Artists use their lungs as a modus operandi, from a trumpeter blasting brassy melodies to a minimalist singer breathing heavily into the microphone to produce chart-topping hot air. Expand your exhaling proficiency with today's Groupon: for $39, you get a half-hour introduction to glassblowing class at Daggett Glass Studio in Loveland (an $80 value). Classes are scheduled as students enroll, during the day and early evening Monday–Friday.
With bellows-like lungs and 30 years of experience, Dan Daggett masterfully conducts a symphony of gravity, respiration, and molten glass to create a vast collection of glittering glasswork. In introductory classes, a maximum of four students per class learn the basics of this rare skill, shaping a bauble using expert exhaling techniques and gaining a tropical-fish-like mastery of color and bubbles. New students will start by learning the basics of hot-shop safety and etiquette. During the 30-minute class, Dan helps eager crafters transform amorphous crystal blobs into a dazzling paperweight, which may also be worn as a precarious hat.
Daggett Glass Studio
With 28 years of experience in glass blowing, Dan Daggett knows how to carefully work with red-hot glass as it glows and twists in a furnace. At his Loveland studio, Daggett spins vases, perfume bottles, bowls, paperweights, sculptures, and platters, and he leads classes to share his craft with aspiring glass blowers. During classes, he introduces pupils to the basics of working with liquid glass and the required safety measures. While you’re in the studio, you’ll be able to take a peek at Dan’s own work—like artistic vases and sleek paperweights ideal for keeping kites from violating house arrest.