Flameworked Glass, Plasma, Design
Salem Community College
Dates: June 22nd – 26th, 2026
Time: 9am-5pm
+studio time: 5pm to 9pm (Monday-Thursday)
Tuition: $950.oo
Skill Level: Beginner
Some experience working with hollow borosilicate glass is required, but no previous plasma experience is required.
Class time will alternate between demonstration, discussion and plenty of work time. Students are encouraged but not required to utilize the evening open studio. On the last day we will light up all of our work and have our own private plasma show.
Students should come to class with a sketchbook and plenty of ideas. Reference photos are encouraged for students with specific ideas they’d like to pursue.
Some experience working with hollow borosilicate glass is required, but no previous plasma experience is required.
In this Introductory workshop students will learn the fundamentals of hollow sculpting in borosilicate glass at the torch in order to design plasma lighting. We will cover shaping, texture and proper seals in order to make simple and complex sculptures. Sculpting techniques will cover abstract and representational forms.
Learn to add and design around the electrode and filling tube. We will cover topics such as inclusions of phosphor and gas mixtures as well as problems and design challenges presented by this method of working. Once your glass vessel is complete and checked for leaks, we will fill them with noble gasses and light them up!
Meet your Instructor
Angela McHale
Angela McHale is a U.S. based artist who earned her BFA with a concentration in glass from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2017 and AAS in Scientific Glass Technology from Salem Community College in 2021. Her work grapples with concepts such as feminine strength, environmental fragility, and the apocalypse. She is inspired by mythology, science and how they relate to current events; most notably the climate crisis. Angie was drawn to glass sculpture like a moth is drawn to flame, and is inspired by the close relationship between art and science in the field of flameworking.
With plasma light sculpture she harnesses energy, utilizing the glow as metaphor for the soul and draws parallels between the noble gasses in her sculptures and our planets’ changing atmosphere. Angie’s multi-chamber plasma vessels demonstrate how her study of scientific glass has lent an ever-increasing level of complexity to her work.
