Currently Scheduled Events:
Glass etching classes and related classes

2009 Classes

PLEASE NOTE: Our glass etching and other classes offer professional instruction and a well planned curriculum. All classes are intensive, hands-on learnning sessions that follow the lecture - demonstration - participation model for students' maximum retention of information. For more information on each class, click the linked class title at the top of each class description. For general seminar information, click the SEMINARS link on the left nav bar.

Click here to view the 2009 calendars of these classes!

  Professional Glass Etching Seminar

This is where you start learning about glass etching techniques!
Our intensive, four-day hands-on seminar that covers all three major glass etching techniques, all about equipment, controlled glue chipping, found resist materials, pricing, marketing, and other tricks of the trade. Students will complete up to 10 projects on beveled glass, beveled mirror, iridized glass and glassware during this intensive seminar.

For a complete learning experience in glass etching, take this seminar in Santa Fe, then stay for a 3 day class in Photo Resist Glass Etching Techniques (mentioned below), if one is scheduled immediately after the Professional Seminar.

In Santa Fe, visit Indian pueblos, 8 museums, 200 galleries, 200 restaurants and more! Our new hacienda compound features comfortable accomodations for students in several price ranges as well as a 3500 square foot workshop/gallery complex.

To see more projects completed in these classes, go to the NEWS page and click on the link News of the Professional and Photo Resist Seminars

Please note: When offered at Aliento Glass School in Santa Fe, this seminar is usually held in combination with the Photo Resist 3 class listed below. Save time and money by taking both classes in one trip!

2 Locations

Location 1:
CHATSWORTH, CA (Los Angeles area)
Held at Glastar Corporation headquarters. Manufacturers of etching and beveling/grinding equipment for glass. See all their equipment and get demos on beveling equipment.

2009 LA classes
No scheduled seminar dates

2009 Santa Fe classes
May 6 – 9^th, 2009

August 13 - 16, 2009

November 5 - 8, 2009

The site for the Santa Fe classes is our own Aliento Glass School and Professional Glass Consultants studio. Historic Santa Fe, New Mexico is the oldest continuously occupied community in the US, and is the end of the original Santa Fe Trail. Santa Fe is at 7000 feet elevation at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo mountains with thousands of acres of national forests nearby, over 200 restaurants and 200 galleries.

  Photo Resist Glass Etching Techniques

This is where you start learning about glass etching - if you are interested primarily in etching awards, corporate and personal gifts. (For concentrated instruction on all etching techniques, see our 4 day Professional class.) In this 3 day class, you will learn everything about how to make and use all types of Photo Resists. Learn how to create your own photo resists, use pre-imaged resists, or combine with other resist techniques. Learn how to create etched designs of almost any complexity, any number of times, with no hand cutting or peeling of resist. The primary technique shown in this class is surface etching, with an introduction into carving and shading.

This is the only class available anywhere that will teach you in-depth techniques for using all 6 types of photo resist - 2 non-adhesive, 2 self adhesive, and 2 dry process type (RapidMask). Techniques include how to personalize beautiful glass and crystal pieces for corporate or indivudual gifts and how to use photo resist in multi-stage carving and shading techniques. Students will create up to 12 projects on glass, stone and ceramics. Computer programs applicable to creating photo resists will be presented and use of a computer to prepare the artwork will be demonstrated. Color filling etched glass and stone will be introduced.

To see more projects completed in these classes, go to the NEWS page and click on the link News of the Professional and Photo Resist Seminars.

Please note: When offered at Aliento Glass School in Santa Fe, this seminar is usually held in combination with the Professional Glass Etching class listed above. Save time and money by taking both classes in one trip!

$795

2 Locations

Location 1 :
DULUTH, MN
Held at PhotoBrasive headquarters, manufacturer of photo resist and etching equipment. These seminars are a 2 day version of the Photo Resist seminar described at the left. They concentrate on getting people going in Photo Resist as quickly and inexpensively as possible, so the class cost is only $499. THIS IS THE LOWEST COST PHOTO RESIST SEMINAR WE HAVE. This class only covers the most popular types of photo resist, Rapid Mask and Ultra Pro Blue. Our regular Photo Resist 3 class covers 2 additional types of resist that have more specialty uses.

