Annette Baron, owner of Ypsilanti’s Baron Glassworks teaching studio, found her passion for glass blowing about 20 years ago. Since 1998, Baron has worked professionally out of her studio, selling and exhibiting her own artworks, teaching students the art of glass blowing, renting out access to the studio to working artists and hosting special events and benefit fundraisers. After 11 years of building a “community of people who are interested in glass,” she feels a sense of accomplishment when her students become professional glass blowers, return to the studio to teach or simply find a new personal passion.

Glass instructor Annette Baron assists Jim Simpson during a one-on-one lesson at Baron Glassworks in Ypsilanti on Wednesday.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

Baron teaches students working at all levels of experience in her studio, as well as outreach classes through Rec & Ed that provide “an overview of what it’s like to blow glass,” she says. “Everyone walks in the door with different skills. I’ve always been in the mindset — if they want to learn how to blow glass, I’ll teach them. I spend whatever time it takes,” she Baron explains.

Some of Baron's students have returned to the studio to teach or currently work as professional glass artists. Others have gone on to pursue studio art degrees after taking her classes. One of her former students, Andy Koupal, is returning to teach for the studio in January, after recently completing his degree in fine craft from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

“Once in a while, I get a student who has got the bug. I find that it’s typical that they had the bug before (they started blowing glass). People who tend to stick with glass blowing have always loved it. Maybe they saw it once or twice on television or at Greenfield Village, but didn’t have the opportunity to do it. That was my story too,” Baron says.

About 20 years ago, Baron was curious about glass blowing and decided to attend adult education classes at the Toledo Institute of Art. “The first time I picked up a [glass blowing] pipe, I knew, somehow I wanted to open up a studio one day,” she explains. After getting a degree in music and working as a professional musician for years, Baron found herself drawn towards a new profession — creating glassworks and teaching the art of glass blowing.

Baron is able to create glassworks on her own; however, she prefers working with “a team,” she explains. “I’m not one of those people who does well when I’m isolated. I need the waters to be stirred a bit to be creative. When I work by myself, I start to focus in on a smaller and smaller point, until it’s almost like a laser beam. I enjoy the variety” of artists who work and learn in the studio space, she explains.

One of her newer students, Jim Simpson, “caught the bug” after taking two classes with Baron through Rec & Ed, and he now spends about three hours in the studio once a week. He explains that he wants to learn glass blowing skills in order to eventually sell his glassworks, possibly teach classes and continue to develop professionally. He describes Baron’s teaching style as a “training wheels” approach.

“When you first start out, Annette is there doing it with you,” he explains. With more and more practice, Simpson has found “more confidence in doing the process myself.” Even after he learned the skills to create glassworks on his own, Baron is always there watching him work and giving him additional advice and lessons.

In the near future, Baron reports that she plans to pass off more teaching duties to her disciples. “Sometimes my own work is the last to get done, and I’d like to spend more time on it,” she says. As the community of glass blowers at her studio comes into their own as artists and teachers, new chapters in Baron’s life as a seasoned glass artist seem to be on the horizon.

During my visit to Baron Glassworks, I had the opportunity to make my own drinking glass from scratch. I had never attempted glass blowing before my visit, but I found Baron’s instructions very easy to follow. She allowed me to do every step of the process, while she closely spotted me — directing my motions and correcting me, as needed.

Blowing glass requires a number of precise steps — with less room for error than many other forms of fine art. The “key” to glass blowing is “controlling the shape and the temperature of the glass,” during the entire process, according to Baron. Glass blowers begin a piece by gathering molten glass from a furnace on the end of a long pipe, or punti. While continuously turning the pipe, a glass blower rolls the glass on a marvering table, builds up a core, blows the glass out into a bubble, and uses different shaping tools and techniques to fine tune the form of a piece.

Before I made my drinking glass, I was a little nervous about messing up. I did not know what working with molten glass would feel like nor how the material would behave. Would I end up with something I could drink from or a pretty lump of glass? Simpson comforted me by reporting, “I’ve never had a bad experience here. Even when something goes array, Annette will come in and say, how about we turn your vase into a fish!” he laughs. Fortunately, my process was a success with a lot of help and instruction from Baron.

For more information about Baron Glassworks and Annette Baron’s classes, lessons and offerings, visit the studio’s website. Baron Glassworks is located at 838 Railroad Street in Ypsilanti.

Jennifer Eberbach is a free-lance writer who covers art for AnnArbor.com.