Zurich Glass school

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Zurich Glass school

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Zurich Glass School is an ideal School of Art for creatives to build a solid foundation in skills wit The school isn't only working on flameworking skills.

Our school is working mainly but not exclusively working in off-mandrel sculptural work in both soft and hard glass. Our programmes are very much focused on hand-skill improvement as opposed to use of colour. We are also offering workshops in marketing, photography of glass and in September we have a festival of talks called 'Contemporary Contexts'. This festival is for people who have come to glass later in life. People who want to enrich their apprehension and understanding of the trade. I am conducting a series of insightful LIVE interviews from an historical and a contemporary context from artists, curators and industry CEO's in from all over the world. This festival takes the form of 2 interviews per week for five weeks with flameworking greats such as Shane Fero for example. Apart from the LIVE programmes which are time dependent we also offer our classes as E_courses, so if there was a workshop you liked the look of but you missed it, you still have the opportunity to take part, simply without the live factor. This is also reflected in the price as these packages are at a different price point.

13/10/2026

Hello Flameworkers everywhere, it's Zurich Glass School calling!

A final little nudge before we begin!

👉 www.zurichglassschool.com/service-page/julie-2-the-figure-in-flame-glass-sculpture-course-live

Julie 2: The Figure in Flame starts this Saturday, 17 October! 🔥

This weekend, I'll be spending two days with a small group of glassmakers and artists exploring the human figure in glass in the Italian style— from simple torsos and the Venus forms to full figures and my Dryad Spirit of the Tree.

We'll work with soft glass and borosilicate, exploring construction, proportion, balance and movement. Not simply copying a figure, but understanding why it works, so you can begin making your own sculptural decisions.

Six LIVE online sessions across two days, with time between demonstrations to practise, ask questions and develop your work. All sessions are recorded for participants.

Watch · practise · return · develop.

There's still time to join us!

Over and out, rubber ducky! 🦆

Dr Julie

09/10/2026

Hello Flameworkers everywhere, it's Zurich Glass School calling!

https://www.zurichglassschool.com/learn/member-events

🐒 SPECIAL GUEST: COYLE CONDENSER!

This Sunday's Torchlight & Tonic is OPEN TO EVERYONE!

🔥 Monkey Head demonstration with fresh commentary

🎙️ LIVE Q&A with Coyle

💬 Your chance to pick the brains of an extraordinary glass sculptor!

Sunday 11 October | 17:30 Swiss time

CHF 35 non-members (approx $40) | FREE for eligible ZGS members

See you there! ❤️

15/09/2026

How little can you put into a figure before it stops feeling human?

It’s one of the questions we explore in Julie 2: The Figure in Flame.

Thousands of years ago, Cycladic sculptors reduced the human figure to extraordinarily simple forms — removing expression, anatomical detail and individuality, yet leaving us with something immediately recognisable as human.

Centuries later, that same economy of form became enormously influential to modern sculptors including Brancusi, Modigliani, Giacometti, Hepworth and Moore.

There’s a very good lesson for us as glass sculptors here.

You don’t need to reproduce every anatomical detail to make a convincing figure. You need to understand which information matters.

That’s why Figure in Flame isn’t simply about learning how to construct a torso, attach limbs and reproduce one of my figures.

Across six LIVE sessions, we’ll look at proportion, balance, gesture, construction and heat placement — and then start asking what we can remove, exaggerate, simplify and change while still retaining the essence of the human form.

We begin simply and build from there.

Julie 2: The Figure in Flame
17–18 October 2026
Six LIVE online sessions across two days
Soft glass + borosilicate
Limited to 16 students

Early-bird ends tomorrow, 16 September — 10% off with code FIGURE10.

Reserve your place:
Julie 2: The Figure in Flame

11/09/2026

How does a figure emerge from molten glass? 🔥
Watch this ↓

09/09/2026

What happens when you stop trying to make a figure “correctly”?

Sculpting the human figure in glass isn't simply a matter of learning how to make a torso, attach a pair of arms and legs, and hope everything stays where you put it.

Those things matter — and we will learn them.

But they're only the beginning.

