What is Flameworking?
Flameworking is a type of glasswork that uses a gas fueled torch to melt rods and tubes of clear and colored glass. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with tools and hand movements. It is also known as lampworking or torchworking. Flameworking is glassblowing but it differs from off-hand glassblowing in that off-hand glassblowing uses a metal blowpipe to inflate a glass blob known as a gob or gather, thereby inflating it by blowing air into the blowpipe, whereas flameworking manipulates glass either by the use of tools, gravity, or by blowing directly into the end of a glass tube.

Whether you simply want a new hobby, or you want to be flameworking enthusiast, or you want to make a good career of flameworking, Glass Monkey Art Studio is at your service.

What is Glass Monkey Art Studio?
Glass Monkey Art Studio is an established glass blowing studio in Austin Texas. You may have seen us blowing glass at the Austin Reggae Festival or purchased some of our products in smoke shops and piercing studios from Dallas to Houston. Glass Monkey Art Studio specializes in making functional borosilicate art glass through the flameworking process.

If you are an experience flameworker, Glass Monkey Art Studio will rent you the tools and space you need to make products for sale. We will even sell your products for you to our extensive list of clients.

If you want to be a flameworker, we can turn you into one. Glass Monkey Art Studio provides unique apprenticeship programs that will teach you through, workshops, tutoring, and career guidance. We offer you both, the training and hands on opportunities you will need to learn and grow as a glass artist. If you just want to come in and play with glass or you want to take a serious path to becoming a well paid flameworker, we can help.

Glass Monkey Art Studio is not just a great place to learn, but a great place to work and make money. With enough education and practice, a flameworker can make a very good income. We can teach you to make products for our clients. We sell to over 50 shops between Houston and Dallas who have come to love our product line and we have a larger demand than we can currently supply.

TUTORING
Learning to do flameworking does not come overnight. Without someone to help you understand the intricacies of shaping glass it’s a very long and difficult road. A session with our teachers will carry you a long way in giving you what you need to understand working with this medium. No matter what level your skills are at, our teachers can help. We can tutor you at our studio or yours.

Rates for non-apprentices –
Tutoring In your studio $50 per hour. 3 hour minimum
Tutoring in our studio $40 per hour. 2 hour minimum

Rates for apprentices –
Tutoring In our studio $35 per hour. 1 hour minimum

WORKSHOPS
Glass Monkey offers quite a few workshops. You will find those workshops are fun, well priced, and full of useful, even pertinent information. The prices vary from workshop to workshop.

The following workshops are the ones that pertain to the beginner. These workshops are designed to introduce individuals to flameworking. Our primary reason for doing the introductory workshops is to prepare individuals for the apprenticeship program but they are a great experience for those who just want an introduction to flameworking. As a beginner, you may not know if you just want to do flameworking as a hobby or to make a new career of it. These workshops will help you find that out. It all begins with the following workshops. The workshops will give you the hands on opportunity to see if flameworking is for you and you will have a chance to try your hand at making something out of glass.

FW01 – Intro to Flameworking Borosilicate
$250.00, Discussions, walkthroughs, several demonstrations, 2 days total
Skill level - No previous experience required

This workshop takes you on a journey through the world of flameworking. Discover the history and science of flameworking. The student will learn how to operate safely in the studio, how to set up your own studio space, career options, studio elements, understanding tools and equipment, and minimizing hazards. Enjoy several flameworking demonstrations. This workshop is designed to give you an insight into flameworking and to prepare those who have never done flameworking for getting on the torch. Then you will actually be ready to get on the torch in the next workshop and play with the glass in the flame. This workshop is a requirement for those who want to rent studio space, or to enter the apprenticeship program. All materials and some handouts are provided. You will need to provide your own special safety glasses.

FW02 - Flameworking Skill Building
$500.00, Discussions, several demonstrations, 30 hours of torch time, 2- 3 weeks total
Skill level – Must complete FW01 – Intro to Flameworking Borosilicate before taking this workshop. No additional experience required

If you have taken the preparatory workshops FW01, you are ready for hands-on skill building. The student will get behind the torch and spend 30 hours learning how to shape glass in the flame. You will also learn more about how to use the torch, kiln, and many tools in the process. You will learn to pluck, remove, cut, gather, stretch, and weld glass in the flame. You will also learn how to pull several types of stringers. This workshop is designed to help you grasp the concepts needed to get the glass to do what you want it to do. We will walk you through the skills one at a time and when you’re done with the workshop we will teach you how to make a basic pendant design. The cost of this workshop includes 30 hours studio space, tool rental, all the necessary tutoring, materials and some handouts. You will need to provide a special set of tweezers.

APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS
There are many ways to learn flameworking. A flameworker with sufficient skill can make more than $100 (retail value) in products per hour. Without an opportunity like our apprenticeship program, this can take quite a few years to attain. We provide you with an opportunity to be immersed in the craft while working alongside other skilled flameworkers. As an apprentice you will have the opportunity to learn from several creative and talented teachers. Our program is designed to guide you into being that successful flameworker you want to be.

Currently we have several positions open for apprentices to come on board. In order to be accepted into the apprenticeship programs, you will need to be trained in studio safety and operations and have some basic flameworking skills. To do this, you will need to take the two preparatory workshops FW01, and FW02 that are listed above. After completing these workshops, you are eligible to apply for the apprenticeship programs. If you have a passion for flameworking, take initiative, show integrity, and are a responsible person you are who we are looking for.

