By Anne Murphy - Director of Marketing, Third Degree Glass Factory

Artisans have been creating beautiful and functional objects from molten glass since 2400 BC. Glass continues to fascinate with its exceptional ability to transform light and color. Today, glassblowing is one of the fastest growing hobbies in North America.

Jim Gruenewald has been a glass artist at Third Degree Glass Factory since 2002. He saw his first glassblowing demonstration at the Saint Louis Art Fair and was intrigued - so much that he signed up on the spot with Third Degree to take their first offered glassblowing class. He’s been blowing glass for 25 – 30 hours a week ever since.

When The Healthy Planet Magazine invited Gruenewald to create a glass earth for the April cover, he was up to the challenge.

“I’ve made numerous paperweights that looked world like, but not intentionally. This time I referenced world maps, cut out negative images of the continents and used those images in conjunction with ground colored glass (frit) to more accurately portray the earth,” says Gruenewald.

Gruenewald, assisted by Aaron Quigley, gathered molten glass on a pipe and rolled it in blue frit. At the glory hole, he added layers of hot glass, and then it rolled again in frit that was poured in shapes of continents. He added more layers of molten glass and shaped it into a sphere with tools. The glass earth was put into an annealing oven to cool slowly. Because of the unpredictable nature of glass, Gruenewald made a few of them.

“Glass can make a decision. I like it when I successfully coerce the glass into doing what I originally intended, but I also love the way glass looks great when it doesn’t do what I wanted,” he says.

After a few hours, he had a world of choices for The Healthy Planet. Gruenewald says that his most enjoyable moment was when a fellow glass artist at Third Degree Glass who wasn’t aware of his project saw one of his earths and recognized it immediately.

Third Degree Glass Factory promotes contemporary glass art through education, studio facility rental for artists and students, a gallery shop featuring glass art made by Third Degree artists, and as a venue for corporate events and private parties.

Third Degree holds a free, family-friendly event every third Friday, 6 - 10 p.m., where visitors can watch glass blowing demonstrations, hear live music, and enjoy art. Because of Third Degree’s convenient location at 5200 Delmar between The Loop and Central West End, Third Friday is an easy destination for visitors to stop by for a drink (cash bar) before or after dinner.

For more information, visit www.stlglass.com.