MarcoArellano

Drawing of how to take a glowing gather of borosilicate glass and turn it into a clear marble.

🔥🔮 Marble Making 099

This isn’t 101… this is 099 the prerequisite. Where every marble journey begins

🔥🔮 Marble Making 099: The Maria Method

Here are the steps laid out in glass, showing the path from the very beginning all the way to a finished marble.

It starts with a glass rod, gathered and heated in the flame.

From there, I press the rod to form a Maria a flat, coin like disk that becomes the base for shaping. A second Maria can be pushed to one side, a third to the other, even one in the middle. These Marias set the structure and give me points of control before rounding.

Once the Marias are stacked, I begin to round them up in the flame. Step by step, the flat disks soften and smooth into a sphere. Gravity helps as I turn and shift axes, letting the weight of the glass do the work.

When I’m satisfied with the shape, I remove the punty, polish away tool marks in the flame, and finish balancing the marble until it spins evenly in the hand.

The result is a round glass sphere made from the Maria method no color no decoration only rhythm, heat, and balance. A roadmap from rod to marble.

 Thank you to every teacher and glass master along my journey.

-Marco

Frits and powered 

✨ Frit Happens 🎨

Frit is crushed glass in different sizes, used by artists to decorate and layer color in marbles and other glass art. From fine powders to bold chips, frit creates patterns, textures, and depth that make each piece unique.

Crucible Collection

From the depths of the crucible, we gather molten glass and give it new life. Each marble in the Crucible Collection is rolled to resemble elegant glass stones, carrying the unique character of its origin.

😎 I came to chew bubblegum and melt glass… and Two marbles from trash to flash 📸 🍬 (chewing gum for scale and size...)

Modern Day Cullet Box

Glass fragments from different days, saved at the edge of the flame.

Tomorrow, they’ll roll into marbles not factory made, but hand-spun, one at a time.

💫From chaos comes character.

Last Daze / Marco

🎨 Northstar Stack: Color Testing for the Global Marble Hunt

I’ve received a selection of rods from Northstar Glass and TAG in Portland, Oregon each one labeled, separated, and ready for flame testing. These colors will be twisted, spun, and formed into marbles for the upcoming Global Marble Hunt. From cadmiums to experimentals, Northstar has long guided the borosilicate world. Now, their palette becomes part of this worldwide event 1 color per marble, or blended in new combinations discovered through the torch. 🌍 North Star… is color
Thank you to the teams at Northstar and TAG for fueling this work.
More colors coming. More marbles to roll.

Let’s spin.
—Marco A.
Salem, Oregon

 🧩 Every piece was once bound for the trash.

Now, it’s treasure... permanent proof that the fire never wastes a single moment.Trash Into Treasure. What you're looking at isn't just glass trash it's evidence.
Evidence that something happened today in the studio.

A swirl of stormy steel teal and silvered chaos

red-and-black vortex sealed under clear

🌌 “Blurple”

Colorway: Blue • Purple • Midnight Fade

*Mib soft purple blue fog like

Leftover cane. Broken tips. Failed starts.

🔥 This isn’t the clean, polished glass of galleries.
This is "Last Daze" glass 

Each piece in the “Last Daze” series is born in the twilight of the torch.

These marbles are made from the scraps, the color tests, the strange ends of rods the ghosts of the day’s experiments. They may carry scuffs, fingerprints, tool marks. No plan, no polish just the raw, unfiltered last daze of creation.

Each marble is a time capsule of the daze. A piece of evidence that something happened today. A messy, magic, End-Of-Days monument.

🚦 Update: The First Race Track Has Arrived 🏁

The first race track has landed and is ready for assembly.
The first sets of handmade racing marbles are rolling out—custom colors, exotic patterns, and the beginnings of future teams.

What’s Next:

More tracks under construction

Handmade marbles in new colors and designs

The first elimination races coming soon

HMRA – Handmade Marble Racing Association
Handmade. Colorful. Competitive. Built to roll.

🏆 Handmade Marble Racing Association 🏆

The Handmade Marble Racing Association (HMRA) creates and races handmade glass marbles forged in fire, custom in color, and built as both art and racer. With unique tracks, documented events, and growing clubs, HMRA turns craftsmanship into competition and marbles into champions.

Handmade. Colorful. Competitive. Built to roll.

🌍✨ **Global Marble Hunt** ✨🌍 Fresh handmade marbles hidden in public spots 🎨🔮 Look for the stickers 👀🎟️ the mystery marble may be waiting behind! Street art meets geocaching 🚶‍♂️🗺️ … new twists & gameplay coming soon 🎯🔥

  #999Marbles 

🔥🌍 Huge thanks to Northstar for the 🔥 colors! I’ll be testing combos, documenting each marble, and sharing how these hues evolve from pocket-sized gems to global giveaways. 💎📦🎥
#999Marbles #Glassblowing #NorthstarGlass #MarbleDrop

Oregon-based and rooted at Northstar’s Portland home, my marble quest begins with their vivid borosilicate hues marking the first stones of this global hunt

Thank you Bob thank you Abe

🧭🌍✈️🔮❤️‍🔥❓🧳🗺️🏴‍☠️💎📍🎒💥

#999Marbles

#TreasureChestOfGlass

#MarbleHunt

Northstar Glassworks, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, produces a remarkable array of Borocolour® borosilicate glass 

Hi everyone,

I’m launching The Global Marble Hunt, a long-term adventure where I hide handmade marbles in public places for others to find. I’m currently working in the state of Oregon and kicking things off with a marble hunt in Salem. From there, the plan is to take these hunts across the U.S., and eventually around the world.

Some will be quick “stash and dash” drops, others will be larger organized hunts — but all will be documented here.

If you like the idea of searching for marbles out in the wild — or hiding a few for someone else to discover — I hope you’ll follow along.

Here’s to the thrill of the hunt and the joy of the find.

— Marco / The Global Marble Hunt Team