St. Peters’ Glasslight Studio transforms glass into art Latest Business News

St. Peters’ Glasslight Studio transforms glass into art

22 February, 2010

A chandelier hangs from the ceiling of Glasslight Studios in St. Peter’s. Photo by Emily Ryan

ST. PETERS — A thick February snowfall blankets the ground outside Glasslight Studio, but inside, an industrial fan churns as the furnace roars at 2,450 degrees Fahrenheit. One at a time, craftsmen open the furnace door, releasing blasts of hot air as they gather molten glass. Hot and cold are relative terms here.

“For our purposes, the glass is cold at 1,500 to 1,800 degrees,” said Karl Brachwitz. “We’re sweating profusely whether it’s January or July.”

About four years ago, Brachwitz, a custom builder, and his wife visited Glasslight Studio as customers in need of a lamp. Today, he helps create them. “I signed up to take a class. I took another class. I took another class. It got into my blood,” he explained.

Last year, Brachwitz became a partner in the business, which Joel Bless and his wife, Candace Luke-Bless, founded in 1981. The couple met as art students at Rochester Institute of Technology, where Bless first explored glassblowing.

“He tried it and fell in love,” said Luke-Bless. “It was a brand new program and really the beginning of the glassblowing movement in this country.”

While she described their work, Bless busily produced pieces in the studio. Wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt, jeans and baseball cap, the bearded, spectacled artist lifted and turned a 5-foot, steel blowing pipe. Holding it to his mouth, Bless blew air through the pipe into a mass of hot glass.

“When you watch somebody work who knows what they’re doing, it looks very smooth and easy,” he said. “This is like any job. To become proficient at it takes a long time.”

“Like chess or curling, there are simple, basic tools and rules, but it’s a lifetime to master,” added Brachwitz. “There’s a lot of physics and chemistry involved, but without art, it’s just an industry.”

Slowly, Bless pushed, pulled and stretched the glass, continually reheating it in an oven that puts off approximately 400,000 BTU, several times the heat of a home furnace. “There is some magic in it. There is something magical about it,” he said with a smile. “This is a very, very addicting craft.”

He and a fellow artist, Paul Madsen, collaborate in the studio. “He’s really good with metal. He has a good eye,” Bless said. “The pieces now are a combination of metal and glass. They represent a fluid marriage between two materials that really work together.”

As Bless controls the blowing pipe, Madsen holds wet newspaper against the glass, creating a burst of steam as he coaxes it into shape. They repeat the physically demanding process several times. Finally, Bless hoists the pipe and whirls it around. The result: a beautiful, fluid, multicolored lampshade.

Working together, the craftsmen remove the glass and place it in what’s called an annealing oven to cool. The finished lampshade will rest atop a spiral metal base. “Overall, I really enjoy the spiral lamps,” Bless said.

Gradually, methodically, instinctively, he transforms glass into art every day. The studio’s work constantly evolves, partly due to special requests.

“We work with our customers’ imaginative spark and go from there,” Brachwitz said. “We create functional art using our glass, our iron and electric light.” For example, one customer needed a hanging triple fixture to illuminate a pool table. Another wanted a large, intricate, colorful chandelier.

“I think we have a real willingness to work with people,” Luke-Bless agreed. “We’re in the midst of a couple of new projects, trying things we’ve never done before.”

“I do a lot of the designs. I like to play with color,” she said. Luke-Bless also specializes in fused glass. “It’s typically done by putting cold glass into an oven and raising the temperature until it fuses together.” Her tiles and tabletops feature new and recycled glass.

“We take a lot of pride in being locally made,” Brachwitz said. “We really enjoy what we do.” For him, glassblowing requires “art, creativity, perseverance and dogged bullheadedness.”

“And it’s fun,” added Bless, with a knowing smile.

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