Most broken glass ends up in the landfill. However there are two people who make wonderful creations using broken glass.
The two Spanish artists, Javier Guttiérez and Efrén Canteras have been working together since the 1990’s. They would like to carry on the Mexican tradition of glass blowing, and make it known to as many people as possible. Javier masters the technique of glass blowing; when he was 15, he fell in love with this wonderful art and decided to show his knowledge to everybody. Javier and Efrén have their own glassblowing shop and they use lead free glass shards as the basic material.
To make such a beautiful glass pitcher, the glass has to be processed in a few steps. After being taken out from the hot furnace, it is put onto an iron table and rolled until it starts looking somewhat like a pitcher. Next, the blob is rolled into colorful tiny glass pieces and put back into the furnace again. After that, it is placed into a mold where it is going to gain its final shape. Here, the craftsman blows into it through a long pipe to dilate the hot glass. The pitcher will get its final shape when the handle is attached to it.
The technique is absolutely breathtaking, and it would be nice if more artists would carry on this ancient art.