NEW ORLEANS — One New Orleans artist is giving everyone a chance to blow their own glass no matter what their artistic ability.

In the home of Andrew Pollack, a glass blower of 20 years, I learned all about blown glass while up close and personal to the flame.

“The hardest thing about making glass is probably, the glass breaks. So, you have to do it again and again and again and again and that is how you get good at it,” says Pollack as he works over a firey torch with a long stem of glass in hand.

He says most of his pieces are inspired by nature.

“I generally work a full day. I try to be on the torch 6 to 8 hours a day so 35, 40 hours in the week,” says Pollack.

The tangible glass is a form of art that takes on a whole new feeling in buyers, according to Pollack.

“Once they touch it, they really make a connection to it, that might be different than something you view on the wall,” says Pollack.

This spring, Polluck is opening a studio on Magazine Street that will offer classes to people of all ages on glass blowing, sculpting on a torch, and stained glass.

He smirks as he tells me about teaching youngsters about P.O.O.P., the acronym that explains safety on how to use your torch’s gases.

“P.O.O.P. is propane, oxygen, oxygen, propane,” says Pollack.

I then learned blowing glass is a lot harder than it looks.

Although Pollack effortlessly (or so it seemed) blew a beautiful glass chalice in under 15 minutes, I was terrible during my first try.

Pollack taught me a valuable lesson, though.

He says that something that might begin as just a hobby you love, can soon become your profession.

For more information on glassblowing workshops and art, click here. 

The new gallery will open this spring at 4132 Magazine Street in New Orleans.