In the ten years or so since Harvey Littleton set up his first studio and Dominick Labino provided the initial technical means to make small glass shops work, glass blowing has begun to develop as a studio craft similar to pottery. In any field it is hard to know where things are at or in which direction they are going. Teaching jobs that have been a major factor in the expansion of the crafts in recent years, have dried up. It is a significant change that a person starting in the crafts today seems to have a better chance of doing it as a producing craftsman than as a teacher, something that relatively few people recognized in the recent past.
It is easier to blow a bubble than to learn to center a ball of clay. Blowing glass is a lot quicker and easier than pottery in the beginning, and a lot harder in the long run. It is usually harder work physically and nervously. Glass involves a more demanding and critical technology, much higher production costs, and more potential hazards to health and safety that should not be underrated. A sizable but still unorganized body of small-studio technical knowledge has accumulated, and a number of people have developed a consistent level of skill that enables them to profitably maintain a studio.