2009 Duluth classes
No scheduled seminar dates

Location 2:
SANTA FE, NM See location information for Aliento in Santa Fe at the Aliento Glass School button on the left navigation bar.

2009 Santa Fe classes
May 11 – 13^th, 2009

August 18 - 20, 2009

November 10 - 12, 2009

  How to Etch on Stone

We have been teaching the introductory steps to etching and carving on stone in our Photo Resist 3 seminar. However, with all the interest in the subject, we decided to create a special class on the subject. In this class, look for methods and materials to etch or carve flat, polished stone like granite and marble as well as rougher stone like flagstone and slate - even river rocks! As a special feature, we also etch ceramic tile. We cover equipment, resists, safety, and even how to color fill the stone after you have carved it. You'll complete some amazing projects in this exciting class! This class us usually held only once a year, so don't miss it!

Location:
SANTA FE, NM See location information for Aliento in Santa Fe at the Aliento Glass School button on the left navigation bar.

2009 classes

  How to Etch Architectural Glass

This is an exciting new 5 day class that teaches everything you need to know about etching large glass pieces in doors, windows, tabletops, shower and bath enclosures, large room dividers and more. It covers etching on 1/4" plate glass, heavy glass like 3/8" to 3/4" thick glass, tempered glass and safety laminated glass. You'll learn architectural glass terminology and where to get your glass from. Learn how to etch in a pass-through cabinet and a blast room. Learn how to use a separate air supplied mask system. Class is limited to 6 students and students will complete up to 5 projects in class with a value up to $2400. Come to this glass etching class and make your own showroom samples!

Please note: The classes on Architectural Glass Etching generally sell out quickly. If you are interested don't delay, call to sign up now!

Location:
SANTA FE, NM See location information for Aliento in Santa Fe at the Aliento Glass School button on the left navigation bar.

This class was just introduced in spring 2005. We have now had several of them, we've streamlined it and have gotten great results. Several former students have gotten jump starts in their etching businesses from this class.
This class has now been proven to be THE class that will launch you into the architectural etching business.

2009 classes

April 21 – 25^th, 2009

Note: If you are not already a Preferred Customer, sign up now. You will receive advance notice by email on new seminars, in many cases before they are posted here!

How to Photograph Etched Glass

World famous glass artist Dale Chihuly gave a seminar for glass artists that we attended many years ago. His message: "Your work is NOTHING! (Right, right, we thought, here comes the part where he says OUR work is nothing, but HIS work is everything!) After letting that sink in for a few seconds, out came the unexpected declaration, "Your work is nothing - PHOTOGRAPHS of your work are everything!" He then proceeded to convince us all that good photos of our work were an absolute necessity. After all, how can you show prospective clients all the wonderful work you can do if everything you have ever done is either sold or installed in client's homes?? And what if all the photos you have are terrible? Will that impress a prospective customer? An entry level glass etcher with excellent photos can often get a job over an experienced etcher with bad photos!

This is the only seminar ever offered on photography of etched glass! Learn how to save a bundle on photography costs by taking your own pro quality photos for your brochures, portfolio, ads. Learn lots of tricks of the trade like inexpensive lighting, backdrops, props, etc., plus how to manipulate photos in the computer to get best quality results. Previous students tell us the computer section alone is worth the full price of admission! A valuable class for any glass etcher.

SANTA FE, NM

2009 classes

  NEW! Shading Techniques on Glass

Only introduced in 2006, this is the first class ever presented that is dedicated exclusively to the beautiful technique of multi-stage shading. We have a taste of this technique in our 4 day Professional seminar, but this new seminar is 4 days of nothing but shading, offered by popular demand!

Come to learn positive vs. reverse shading, uniform area vs. variable area shading, freehand shading, design for shading, how to shade with a pressure blaster and a siphon blaster (and what type of siphon blaster actually works with shading). Complete up to 10 projects.

Note: We are working on a separate page on the website for this class that will be ready soon. Call for more info.

