While commonly used for eyewear, ineffective force fields, and confusing goldfish about the nature of reality, glass can also be formed into art. Explore techniques in transparent creation with today's Groupon: for $30, you get an introduction to stained glass or glass fusing class at Suevel Studios in Arlington Heights (a $60 value). The use of all tools and materials are included in this deal.
Suevel Studios fosters the next generation of element benders with a cornucopia of classes that teach how to masterfully manipulate glass. Don long pants and closed-toed shoes for the Introduction to Stained Glass 100 class, where each guest crafts a 4"x4" masterpiece while learning how to design a pattern, foil, cut glass, and solder. Instruction whisks soon-to-be glass gurus through the basics, creating a solid base of techniques to build upon. Novitiate crystal wielders can hone melting skills with Introduction to Glass Fusing 100. Expert heat-harnessers will lead students through the creation of a fused-glass pendant by tickling a dragon until its fiery sneezes merge glass particles into one. Suevel Studios ensures personal attention to each of their apprentices by limiting class sizes to 20 people.
Suevel Studios
Eric and Markay Suevel have run the eponymous Suevel Studios—a full-service glass studio that creates custom pieces and hosts classes—for more than 30 years. Both proprietors have practiced the art for decades, but their partnership marries two distinct approaches. Eric learned the craft at a young age from his uncle, and Markay possesses a liturgical perspective as an ordained minister with a master’s in divinity. They cut and fuse alongside a team of worldly and learned glassworkers, all of whom bring their own specific expertise to the table, whether doing restoration work or mosaics. The studio's stained-glass work lights up churches, homes, and restaurants as well as their students’ faces after they complete one of 25 classes. There, apprentices acquire the skills required to decorate household windows or liven up bland, translucent reading glasses.
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