John Gilvey began glassblowing 50 years ago, but his quaint business in upstate New York has never been busier thanks to a hit reality TV show.
Netflix’s ‘Blown Away’ follows a group of 10 master glassblowing artists from around the world as they compete to win $100,000.
It first captured audiences in 2019, and its fourth season was released earlier this year.
Its popularity has created a boom in interest in glassblowing, an art form usually overlooked by all but a handful of devoted artists and studio owners across the country.
One such recipient of the surge in curiosity is Gilvey and Hudson Beach Glass, which is nestled in the small Hudson Valley town of Beacon, an hour and a half train ride from New York City.
‘It’s brought a lot of awareness to the art form, which is great for us,’ Gilvey told DailyMail.com about the impact of the show.
Hudson Beach Glass’s on-site studio and colorful gallery is loved by local creatives, as well as making custom orders for Harrods department store in London and clients as far-flung as Japan, China and Saudi Arabia.
The business is now also thriving off experiential retail, with customers coming in to learn about the process and blow their own Christmas ornament, flower decor or bowl, which they then take home with them.
John Gilvey, pictured with the furnace, has been blowing glass for fifty years
Hudson Beach Glass’s experience offering is booked through December and into the New Year thanks to this popularity boost.
As for the show itself, Gilvey says it’s ‘like every other reality show, they create drama, they do crazy stuff,’ but he feels that Americans are keen to try something practical.
‘In our digital world and our digital jobs, actual experience is few and far between,’ Gilvey said. ‘People kind of want that thing, and it’s worked for us.’
‘I can make a Christmas ornament with a four-year-old and put them in front of a 2,000 degree furnace and tell them to turn the pipe. It’s amazing how focused a four year old can be.’
Gilvey recalled how he has seen some families come back to make a Christmas ornament annually for 20 years or more.
‘I’ve seen children that one minute I’m putting them on the furniture in front of the furnace when they’re five, and now I’m looking up at them,’ he said.
Hudson Beach Glass is loved by local creatives and customers all over the world
Hudson Beach Glass is located in the small town of Beacon, in New York’s Hudson Valley
Among the eight staff at Hudson Beach Glass is an employee who first came to the studio with her parents aged four.
‘She came back with her family every year to make ornaments as gifts for other extended family,’ Gilvey recalled.
‘When she was 15, I hired her to work in the gallery and studio and now she’s in her third year at Alfred University in upstate New York and works here part-time.’
The glassblowing furnace at the back of the gallery has a working temperature of around 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Inside is a crucible that holds around 300 pounds of glass at any one time.
To create their art, the glassblower takes a stainless steel pipe, pokes it into the glass and rolls it on to the pip, ‘like getting honey on a spoon,’ Gilvey explained.
‘Then it’s a matter of what skill level you’re at with what you do with that bit of glass on the end of the pipe.’
Gilvey recalled how he has seen some families come back to make a Christmas ornament annually for 20 years or more
Gilvey is skilled at creating intricate glass ornaments utilizing multiple colors
Hudson Beach Glass’s experience offering is booked through December and into the New Year thanks to this popularity boost (Pictured: Gilvey with coworkers)
Once the creation is complete, the glass is placed in an annealing oven in order to cool down, which is held at 960 degrees Fahrenheit.
The oven then slowly drops in temperature over a period of around 10 hours to complete the process.
Besides the heart-warming connections made through the business, Gilvey’s favorite thing about glassblowing is the endless creativity.
‘My favorite thing to make is the thing I’ve never made before,’ he explained.
‘I have a fairly short attention span and I’m easily bored.
‘But glass has a 4,000 year history, and there’s still so many things that can be done with the material that when I get bored, I just try to learn something else or make something that I haven’t made before.
‘That’s why I’m still doing it, because it still excites me,’ he said.