Date:  January 10, 2008  |  

“Most designs come as a vision,” says glassblower James Hayes of Pine Bluff, owner of James Hayes Art Glass Company. Hayes, a Pine Bluff native, studied art at Hendrix College in Conway, and after graduating in the spring of 1988 he began taking glass-blowing classes at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock. It didn’t take him long to realize that glass was the medium for him, and he continued his studies at the Arts Center, as well as at world-renowned glass artisan Dale Chihuly’s Pilchuck Glass School near Seattle. “It doesn’t take long to learn,” Hayes says of glass blowing. “But it takes years to hone your craft.”

Although Hayes has been working in this medium for 19 years, the 41-year-old artist still has fun every day, perfecting his unique craft. “I like the immediacy of working with glass,” he says. “Of course some things, certain works in progress, take years to complete, but for the most part the result is almost instant.” On the day we visited his studio, Hayes spent roughly half an hour creating a beautiful bowl, one of his signature—and favorite—pieces.

He begins by heating the end of a blow pipe in one of two “honey holes”—a burner system used to maintain the heat of the glass and to heat tools. Once the pipe is heated, he collects a small amount of molten glass from the 2,300-degree Fahrenheit furnace, which is filled with clear glass the consistency of honey. Color is added by rolling the hot glass in frits, bits of glass that range in size from powder to pebbles, and the pipe is returned to the furnace once more to blend the color. Hayes then blows the starter bubble. More glass is added, along with more color, and then various wooden tools—which are kept wet so as not to crack from the intense heat—are used for shaping. Hayes has less than a minute to work with the glass before it must be heated again via one of the two burners. After repeating the shaping process a few times, what began as a small ball of hot glass has suddenly become a one-of-a-kind bowl with curvaceous edges and intricate coloring.

The finished product is then placed in an oven that slowly cools the glass over several hours to keep it from cracking. “I’m fascinated with The Food Network,” Hayes says. “I like to pretend like I’m cooking, using dashes of color to add flavor to a piece. The hot glass and frits are my ingredients, and the paddles, blow pipes and other tools are my utensils.”

Much of Hayes’ work is special orders, such as the grand chandeliers he has created for homes across the state and surrounding region. With works this large—some include up to 50 pieces that must be individually installed—it helps to have a staff of five working in the studio. “I get to be an inventor when working with glass,” he says. “I love being creative, and the synergy of my team is amazing. Working alone you are limited, but with a team you can do so much more.” Hayes also enjoys “just making stuff up,” and creating his own styles. “I strive to do different things, and I experiment a lot,” he says. “Some of them don’t always fly, and they get set aside in the barn until I decide to revisit them and reinvent them.”

Color is added to the hot glass by rolling it in frits, bits of colorful glass that range in size from powder to pebbles.

Hayes uses a number of wooden and metal tools to shape and sculpt molten glass into unique works of art.