the parts with heat.
Silver plating is done by injecting silver nitrate inside the sphere to prepare the background for color and improve resistance.
Then, the spheres are washed, dried, painted one by one with industrial or transparent lacquer, and left to dry.
The painters experiment with colors and techniques, using syringes with glue, brushes, diamantine, varnishes and enamels to decorate.
Finally, the tips are cut with emery and the caps are placed by hand.