Location:
SANTA FE, NM See location information for Aliento in Santa Fe at the Aliento Glass School button on the left navigation bar.

2009 Classes

No Scheduled seminar dates

How to Etch Photographs on Glass

This glass etching class covers everything you need to know about how to etch photos: How to scan photos or import them from digital cameras or email, how to clean them up and enhance them in the computer (using Corel and Photoshop), how to halftone them and how to print them out as originals. Then we show how to etch the halftoned photos on glass, metal and other substrates. Students will complete several photos. A very thorough class.

Location:
SANTA FE, NM See location information for Aliento in Santa Fe at the Aliento Glass School button on the left navigation bar.

2009 Classes
June 5 - 8, 2009

  Advanced Glass Etching Combo Seminar

This is your chance to get 1, 2 or 3 seminars in advanced glass etching techniques all at the same time. We have scheduled the 3 advanced seminars back-to-back in late September - October, during the most beautiful time of year in New Mexico and one or more of these classes will be during the acclaimed Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. The largest gathering of hot air balloons in the world usually draws over 850 balloons from all over the world. Since most Fiesta activities are early morning or evening, students will get ample time to visit and enjoy the activities. Some students have even taken balloon rides during the Fiesta. Kodak says this is the most photographed event in the world!

(SEE BELOW FOR INDIVIDUAL CLASS DESCRIPTIONS AND PRICES FOR EACH SEMINAR. Some classes have other individual dates as well.)

SANTA FE, NM See location information for Aliento in Santa Fe at the Aliento Glass School button on the left navigation bar. This is our own studio and school - try all the equipment and setups we use ourselves!

The 2007 classes were completed with some terrific projects! Most students attended 2 or all 3 October classes and got to see the Balloon Fiesta, complete with evening balloon glows!

Special offer! Take any combination of seminars. Get $50 off the second seminar and an additioinal $50 off the third seminar if you take all 3!

  Carving 1 Seminar (Advanced Glass Carving)

A seminar for those who want to concentrate only on advanced glass carving. (Basic to intermediate glass carving is covered in our 4 day Professional Glass Etching Seminar.) This is the next step in improving your glass carving techniques. Now that you know all the rules of carving, we'll show you how to break them to get even better results!

Enrollment is restricted so students get maximum carving time. Students must have taken our Professional Glass Etching Seminar or have equivalent experience in carving.

SANTA FE, NM See location information for Aliento in Santa Fe at the Aliento Glass School button on the left navigation bar.

2009 classes
October 2 – 5, 2009 (tentative)

  How to Color Etched Glass, Level 1

A special comprehensive seminar on coloring etched glass. The class is 3 days and includes color mixing and a little color theory, airbrushing, designing for coloring and more. The info in this class covers techniques used to color etching on larger pieces (like architectural glass) as well as those for smaller pieces. See the complete class description for more. Just click the linked class title above.

Knowing how to color your etched glass can give you the ability to satisfy more commission customers, especially those wanting to match corporate or company colors or homeowners wanting etched or carved glass to match a particular decorating theme. It also allows you to create your own unique artwork.

$795

SANTA FE, NM See location information for Aliento in Santa Fe at the Aliento Glass School button on the left navigation bar.

2009 classes
October 7 – 9, 2009 (tentative)

How to Color Etched Glass
Level 2 seminar

New seminar! This class is offered in response to the many requests we have had for a more advanced coloring class. It is the next step in coloring etched and carved glass after the Level 1 class. Larger, more involved projects with more sophisticated techniques. Basic experience with an airbrush is required or our Level 1 class. Call for more info.

$795

2009 Classes
Level 2 seminar
February 20 – 22^nd, 2009

  How to Gold Leaf on Glass -- Level 1

This will be an intensive 3 day gold leafing class. Students will not only learn matte and burnished gilding, but also methods of coloring gold size (to produce gilded elements with different colors) and other unique techniques like using mica powders in different colors. These techniques can produce stunning accents to your etched glass designs as well as etched and carved designs that are completely gold leafed.