Julie 2: The Figure in Flame is about understanding the figure well enough that you can begin to pull it apart, exaggerate it, simplify it and eventually make it your own.

Over six LIVE sessions, we begin with the fundamentals: torso construction, proportion, balance, gesture, heat placement and joining. From there, the figures become increasingly complex — from simple torsos and wearable Venus forms through complete figures, abstraction and finally narrative sculpture.

We'll look at why a figure works, not simply how to reproduce one.
Why does moving an arm change the personality of a sculpture?
How little information do we actually need before the eye recognises a human body?

When does exaggeration become more convincing than anatomical accuracy?

And how can we use those decisions to begin developing our own sculptural language?

This is the way I teach. I break the process down, ask the questions that are easy to forget once you've been making glass for years, and use visual learning alongside demonstration and discussion to help you understand what is actually happening in the flame.

Julie 2: The Figure in Flame
17–18 October 2026
Six LIVE online sessions across two days
Soft glass + borosilicate
Limited to just 16 students
Six months' access to recordings

10% early-bird discount until 16 September — use code FIGURE10
Places are now open:
www.zurichglassschool.com/service-page/julie-2-the-figure-in-flame-glass-sculpture-course-live

08/09/2026

Julie 2: The Figure in Flame — LIVE Online Intensive
17–18 October 2026 | Six LIVE sessions | Two days

The human figure is one of the oldest subjects in art — and one of the most extraordinary ways to learn to sculpt glass. As an artist myself and the founder and director of ZGS, it is the closest subject to my own fiery heart.

Over one intensive weekend, we'll move from relatively simple torso studies and wearable Venus forms through Cycladic-inspired sculptures, complete figures, gesture and problem-solving, before exploring the much more ambitious Dryad — Spirit of the Trees.

This isn't an anatomy course — it's about learning to understand proportion, balance, heat, gravity and gesture; knowing what to leave out; and ultimately beginning to develop your own sculptural language.

I limit these LIVE intensives to just 16 students. That gives me time to get to know who's in the room, hear your questions and actually help you as you work through the course. This is a small, intensively taught class — not a webinar to a screen full of anonymous faces.

Soft glass + borosilicate. LIVE online.

Reserve your place for October:

www.zurichglassschool.com/service-page/julie-2-the-figure-in-flame-glass-sculpture-course-live

Book by 16 September and receive 10% off.
Use code FIGURE10 at checkout.

28/08/2026

Action from Louis Thompson at the international Festival of Glass

26/08/2026

Aunty Travelling Jules is getting ready to hit the road again… 😎

On Friday I'm heading to St Helens for the British Glass Biennale and International Festival of Glass 2026 — and Zurich Glass School is coming with me.

I'm not going simply to look at beautiful glass and drink w**e with glassmakers. Although I make absolutely no promises regarding the latter.

I've got a few things planned.

Some you'll see while I'm there.

Some I'll be bringing home for ZGS.

And some I'm keeping under my hat for now.

Watch this space. 👀

24/08/2026

“Why learning sculpture isn't about copying”

The object you make in a class isn't really the point.

That might sound like an odd thing for a glass school to say.

When I teach a torso, an animal or a figure, of course I want you to understand how to make it. But what I'm really interested in is what happens underneath.

Why did the glass move that way?

Why did that join fail?

Why does changing where we put the heat completely alter the form?
What can we simplify — and what can't we?

A demonstration gives us something concrete to work through together. But the useful bit is understanding why each decision works.

Because once you understand that, you don't need to keep making my figure.
You can go and make yours.

Learn the technique. Understand why it works. Then make it your own.

That's increasingly the thinking behind how I'm organising learning at Zurich Glass School.

25/06/2026

Serbay’s Advanced Beasties LIVE and EXCLUSIVE online course begins this weekend.
Six live sessions.
Advanced sculpting in soft glass.
Limited places remaining.
www.zurichglassschool.com/service-page/serbay-3-hard-beasties

Adresse

Turbinenstrasse 32
Zürich
8005

Website

http://www.zurichglassschool.com/, http://www.zurichglassschool.com/

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