by April Helms

Special Products Editor

Stow resident Russ O'Brien's love for glass art started "a long time ago," and by accident.

The glassmaking program at Kent State University "was relatively new, only a couple years old at the time," O'Brien said.

"I enrolled by accident," he said. "But I became hooked."

O'Brien, a retired teacher from Happy Days School near Kent, now works twice a week at Akron Glass Works in downtown Akron. He makes a variety of glass decorations, such as marbles, pumpkins, flowers, light fixture decorations and angels. While O'Brien said he stepped away from glassmaking for a while to spend time with his children, he got back into it once they were older.

The handmade glass angels, which O'Brien started making in October and selling them in November, carry a special significance. A portion of the sales of the angels will go to Akron Children's Hospital. O'Brien said that when his daughter, now an adult, was 17 years old, she was in a traffic accident.

"She spent four days in their burn unit," O'Brien said. "She wasn't badly burned, but she had a lot of debris, a lot of glass and dirt on her one arm and the doctors felt that would be the best way to treat her. The staff was wonderful to work with. I was so thankful the treatment was so good."

Each angel takes about a half an hour to complete, O'Brien said.

"I've got the angels down to pretty orchestrated steps," he said.

There was some trial and error involved, though, O'Brien added. When he first started making the angels, he had a 25 percent fail rate.

"I'd make a dozen angels, then come back the next day and find that four had broken," he said.

With some refining and advice from his fellow glass artists, O'Brien said the fail rate "is much lower."

A piece breaking is a frustrating aspect in glassmaking, O'Brien said. But he also the process of glassmaking was magical to him.

"It's hot, it's glowing," he said. "You can't touch it. But you are taking this magical material and turning it into something. No two pieces are exactly alike, and no two artists' techniques are alike."

Creating a glass item can be a lengthy -- and hot -- process, O'Brien said. The artist has to keep the glass hot while he or she is working on it. The ovens and storage devices used in the art keep the workroom warm.

"It's not too bad at this time of year," O'Brien said as he looked outside at the cold, overcast December weather. "But in the summer it can get uncomfortable."

Akron Glass Works occasionally offers glassmaking workshops, and will offer workshops sometime early next year, O'Brien said. For details, call 330-253-5888, or visit www.akronglassworks.com online.

O'Brien's work -- as well as the creations of other glass artists -- also can be seen in a gallery downstairs from the gift shop at the glassmaking room.

For information on O'Brien or his work, visit his Web site at www.obrienartglass.com.

E-mail: ahelms@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3153