With this month’s edition of Trying New Things, I am diverging from the regularly scheduled fitness activity and…per the column title…trying something new. I was lucky enough to be able to do a glass fusing class at the Sawtooth School for Visual Art. I am not a naturally artistic person and art is not my normal wellness activity, but I’m thrilled I had the opportunity to give a class a try.
Sawtooth History
If you spend time in downtown Winston-Salem, you’ve probably passed by Sawtooth dozens of times without realizing – it has an identifiable, jagged roofline. Sawtooth, under its previous name the “Arts and Crafts Workshop” has been a pivotal part of Winston-Salem culture since 1945. It operates as a nonprofit community art and craft school with high quality instructors, affordable classes and gorgeous facilities. Sawtooth offers camps and classes in eleven different disciplines.
What’s Glass Fusing?
I went into this class intentionally not knowing anything about glass fusing; I wanted to really jump in and see what it is like to take an art class and if I could keep up.
Turns out, most of the other students in the class – seven in total – had no prior experience in glass fusing either. I took my seat at the station already set up with the materials I needed: glue, a glass cutter and two types of pliers. The instructor, Betti Longinotti, went through the basics of her experience, what we were making and a few strategies. After the brief instruction, we worked independently with the instructor there to assist. We were making small trinket dishes, so the process was drawing a quick sketch of what we wanted ours to look like, picking out colored glasses, cutting them and gluing them to a paper so they could be fired in a kiln later for us to pick up and take home.
Beginner Friendly?
I think one of the best parts of this class was how beginner friendly it was. As Betti explained, glass fusing is very forgiving, especially if the plan for the trinket dish is a mosaic design. The colors fuse together so small gaps and errors melt away. The actual act of putting together the dish was also beginner friendly. Betti played music in the room, and it was relaxing to slowly watch the glass dish fall into place.
A Conversation with Betti Longinotti
Chatting with Betti Longinotti after the class really solidified that Sawtooth, and the Winston-Salem art community as a whole, is something that matters to a lot of people. Betti’s background in art stretched long before her time at Sawtooth: “I’ve been in art since I can remember; wanting to be an artist.” After high school, Betti continued her studies at the Maryland Institute College of Art and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. When she was in college she had an apprenticeship in stained glass, when she fell in love with the discipline. “I was given a box of glass and he [her mentor] said, ‘make something,’ and we were making lampshades. It took so long in the beginning with all the designing, cutting, grinding, copper foiling and soldering. It took a whole semester to get that done. At the end of the semester, I said ‘I want to do this again.’”
When Betti moved to Winston-Salem with her husband, Sawtooth was going through renovations and she was able to interview for a position at the school. After joining Sawtooth, she started the stained glass program. Betti has been an instructor since 1982. “Sawtooth is a community. I know a lot of artists and teachers here; we’re a family.”
Please register for your own class or camp at sawtooth.org and support a wonderful local business!
