Cobalt Blue Vortex Platter

This handblown glass platter is created by first rolling a molten clear bubble of glass through a layer of cobalt blue glass fragments (about the size of rock salt), and then rolling it though similar sized white powdered glass. The next step is to blow the bubble into an aluminum optic mold that has 12 triangular ribs on the inside of it. The ribbed bubble is heated and twisted to create the vortex spiral. Another layer of molten clear glass is gathered on the bubble, blown into a sphere, and then a molten bit of clear is dropped on the bottom to create a foot for the platter. The final move is to put another metal rod on the bottom, break off the blow pipe, and spin the sphere into a large flat plate. It is then quickly dropped over a wok to give it the bowl-like form. When finished, the platter is placed into a 950-degree oven to cool slowly overnight.