Norwood Glass Blower Talks His Trade-This Day In Norwood History-March 14, 2014

When Luke Adams first tried glass blowing, it wasn’t something he planned to do as a career.

As a student at Massachusetts College of Art, Adams was studying industrial design.
“Once I took the glass class, I knew that was it,” Adams said. “I had very little knowledge about glassblowing going into school, but I knew art was where I wanted to end up.”

Adams founded Luke Adams Glass Blowing Studio in Norwood in 2006. He isn’t the only glass blower to come into the field by accident.

“I took it as a joke in college. I thought it would be an easy A,” Patrick Gaff said. “It was not an easy Abut it was something- if you enjoy working with your hands- that can be very addicting.”

The glass blowers at 416 Lenox St., Norwood, with a produce hundreds of pieces daily for the Luke Adams line. The pieces can be purchased at more than 500 galleries worldwide, from the Art Institute of Chicago to the Corning Museum of Glass.

Their most popular pieces are the pumpkins and the stars, Adams said. In addition, they make goblets, vases, ornaments and more. Because the studio offers classes, those interested in creating their own piece can come in try their hand a blowing a pumpkin or making some jewelry.

“People don’t get as much of an opportunity to do stuff with their hands today,” Adams said. “It’s really fun to do something with glass. It’s such a unique material. It’s very rewarding. You have something tangible to walk away with.”

The classes have helped counter the economic downturn, Adams said. The process of glassblowing is very social, so it caters well to classes, as a number of people can be involved in the process.

“It really is a team effort. Everybody here is vital,” Adams said. “I couldn’t do it alone. That’s what is so interesting about glass: you can’t do it yourself. You’re only as good as the people you have working with you.”

The glassblowing kiln is 2,300 degrees, and the glass itself is heated between a temperature of an 1,800 to 2,200 degrees while it is worked on it. This allows for pieces to be made and molded into shapes.

“Pieces can be made pretty quickly- in about 15 minutes,” Adams said. “That is part of what is addicting about glass. It’s immediate.”

In addition to the Norwood location, the studio operates the Luke Adams Gifting Company, a retail location in Boston. This store sells the locally-produced glasswork, as well as various other gift items.

“We do a lot of hand-made gifts from across the country. The theme is gift, so we have everything from baby onesies to handbags,” Rebecca Borgioli said. “We have a lot of unique pieces and cool items you won’t find anywhere else. You can buy someone a gift they’ve never seen before.”

Borgioli comes to Luke Adams Glass Blowing Studio with a design background, not as a glassblower.

“I can’t blow glass to save my life. I could maybe make a glass potato,” Borgioli said.

Adams says some of the struggles the studio faced was the economy. The glassblowing industry today isn’t quite as hot as it was a decade ago, he said.

“Glassblowing hit a really big peak in 2000. There were probably 500 shops in America. Now, you’re looking at 35 or 40,” Adams said. “The economy went bad, and it affected everybody. I got to see the glass world from 1997 on. In a way, it was good to start at a bad time. It teaches you to be practical.”

Despite the downturn, there is still an opportunity for glassblowers, he said. While people might not be willing to buy a $1,000 piece, people will purchase a $40 gift piece. The difficulty can come in convincing stores that these people will be purchasing the glass, Gaff said.

“The problem with most galleries is they always buy the shovel after the storm. The biggest challenge is convincing people they’re going to need stuff,” Gaff said. “You can’t sell something when you have an empty shelf.”

(Source: https: //www.wickedlocal.com/story/transcript-bulletin/2014/03/ 14/norwood-glass-blower-talks-his/38218565007/