Sam Lightner brings her own glass studio and gallery to Middlesex
March 9, 2023 | By Sam Jefferson | Community News ServiceGlass artist Sam Lightner at her studio and shop in Middlesex with her dog Lima Bean. Courtesy photo
MIDDLESEX — Local glass blower Sam Lightner has always liked fire. Now, that affinity finally has a home.
Lightner, who’s been making art in the area for years, opened her own blown-glass gallery in November on U.S. Route 2 in Middlesex. The space – christened Lightner Glass – acts as both a studio and a showcase of her work. Her shop’s shelves are stacked with colorful, reflective pieces she’s crafted – glassy silhouettes of fluorescent hearts, feathers, cups, ceiling lights and more.
With the studio neighboring Camp Meade, Lightner has been splitting her time between her art and teaching kids the craft.
Hand-blown glass items by Sam Lightner. Courtesy photo
“Teaching kids glass blowing is actually not as terrifying as it sounds,” Lightner said, laughing. “They actually pick up quick on what to touch and what not to. They’re like me — they just want to play with the glass.”
Last summer was Lightner’s first spent at Camp Meade, giving lessons to any kids who wanted to give the act of melting and bending glass a try.
“With the little kids, we blow mostly smaller pieces like glass hearts, as it’s hard for them to blow anything bigger,” Lightner said.
It’s been fulfilling for her to share her molten joy with kids, and it has helped provide the steady income Lightner needs to live life as a glass blower.
“You know, there have been years where I have to ask myself if I can really do this full time, and sometimes that can be scary,” Lightner said.
Creating unique mementos
While the items filling Lightner’s studio may appear to be typical cross-sections of art and functionality, a closer look particularly at her online shop reveals a unique specialty: cremation projects. These involve customers mailing a loved one’s ashes for Lightner to add to a special piece of glass.
She has created an entire selection of glass beads, rings, jewelry, weights and even drinking glasses crafted with a small portion of ashes – human, or sometimes from a pet – provided by the customer.
“One of my favorite ones I’ve done is making wine glasses for someone so they could still share a drink with their spouse,” Lightner said.
It doesn’t take much ash for Lightner to incorporate into one of these memorial pieces. She said she usually uses about a tablespoon in each, swirling it into the glass to encase it in the finished glass.
Cremation ash glass items (left to right) ring, pendants, memento stone, drinking glasses. Photos courtesy Lightner Glass. Click to enlarge.
Lightner explained how the idea came about around five years ago when a friend in Pennsylvania’s husband passed away.
“As I was talking to my friend, I asked if she would want me to make any pieces for her kids or just so she had something to hold onto and she loved the idea,” Lightner said.
Since that first project, the pieces she’s made helping people commemorate their loved ones has become some of Lightner’s favorite work of her young career.
“When you first meet someone for one of these you start out as strangers, but then get to know each other,” Lightner said. “Even after the work’s done, sometimes people ask me to keep their ashes in case they come up with any other ideas of pieces I could add them into.”
Lightner said that making these pieces in addition to teaching has allowed her to find deep meaning in her craftsmanship. “I have to ask myself how can I make money while also being proud of the service and art I make?” Lightner said.
Inside Lightner Glass Studio. Courtesy photo
An early career path
Lightner never had to question her commitment to glass blowing, though. About 15 years ago when she was a teenager, Lightner would venture downstairs into her home’s basement, blowtorch in hand, and fill the dark room with an orange blaze as she turned melted glass into glowing beads. At the time Lightner was completing high school through online classes that gave her more time to spend on her art.
“I did ‘computer school’ for a long time, and they would give me assignments that involved glass blowing because that’s what I liked,” Lightner said. “I knew then that when I completed school I wanted to immerse myself in it.”
She got her wish after high school ended, when she pivoted to working as a full-time assistant for Wheaton Arts Museum in New Jersey. The museum had living quarters above its ceramics department, and that’s where Lightner would catch some shut-eye while learning more about her craft.
After three years at Wheaton, Lightner’s passion led her to the Mad River Glass Gallery in Waitsfield. Owners Melanie and David Leppla had met three decades before while they worked at Wheaton Arts, and they regularly made visits at Thanksgiving time to sell their art. That’s how they met Lightner.
Glass rolling tray. Courtesy photo
“At the time I didn’t know them too well, but I decided to message them anyway asking if they ever needed any help at their place in Waitsfield,” Lightner said. “Luckily for me their assistant had just left so they asked me, ‘What do you think about moving up here full-time?’”
She moved north in February 2014, and she’s been here blowing glass ever since. Even after opening her own studio last fall, Lightner still works for the Lepplas three days a week at their glass gallery. “It’s not the easiest thing to have a glass blowing assistant leave and look for an immediate replacement, so I’m still currently working there, which has provided a nice safety net as I start my own studio,” Lightner said.
Blown glass illuminated with a lightbulb. Courtesy photo
And while Lightner’s physical space and online shop offer the expected colorful, unique everyday handmade glass items, she says she’s always creating, thinking of new designs and objects to design to be both beautiful and functional.
A current project for example involves fusing glass together into trays that cannabis enthusiasts can use to prep their goods — often called rolling trays. She aims to sell them to local dispensaries.
She has also been experimenting with embedding working light bulbs in her glass creations. Those pieces take inspiration from the cosmos. As a result, you can find her store lit up like the Milky Way past dusk, shooting starry colors onto the studio walls.
Find Lightner Glass on Route 2 in Middlesex, on Facebook, Instagram, and Etsy; bamslamlightning@gmail.com.
Community News Service is a collaboration with the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program.
