Hello and welcome to The Conversation from the BBC World Service.
This is the show which puts women in the spotlight and allows us to hear the most incredible stories and insights from all around the world.
I'm Dashiani Navanayagam.
Today, glassmaking.
From functional glassware to fantastical and delicate creations,
this fusion between science and creativity is a demanding craft which requires skill,
patience and focus.
But what's it like for the women working in this industry?
To find out more, I'm joined by Mira Davida, a Hungarian glass artist based in Stockholm in Sweden,
whose primary technique is flameworking, the craft of shaping molten glass with a hand torch.
And joining me in the studio is Phoebe Stubbs, a British glassblower and founder of Gather,
one of the last remaining hot glass studios in London.
Mira and Phoebe, a very warm welcome to the conversation.
Phoebe, if I start with you,
just give us an overview of what glass is like as a substance, as a material to work with.
It's incredibly viscous and hot.
I suppose that's the first thing people notice about it.
So within our furnace is a pot of molten glass and we keep it at 1170 degrees Celsius.
So it's really got this kind of incredible sticky molten quality.
Gathering it or taking glass from the furnace is a bit like gathering up honey onto a stick.