WORTHINGTON -- For the past year, visitors to the Wisconsin town of Hudson have been able to witness the art of hand-blowing glass -- and the creations that result from that process -- at Maras Glass. In September 2008, Thomas and Rebecca Maras moved their operation from a private studio in the Twin Cities suburb of Maplewood to the public space on the other side of the river where they are able to accommodate spectators.
"We are open to the public in Hudson," explained Tom. "We don't have a set schedule, but when we're there, people can come in and watch us blow glass."
While there aren't the necessary facilities for any such demonstrations here, a display of Maras Glass' wares can now be perused in the Fine Arts Building at Minnesota West Community and Technical College, Worthington campus.
For Tom, it's a return to his roots. A native of Luverne -- his parents, Dominic and Linda Maras, still live there -- Tom was a student at what was then Worthington Community College from 1989 to 1991, and he later taught ceramics, sculpture and art appreciation there in 1996, filling in while art instructor Bobbie Alsgaard Lien was on sabbatical.
"I'm excited to come back to Worthington, where I first started my college endeavors," Tom said. "I had a great experience in Worthington the years I was a student there, and Bobbie Alsgaard has been a tremendous mentor in my career, along with other friends and faculty that I met there."
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Tom's interest in ceramics began at the Worthington college, and he intended to further his ceramics education at a four-year university.
"I transferred to Moorhead State to pursue a ceramics degree, and they had glass blowing there," he explained. "I took the class the first quarter that I could and fell in love with glass and ended up majoring in it. It's not something that people see very often, so I was fortunate to stumble upon it."
After graduating, Tom built two ceramic studios and practiced as a freelance artist. Now, he and Rebecca work together in every aspect of the Maras Glass studio -- designing and blowing glass and traveling to art fairs around the country. Wherever they go, Tom and Rebecca find that people are intrigued by their artform.
"There's glass all over in our society, but most people don't realize how it gets from sand to a finished product and how you get the colors in there," he noted. "When you see molten glass come out of the furnace at 2,000-plus degrees, it's very fluid, glowing, mesmerizing."
The same qualities that make glass blowing intriguing to watch also make it a difficult art to master.
"We have a design in mind when we start, but you definitely have to go to Plan B occasionally or go with the flow," Tom explained. "I tell people it's like any profession -- it takes practice, and you have to learn the ins and outs of it -- but molten glass can be rather finicky, and it's tricky in the sense that it's a material that you can't touch with your hands. You have to use a variety of tools to shape or sculpt the glass."
For the Worthington show, the Marases will bring functional, decorative and sculptural items from several of their series.
"The Horizon series is our signature item," Tom said. "It's unique to us with those very bright colors. It's just a series of abstract landscapes, but they are unique to us. I've always been into those bright opaque colors.
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"We're going to have a variety of vase forms and bowl forms as well as a couple of different kinds of ornaments," he continued. "There will be a strong representation of the Horizon series and also one called Northern Lights. There's also a series of bowls called Sunnyside bowls. It's one of those situations where you have to see the bowl, but there's a pattern on the inside ... it's like the sunny side is up, just a fun pattern on the inside of the bowl."
The Maras Glass display will continue at Minnesota West through Dec. 11. An artists' reception will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Fine Arts Building.
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