As an apprentice, you will be learning to make many different functional art glass pieces like piercing jewelry, tobacco pipes, smoking accessories, jars, pendants, humming bird feeders, lotion bottles, and more. You will learn many techniques and how to work with many types of materials. As an apprentice, we will train you to make items we can sell to our clients.

Upon entering the apprenticeship programs, you will be enrolled in the 16 week Hobbyist Program. After completing, the Hobbyist Program you can continue as a Hobbyist or you can enter the 16 week Enthusiast Program. After completing the Enthusiast Program you can continue as an Enthusiast or you can enter the Career Craftsman Program. More information about the Hobbyist, Enthusiast, and the Career Craftsman Programs can be found below.

The core mode of training is learning through production. “Learning through production” means a practical, vocational training that is orientated around the design and production of glass objects. Apprentices and staff work together to manufacture various types of glass products. You will be earning money for the products you make.

Becoming a skilled flameworker is something that takes time and serious dedication. Like any educational process, you will need to have the resources and time to become educated in the field of flameworking. As an apprentice, you will make money from the products you make but you will have expenses while getting to the point that you are making a good income from them. In the beginning, the income you earn helps offset the costs involved but you will need to be prepared to pay for all of your expenses for the first 4 weeks or more. As your skills increase, you will begin to make money above the cost of the program. With sufficient passion, hard work, and dedication, you can even grow to be a well paid and accomplished flameworking craftsman. As your skills increase, you will begin to see your earnings per hour grow. A big part of the dedication we speak of comes from spending a great deal of time behind a torch using the skills you are learning. The more time you spend, the quicker you will progress, the more you will learn, and the more you will earn.

Hobbyist Program (16 weeks)
After completing the workshops, FW01 – Intro to Flameworking Borosilicate, and FW02 - Flameworking Skill Building, you will be eligible to apply for this program. Are you ready to make flameworking a part of your life? This program is designed to help you discover if you want a career in flameworking and to give you a great jumpstart as a flameworker.

The Hobbyist Program will help you polish your basic flameworking skills while you are making products we can sell. Since you are new to flameworking, the money you earn making these products will help offset your expenses of learning and eventually provide an income. For this reason, we recommend that you either have a job or a means to sustain yourself while in the Hobbyist Program. It all depends on how fast you pick it up. Although the amount of your time required to participate in this program is minimal at first, you can always spend more time. The more time you spend, the better you will get.

- Spend 10 hours per week during week 1-4, 15 hours per week during week 5-8, 20 hours per week during week 9-12, 25 hours per week during week 13-16, making products we will teach you to make.
- Spend 2 hour per week assisting with prep work and assorted tasks.
- Spend 2 hours watching other artists per week.
- Duration is 16 weeks or until all requirements are met.
- Administration fee is $50 per week.
- Rent studio time from Glass Monkey Art Studio at $8 per hour.
- Purchase materials from Glass Monkey Art Studio at reasonable rates.
- Pay for at least one hour of tutoring per week. $35 per hour.
- We will sell the products you make for a 30% commission.
- Upon completion you can continue as a Hobbyist or you can apply for the Enthusiast Program.

Enthusiast Program (16 weeks)
The Enthusiast Program will take you deeper into the rabbit hole. After completing the Hobbyist Program, you will be ready to learn even more skills, become even more productive, and learn to make even more types of items and decorative techniques. This program is designed to give you a chance to spend even more time improving your skills and working your way to making a career of being a flameworker. This program is designed to prepare you for taking on flameworking as a full time career.

This program is designed to train you in more of the basic flameworking skills while you are making products we can sell. By this time you should be making an income from flameworking, provided you have followed the previous program requirements, have enough passion for the craft, and are a good learner. Now, a greater focus is put on productivity, so you can learn to increase your earning potential. It all depends on how fast you pick it up.

- Spend 30 hours per week making products we will teach you to make.
- Spend 2 hour per week assisting with prep work and assorted tasks.
- Spend 2 hours watching other artists per week.
- Duration is 16 weeks or until all requirements are met.
- Administration fee is $40 per week.
- Rent studio time from Glass Monkey Art Studio at $7 per hour.
- Purchase materials from Glass Monkey Art Studio at very reasonable rates.
- Pay for at least one hour of tutoring per week. $35 per hour.
- Glass Monkey Art Studio will sell products you make for a 30% commission.
- Upon completion you can continue as an Enthusiast or you can apply for the Career Craftsman Program.

Career Craftsman Program (16+ weeks)
The Career Craftsman Program will help you make a full blown career out of flameworking. This program is intensive, requires serious dedication, and requires some skill. For that reason, we require you to complete the Hobbyist Program, and the Enthusiast Program before entering this program.

If you want to make serious money doing something you love, this program is for you. Be ready to learn even more advanced skills, to become even more productive, and, of course, learn to make even more types of items and decorative techniques. This program is designed to give you all the skills necessary to succeed as an accomplished flameworker.

- spend 30+ hours per week making products we will teach you to make.
- Spend 2 hour per week assisting with prep work and assorted tasks.
- Spend 2 hours watching other artists per week.
- Duration is 78 weeks or until all requirements are met.
- Apprenticeship fee is $30 per week.
- Rent studio time from Glass Monkey Art Studio at $6 per hour.
- Purchase materials from Glass Monkey Art Studio at extremely very reasonable rates.
- Pay for at least one hour of tutoring per week. $35 per hour.
- Glass Monkey Art Studio will sell products you make for a 30% commission.
- Upon completion you can continue as a Career Craftsman or go your own way.