Glass artist shapes keepsakes for generations

The hues of a pinecone-shaped glass orb morph, dance and layer as Bennett Grimm manipulates it in front of his 2,000-degree torch. The Hinsdale craftsman aims to awaken the uranium-233 particles within.

"Just seeing if I can give it that blacklight effect, but in glass," said Grimm, 34, in his garage studio.

His efforts usually bear fruit, as evidenced by the enchanting array of finished works in his collection awaiting transport to an upcoming holiday craft show. Glass ornaments are naturally in high demand this season. But Grimm's "Fairy Tale Glass" studio - a nod to the literary brothers who share his surname - has developed a solid clientele, thanks mainly to word of mouth.

Grimm began dabbling in glass art a decade ago as student at the University of Colorado. He was seeking a haven from his roommate-crammed flat and found it in a glass-blowing studio next door.

"I was just watching for a long time before I actually got my own stuff," he said.

In addition to a torch, Grimm uses a marver plate to shape and cool the glass, stamps to make specific designs and the self-explanatory grabbers.

"I wish they had a fancier name, but they grab hot stuff," Grimm said.

Moving back to his hometown several years ago, Grimm continued his art as a hobby until work orders became more lucrative than other employment he was pursuing.

"I was just so busy that I stopped looking for jobs," he said. "I had figured I would do (glass art) in the meantime. And I guess it's still the meantime."

Grimm sold 550 ornaments last year. Other creations include creepy eyeballs and avant garde pumpkins for Halloween, apothecary-esque perfume jars and Mardi Gras-inspired beads and customized shot glasses.

He was stretched in his commissioning to make rings featuring rainbow opals encased in a drop of glass. Getting the glass thickness and gem positioning just right required painstaking effort.

"You want the stone to sit in the very center of the drop," he said. "It creates a magnifying effect."

Unlike large-scale glass-blowing operations, the minimized form was originally used to make the lights for railroad traffic signals.

"People realized you could actually do some pretty cool art with it, and it expanded from there," Grimm explained.

The borosilicate glass that serves as Grimm's medium is mixed with a variety of metals to produce particular hues.

"You generally do things by sight and by glow," he said. "Different glass will each glow a different color when they heat up."

The fashioned piece goes into a kiln to slowly cool. Mishaps happen, Grimm acknowledged, but often become happy accidents igniting fresh ideas.

"It's kind of weird every time I realize what I'm doing is art. It feels kind of like construction almost," Grimm said.

Building lasting treasures fires his joy.

"I really like it when people call it an heirloom, or they appreciate it so much that it's something they want to give to somebody else - but only after they're done with it."

- profile by Ken Knutson, photo by Jim Slonoff