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thedrifter
12-17-07, 06:56 AM
Article published Dec 17, 2007
Local man has an art of glass
Glass manager has been creating colorful masterpieces at The Works since 2002
By L.B. WHYDE
Advocate Reporter
NEWARK -- Aaron Buchholz is a study of opposites.

The glass manager at The Works looks like an NFL linebacker rather than an artist that creates amazingly beautiful works of art in the delicate medium of glass. He spent four years in the Marines before deciding to major in art.

Since 2002, when he started at The Works, the inventive master has created fabulous glass sculptures, chandeliers, vases and, most recently, awards.

Owens Corning approached The Works more than a year ago to create an award to be given to retirees. Diane Daniher, a human resource administrator at the Granville plant, explained they wanted an award -- a memento -- that had a local source.

"Since Fiberglas is huge part of our business, we thought it would be neat to have something out of glass," Daniher said. "His works are beautiful, absolutely beautiful."

Actually, a large paperweight that sits on a base, the design inside the solid egg-shaped glass ball, is what intrigues the eye. Buchholz took nine pink glass rods and twisted and turned them before embedding them into the four layers of glass while forming the egg. Two small bubbles are on each side of the strands that actually reflect the pink color, which represents Owens Corning Fiberglas. No two of the awards are identical.

"The material alone is fascinating," Buchholz said. "The things you can or can't do with it is fascinating. Glass is very unforgiving, but yet so beautiful."

Buchholz became interested in glass when he was an art major at Moorhead State University in Minnesota, his home state. He was concentrating on photography but took glass blowing as an elective. Before long, he was bitten by the glass bug.

"There is so many things you can do with glass," Buchholz said. "There is just no end of what you can do."

Even though glass blowing is more than 2,000 years old, the uses and artistic possibilities are endless. A perfectionist at heart, Buchholz explains it is the glass blowers curse to try to make things perfect. But art lovers often like the hand blown look of bubbly glass with imperfections embedded in the layers.

"People don't want glass to be perfect, they want the little flaws," Buchholz said. "But I still strive for that perfection."

Even though the temperatures in the glass studio are sometimes unbearable, Buchholz goes with the flow. The furnace where 300 pounds of molten glass is stored is 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit, and the glory hole, or the furnace that is used while actually shaping and making a piece, is 2,300 degrees. The annealing oven, which is used to cool off the final pieces, is 900 degrees.

"You get used to the heat, but it does wear on you after a while," Buchholz said. "My wife and I joke about me being irritable in the summer time."

Buchholz's specialty is what he calls vessel making. He is a master at bowls and vases with fluted edges, multicolored designs and unique shapes. He humbly says that is what he is best at.

Even the former chief executive officer of Owens Corning, Dave Brown, was impressed with his retirement award from Buchholz. He e-mailed Marcia Downes, managing director of The Works, with his compliments.

"Just wanted you to know that I thought the piece was spectacular and that I will place it in a special place in my home," Brown wrote. "Thanks for your creativity and commitment to quality. You have a special gift."

"For me, I have watched this young man truly develop into a master craftsman," Downes said. "I think he truly feels a connection between all the glass blowers that have gone before him. I am so proud of the way he has developed and the contributions he makes to this organization."

Ellie