You will be protected by a panel to some extent while you're turning liquid glass at the end of a pipe, but make sure you're wearing long sleeves and as well as the thick gloves and protective eyewear provided (those of us who wear glasses will have to settle for that). It's still pretty warm, even so.

I'm not the most dextrous or artistic of individuals but instructor Nick Adams - an established artist in his own right who's sending two works off to a Made in Australia exhibition in Germany later in the year - was patient and calm throughout the process. He kept me from injury or from making a complete fool of myself in front of the observers in the public gallery. In effect, I was assisting Nick throughout the creation of the tumbler; I was hands on but secondary, which is as it should be for an absolute beginner.

It all began simply enough, choosing some crushed coloured glass, or frit, to melt into the surface of the tumbler. I selected light blue, but there are plenty of other possibilities, ranging from subtle to very bright. Nick stuck a rod into the fiery furnace to extract the glass, glowing orange, and we were off.

We dipped it into the frit then stuck it into the glory hole to reheat it, turning it carefully to melt the pattern in, then taking it out and shaping and smoothing it with other tools on a bench to ensure it was all flush with no grooves or dents before returning it for more heating.

It also needed a bubble put in it to create a negative space to drink from and when all the heating and shaping and smoothing was finished, the glass was placed in an annealor, an oven to cool the glass down at a mere 495 degrees, to be picked up three days later.

The verdict: It was intense, sometimes hot, and hard work, but fascinating, almost magical, to see the liquid glass go through the process of becoming a recognisable and aesthetically pleasing object which I had a hand in creating. Even if you don't want to make a tumbler, the process of creation it is interesting to see, and the Glassworks is worth a visit for that as well as for the exhibitions there.

Details: The Make Your Own sessions run between 10.20am and 3.40pm every Saturday and Sunday at the Canberra Glassworks hotshop in Kingston. The sessions are for those 14 and older, and run for around 40 minutes. Sessions are $80 to make a paperweight or $120 to make a tumbler. You can go back and collect your creation a few days later, or pay extra for postage. Wear non-synthetic clothing, closed shoes and tie up long hair. To book visit canberraglassworks.com.