Crafting our hearts: a private glassblowing class in Hocking Hills
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
The Thurston girls, from left, Trista, Teresa and T’anna, shortly after arriving at Hocking Hills
Torching the heart where it connected to the pole is the final step to creating our works of art, which were brownish and still extremely hot when we left.
Keeping the heart cooling slowly also helps to make sure it does not crack
Mixing colors
Pinch, turn, spin and swirl
Pinching the tail of the heart
Cutting the "butt cheeks" of the heart was one of the most entertaining parts of the class.
To start shaping the glass into a heart, everyone rolled the pole in one hand while cradling the molten glass with a scoop in the other.
From a doorknob shape, the glass is flattened with a paddle-like instrument
If you’re like me, and you’ve lived in a town popular for its current or former glassmaking, you’ve likely done all the touristy things, too: factory tours, museum exhibits and demonstrations. But until last month, I’d never worked with glass before.
With the help of my mother’s hospice organization, my sister and I took my mother on a surprise trip to Hocking Hills State Park in Logan, Ohio, in early March. It was my appointed job to collect a list of potential activities beforehand. Reading tourism articles and blogs led me to Jack Pine Studio, a glassblowing shop in the heart of the state park.
The class
Our private glassblowing class (glassblowing was a bit of a misnomer, as there was no blowing on our end) was the last item on our list of activities, after which we’d grab dinner and head home.
We called in advance to reserve our class spots. We would be making heart-shaped paperweights. We drove in just as evening approached, and the front shop had already closed for the day. We met Nick, our instructor and partner in glassmaking for the course. Nick showed us around, collected our names and showed us the tools and materials we’d be working with to create our hearts.
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
T’anna Thurston mixes up her colors while her mom watches.
We first clutched a clear glass nugget that would become the working material and, in turn, tossed it into the molten mass in the furnace, watching how quickly it broke down from a solid piece to become one with the glowing orb within. To be honest, I could have spent the class chucking nuggets into the void, but that’s not why we came. We were there to make our own masterpieces.
Instructor Nick then went through the entire process of crafting a heart himself, breaking down each step with instructions so simple I was confident I would leave with something I was proud of creating. As I was the most eager, I was elected to go first. Nick said he would take extra time with the first participant, as the others would benefit from seeing the process one or two extra times.
Cut the cheeks
Nick collected the right amount of clear glass on the end of a long metal rod for me. Before each action, he would verbalize where he would be, which is extremely handy when working with material in the 1000- to 2000-degree range. He then brought the prepped rod to my waiting hands, where I was ready to dip the glass in alternating colors. There were several options for us to choose from. I picked blue and fuchsia, my mother selected gold and red and my sister would make hers pink and gold. Waiting in metal bowls, the colored bits were the size of sprinkles. I dipped first in blue while spinning the rod to accommodate the glass’ natural gravitational impulse. After my blob was coated in inedible jimmies, it was time to heat the whole thing up so that it could be shaped.
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Each dipped a blob of molten glass on the end of the rod into bowls of different hues of glass to give the paperweights color.
I stuck my rod in a furnace, slowly spinning it and watching the glow within my eventual heart grow gradually brighter. Once it was at the ideal temperature, as Nick indicated visually, it was my turn to sit down at a nearby workbench. Nick would bring my glass to me for each of the steps he’d explained previously, each with a recognizable real-life comparison.
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
While selecting colors, you had to continue to rotate the glass as it fell and tried to escape the pole.
First, I took the rod in my left hand, rolling it like it was Play-Doh, and in my right, I held a tool like a shallow bowl with a gap on one side to accommodate the glass, trying to form the blob into a doorknob-like shape. Once that was complete, Nick popped it back in the furnace, and I waited, ready with the following tool, a flat, wooden paddle. I slowly, scarcely smooshed the glass into a hamburger patty. Once flattened, Nick took the pole again and heated the piece back up. He took my spot at the workbench, and I stood up, large kitchen knife in hand, ready to cut the “butt cheeks” of the heart. Nick let the glass fall into the knife while I cut up, deepening the separation between the two halves of the shape. Once I was pleased with my cheeks, it was time to pinch the heart’s tail with a pair of giant tweezers. I took them in both hands for a sufficient grip and pulled the taffy-like material up to give my heart a little tip.
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Mixing color was the most difficult part of the activity for Teresa Thurston, as she’s lost a great deal of muscle and dexterity. Instructor Nick eagerly kept heating the blob up so she could continue to swirl the colors.
Nick showed me the shape of my heart, which was rounded and relatively balanced. He warned us before we started that, as humans, we wouldn’t succeed in making anything perfectly symmetrical, and it would be fruitless to try. Despite this, he promised we would all leave with a piece we were proud of, so he allowed us to approve our finished product after rolling, smushing, cutting and pinching.
After deciding I was happy with my creation, it was time to pull out the big gun: the blow torch. I used it to heat up the heart’s tail to keep it at the same temperature as the rest of the piece so that it wouldn’t get too cold and crack or snap off. Then it was time to break it off the rod. We gave it a swift and sharp whack with a wooden mallet, knocking it into a mesh-covered cylinder below. We used the blow torch again on the space where the pole was attached to the glass for a final polish and temperature equalizer. With that, my heart was done.
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
T’anna Thurston cuts the “butt cheeks” of her heart with a knife.
My mom and sister were next. T’anna had no trouble with the process, but my mother, losing some of her strength and dexterity in her illness, struggled with some of the steps. Nick was patient and supportive throughout the evening, popping her glass back in the furnace if it cooled down too quickly as she took her time.
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Teresa Thurston torches the tail of the heart to keep it warm so it does not shatter while daughter T’anna looks on.
We each left proud that we’d done something new and created a souvenir that was unique to each of us, a reminder of the amazing trip we’d shared. It was hard to determine exactly what our hearts looked like when we left, as they were still glowing from the internal heat. The colors were brownish and muddied, but Nick promised they’d brighten as they cooled. Since the shop was closed when we arrived, I also selected a pumpkin, which the studio is most known for, and requested it get packaged with our hearts and shipped to me.
About Jack Pine Studio
The eponymous studio, which opened in 2017, sells many expertly crafted pumpkins. Pine grew up near Circleville, Ohio, known for the annual Pumpkin Festival, as told to Ohio Magazine. While working out west, learning to craft glass, he tried his hand at a pumpkin, then returned home with a trailer filled with them to sell at the event.
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Jack Pine Studio is known for its glass pumpkins, like this oil-sheened amethyst one that sits slightly off-center on Trista’s mantle among plants and other knickknacks.
Glassblowing demonstrations are free and open during business hours, and the studio’s gallery features pieces from other glass artisans for purchase.
It took a little over a week for the hearts to cool, ship and arrive on my doorstep. Creators also have the option to pick up their glass in person if they’re still in the area.
All of us are so pleased with our hearts, each unique and adorable and filled with lovely memories I’ll cherish forever.
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
The final heart paperweights, created by, from left, Teresa, Trista and T’anna Thurston
For more information, visit jackpinestudio.com.