Josh Merritt is a Sinclair Community College student with a hobby that some may consider unusual — glass blowing.
“I like working with the glass. You can play with it and do so many millions of different things,” Merritt said. “There’s always something new, always something interesting.”
He said he has been interested in the skill since he took a trip to the Dayton Art Institute as a child and saw a glass exhibit. When he got older, an established glass smith looking to start a glass shop moved near his neighborhood. Merritt took the opportunity to become his apprentice.
“I started as an apprentice under the master glass smith, James Michael … and he introduced me to the craft,” he said. “It was a sudden event and I decided to go for it and see how it went and I never regretted that decision.”
Merritt said he finds the process relaxing, because if you divide your attention during the process of creating a piece, the glass may not come out as intended.
“Your full attention is there and it has to be there,” Merritt said. “In that sense, it is kind of relaxing because you can’t stop to think about anything else because your piece is going to crack. It’s going to break on you because if you’re not paying attention, it’ll bite you — every time. You really have to be there 100 percent.”
In addition, he said it’s a dangerous process.
“You can really, really burn yourself — I have burnt myself,” Merritt said. “I guess everything is dangerous. Jim (Michael) actually likes to say that everything in the shop can either burn or cut you.”
Merritt has been practicing glass blowing for four years and has made more than 100 pieces; he enjoys seeing how the piece will come out.
“It’s like Christmas,” Merritt said. “Every single time. You put something in there that you really like and would really like to see and it’s like having to wait for a present. And you come in the next day and … it’s like seeing the presents under the tree and I’ve never lost that feeling. It’s the same feeling every time.”
He said he goes to the glass shop after school two to three times a week to create new pieces, and teaches a glass blowing class along with Michael on the weekends.
“I go there quite frequently, [it’s] a fun experience and every time I tell someone about it, it’s always a mixed reaction between disbelief and amazement,” he said.
The shop will open in October and Sinclair students can receive a 10 percent discount on a glass blowing class with a Tartan ID. For more information, call Michael at (937) 567-9966
“If you respect it, it’ll work just fine for you,” Merritt said. “It’s a really amazing art.”
If you or someone you know has an unusual hobby that they’d like to share, email us at clarion@sinclair.edu