Meet Andy and Jessica from Burnt Glassworks
Meet Andy and Jessica Peters, the owners behind Burnt Glassworks– a Blown Glass Art, Production, and Education Studio out of Jacksonville Florida. They have a fully equipped hot glass studio that can host parties and small group events. You can support their business online or in-person at the Riverside Arts Market, Plum Gallery, or at Glass Bottle Society.
Tell us about yourself! What made you want to start your business?
We met at a conference for glass artists in 2007 and were married two years later. Andy is a Jax native and started blowing glass in high school at JU -- he continued there through college and also studied chemistry and computers. After college he worked at various studios teaching classes, doing demonstrations and making blown glass items. Jessica is from Montreal and has educational and work backgrounds in fashion and architecture. Her glass art follows her interest in those disciplines with some flowy textured forms, actually wearable constructions, and some crisp geometric sculptures.
We started the studio in 2014 after Andy was downsized from his software job. There wasn’t anywhere else in town to blow glass on a regular basis so we created a studio to fulfill that need for us and other artists. The educational and access aspects of the business were always going to be part of our focus, but we didn’t realize how high the demand would be at the outset. Apparently, a lot of people in NE Florida want to blow glass.
What’s a typical day at your studio?
Before covid restrictions, we would spend most of our time welcoming in visitors who wanted to come in to get their own hands-on blown glass experience. The guest would work with an artist to make a cup, bowl, ornament, etc in the color and style of their choosing. Because of social distancing precautions, we can’t host guests in that way, so we’ve switched to doing custom orders and production items. Most days are spent working on orders with the customers to make sure we can produce what they need. That includes conversations and prototypes addressing colors, forms, size, etc. Once the details are worked out we need to spend the time to actually produce the quantities. Finally, glass shops have some finicky equipment, so a non-trivial amount of time goes towards maintenance.
What kind of challenges have you had to overcome as a small business owner? How has COVID-19 affected your business?
Since we had to stop classes and workshops and change gears we essentially had a few months with no income. The production work we’re doing now has managed to keep the studio afloat, but we’re looking forward to getting back to classes as they are more fun, and the income is steadier.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned since starting Burnt Glassworks?
The time required to do all things necessary to support “the thing you do” is actually more time than doing said thing.
What are your goals for the new year?
In 2021 we want to spend some time on expanding our offerings for weddings and other special occasions. Sand ceremonies have become popular at weddings, and if colored glass “sand” (or frit) is used instead, the combined colored glass can be used later to produce custom items. We also want to expand the options for custom toasting flutes to include a wider range of styles and budgets. We love producing glass for special moments in our clients’ lives, as we know it will be treasured for years to come.
What are you inspired by lately?
We’ve been looking to the textures and colors in contemporary ceramics, and back to mid-century interior design and Venetian glass. We acquired three huge volumes about the production at the Venini Glass company, including designs by Carlos Scarpa, and they are endlessly fascinating. This spring, we had some additional time on our hands and got to spend some studio days “playing”. We experimented with different ways of applying color, creating some more painterly looks that we plan to expand on. We also just tried mixing all sorts of colors together. Glass color is not like paint, and sometimes leads to unexpected and interesting results due to the chemical reactions!
What inspired your holiday collection?
This year, since the holidays will involve more time at home, we really focused on the home bar. We’ve made cocktail mixing cups for years, but added in new colors and styles, along with coordinating glassware and bitters bottles. We wanted to set the stage for those evenings at home with a craft cocktail to feel just a little more special.
We also started making a few new styles of ornaments, and in addition to the traditional holiday colors, made a collection mixing pastels and jewel tones, and other rich neutral hues like cream and amber with pops of salmon.
Any advice for people looking to start their own business?
Be prepared to lose money for at least the first three years. We often hear that most small businesses don’t make money for the first two years. But that should be *at least* two years as one of the leading reasons for failure is running out of cash. So have a plan for that. Savings? Spouse with job (that won’t mind you stealing their income for a while to get off the ground)? Business loan? Investors? All of those have their ups and downs. Assuming you’re producing something that enough people will want to purchase or support, it’s only a matter of time before the business is running you -- the question is can you hold out that long. Which isn’t only a question of finances, but also of patience, personalities, and planning.
Any advice for people looking to find their style?
Sometimes you need to let the medium lead you. Glass is particular in that it takes many years of experience for your hands to be able to produce what is in your head. And it is a craft with such a long history that it can seem like everything has already been done. So it’s important to explore those new ideas that come up in the studio, but not flit around from one to another too quickly. As things pop up, keep notes so you can circle back later, but keep the focus on the idea at hand.
What is your creative process?
Andy - Mine is typically spur of the moment. I’ll see a color or texture and want to make a goblet or vase in that style. I lean into the immediacy of glassblowing and sometimes start in without a full plan of where things will end up letting the material and process drive some of the creative conversations. Or Jess tells me what to do.
Jess - I tend to see a pattern or shape that catches my eye and think about how it can be translated into glass. For example, I had seen some new resin “terrazzo” work coming out from different artists, and I wondered how we could get a pattern like that on a glass surface. Andy and I both took a lot of science classes throughout college, and so we have a great time with our “experiments” in the hot shop. Sometimes the result falls flat, but sometimes the results are truly exciting.
You're based in Jacksonville. What spots/businesses/makers are your favorite in town?
We love so many of the local restaurants, such as Town Hall and Taverna for just the two of us, or Southern Grounds or the Local if we are with our 5 yr old, Sam. Jess loves Brew or Vagabond for coffee and Community Loaves for the best bread in town. When Grater Goods opened in Murray Hill, right next to Bernie’s wine stop, Jess was thrilled that she finally had the cheese shop she had been yearning for since moving away from Montreal. Cline’s Custom Meats is a great source not only for the best steaks, fish, and house-made sausage, but also olives and couscous salad.
On Saturdays, if we are not set up to sell at the Riverside Arts Market, Jess and Sam are usually there picking up veggies from Down to Earth Farm and cookies from the 1748 Bakehouse or adding to Jess’s collection of Bijubee jewelry. Foliahōm is a dream spot for plant lovers, and The Glass Bottle Society is a beautiful space filled with a curated assortment of new and vintage barware and accouterments.