Lava Glass

Everyone I interview says they are passionate about their job (yes, even the insurance sales representatives) so it is hugely refreshing to find somebody who actually is. Lynden Over’s eyes light up when he describes his enthusiasm for glass. “I’ve always had a fascination with glass – it’s really amazing material.

“Glass has changed our view on the world. Before glass we didn’t have microscopes and we didn’t know that bacteria caused disease. It has led to so much progress and invention in many areas, and I just wanted to work with it.”

He is taking a mini break from his work at his studio in Wairakei near Taupo. He rarely stops for coffee or lunch because the ovens are so expensive to heat to their necessary temperatures that he doesn’t like to waste a second. “I have four gas-fired furnaces and four electric, and my gas bill alone went from $3,000 to $5,000 a month with the latest rise in fuel prices.”

His cheese sandwich rests on a workbench and a bottle of water is constantly at hand. He calls this the hot shop where the furnace is heated to 1060°C. Beside the furnace, there is a ‘glory hole’ and an ‘annealer’ which is used to slowly cool the glass.

“The thickness and the vagaries of the glass depend on how long it takes to cool – we need special cooling areas so that it doesn’t cool down too quickly.” The vase that he is working on will take about two days, but some of the paperweights in his gallery are eight inches thick and took two months to cool properly.

Customers can watch Lynden work his molten magic from a bank of cushioned seats in the studio. “I describe to people what I’m doing and talk to them as I’m working.

"The studio used to be open and part of the gallery but people would come and stand and watch which it made it hard for others to look at the artefacts and buy things. So we separated them into different areas and that works really well – people can get close to the objects in the gallery and have a good look at them now, or they can sit and watch the glassblowing uninterrupted.”

He is a born showman as he explains the process. He puffs air into a molten blob of glass which he gathers at the end of a blowpipe like a honey dipper. Through a series of breaths, he then inflates this to the desired size, and twirls it in the air like an acrobat to control the temperature.

“You have to be ambidextrous. There is only a limited amount of time you can work with the glass before it cools down, and if it cools too fast it can break so you have to be able to make really quick decisions. You work to a rhythm and know what comes next in the process.”

Lynden is able to craft this vase himself, but he says he enjoys making big pieces, such as huge galactic bowls which take three people to make. “You have to be really organised and know what stage you are up to – it’s almost like a dance around each other. It’s a fine line between letting a piece get too hot or too cold and it requires a lot of concentration.”

Backlit by flames like a sorcerer he sculpts and decorates the malleable glass, rolling it in fragments of coloured glass (intriguingly called ‘frit’) that have been transported from Auckland. These chips are laid out in piles on a workbench like the ingredients of some sparkling dish.

He shows me shelves of neatly labelled boxes of many colours – the green hues alone take up several rows: emerald; jade; forest; eel; lime; granny smith; opal; olive… The cold shop is where the grinding and polishing take place. “It’s easy to tell which is which depending on whether or not you need a jersey.”

It seems appropriate for Lynden’s studio to be based in this region and it takes its name, Lava Glass, from the surrounding volcanic activity. He didn’t always intend to be in Taupo, but he came here for a holiday and stayed.

Now he takes his inspiration for designs from the natural world around him. A series inspired by the Huka Falls features shades of blue and white and frothy bubbles. The tectonic teardrops imitate the lava-like molten shapes; “a liquid tear with layers of colour representing the landscape of mountain and rock with hints of the fluid, fiery depth of the earth.”

Lynden’s interest in glass creations ignites his vocabulary and he is also creative in his practical approach. “The equipment is highly specialised and a lot of our tools have to come from England or America. You have to be a bit inventive with making your own equipment. I built the kiln and made this workbench myself because I couldn’t find anything that worked.”

He is no stranger to this type of problem-solving. “My dad was a potter and I helped him build a kiln so I’ve always been used to working with high temperatures and hazardous materials. But I soon realised there was no money to be made in the arts so took engineering courses and became a labourer.”

A diploma of applied arts at Northland Polytechnic at Whangarei majoring in glass and jewellery drew him back to glassblowing – “It’s part of our heritage and history.” When he talks about machine-made glass, the fire flickers and threatens to go out. “Rogernomics killed all the glass studios. They are so expensive to run and you can buy mass-produced items for a fraction of the cost. Some of the most prestigious glassblowing industries, such as Waterford Crystal and Caithness have gone into receivership.”

But the spark is still there and he brightens up again as he explains, “Handmade goblets will be unique while machines can’t put coloured patterns into glass. I suppose for everyday use people can buy their glassware from the Warehouse, but glassblowing is still used for gifts and art. We just need to educate the public about what goes into it.”

The Lava Glass studio is a great place to start learning.