Twisties, Churros, Icicles. Glass artists have lots of different names for these simple, elegant ornaments. Icicles are a popular project for beginning flameworking classes, because they require several different tools and introduce a few basic sculpture techniques.
The steps are simple, but it takes a little practice to shape a light, graceful ornament. First, a gather of very hot glass is pressed into a flat disk, the thinner the better. Then the disk is heated again while being stretched and twisted, all in one smooth step.
You just get one chance with the shape. You can’t untwist a twistie, so let go and let it flow! It’s a dance of heat and timing. After making several icicles, the student realizes that hot glass sculpting is a temporal art.