Basic glass etching is a requirement before taking this class. Students will complete several elaborate projects in the class. No gold leafing experience is necessary to take this class, but etching experience helpful!

Projects will be sent in advance to students to work on before arriving. The type of project each student does will be determined by their level of etching experience.

SANTA FE, NM See location information for Aliento in Santa Fe at the Aliento Glass School button on the left navigation bar.

2009 classes
October 11 – 13, 2009 (tentative)

How to Gold Leaf on Glass, Level 2

(This will be the first ever Level 2 gold class. This class has been scheduled by popular request from former students. If you have taken our Gold Leaf - Level 1 class before (or if you have basic gold leaf experience), and you want more experience before tackling the advanced Level 3 class, this is for you! We are working on a class page for this class but it will not be posted here on the site until later. Call for prerequisites and more information!

SANTA FE, NM See location information for Aliento in Santa Fe at the Aliento Glass School button on the left navigation bar.

2009 classes
Level 2 seminar
February 16 – 18^th, 2009

  How to Gold Leaf on Glass -- Level 3

Important note: Anyone who has taken our intensive Level 1 or Level 2 gold leafing class should be able to take this class without problem. The project for this seminar was in development for over a year before the first class was held. The current estimate of the value of this project is $4000 or more!! An amazing situation when the class project will be worth so much more than the cost of the class! How can you lose??

The beautiful Egyptian themed project (nicknamed "Cleopatra") will show you how to etch a very complex design using BOTH pre-cut and photo resist stencils. Then, students will use a combination of matte and burnished gilding, mica powders and tinted gold sizing to create the gilded effects. Extensive use of paint application techniques will compliment the piece and will simulate the use of semi-precious stones so common in gilded Egyptian sculpture. The size of this completed piece is 17" x 20" and it will be done on crystal clear glass. Basic gold leafing experience required! Class strictly limited to 6.

The answer to all our students who have taken our first gold leafing seminars (or or other gilders that know matte and burnished gilding) and want to go farther. This seminar offers not only the completion of an amazing project, with all the techniques necessary, but also the planning skills necessary to attempt such a project. There are so many effects possible with gold leafing, you have to know not only HOW to do them, but also WHEN and WHY.

Materials are not included in the class fee. A materials list will be provided when students sign up. You can bring your own materials or get them from us at very reasonable costs.

SANTA FE, NM See location information for Aliento in Santa Fe at the Aliento Glass School button on the left navigation bar.
No other class like this available anywhere! The only other way you can get this experience is to apprentice with a professional gilder, if you can find one.

2009 classes
No scheduled seminar dates

 On-Site Glass Etching

This seminar teaches everything you need to know about the equipment you need, techniques you can use, and business considerations like products, pricing and marketing for on-site etching.

Make your projects and take'em, too! You will construct your own glass crate (with help, of course) and we'll ship your projects to you. (Shipping cost is extra.)

Let us show you how to get into this lucrative market! Believe it or not, the equipment investment can be as low as $800 if you follow our advice about how and where to get a compressor!

Please note: Don't miss this popular seminar! Just like the Architectural Glass Etching class above, very limited enrollment not only gives students a better chance to learn the techniques, it means that classes generally sell out fairly quickly.

Location:
SANTA FE, NM See location information for Aliento in Santa Fe at the Aliento Glass School button on the left navigation bar.

New 4 day format includes important new info, including how to crate and ship your etched glass. Students will have the opportunity to crate and ship their own finished pieces! Class limited to 6.

2009 Classes
No scheduled seminar dates

 Open Studio Session

New!!!! Open Studio Session (Limit 4)

If you wish to work on specific techniques using your own designs than this is the session for you. Bring your art work and we will work on the image together. Instruction is in the mornings while the afternoons are for your own work time.
Instructor: Ruth Dobbins.

Location:
SANTA FE, NM See location information for Aliento in Santa Fe at the Aliento Glass School button on the left navigation bar.

2009 Classes
July 15 - 18, 2009

Please note that prices on all classes are subject to change without notice. Anyone signed up for a seminar, with a valid deposit, will be protected at that price, even if the general price increases.

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