Burnet glassblower molds crystalline creations from volcanic-hot blazes

Using kilns hotter than inner fires of the most active volcanoes, glassblower Kim Timmons manipulates molten material to create her signature works of art. And if you’re interested, she can also teach you to shape glass heated to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit into objets d’art, or maybe a mixing bowl or drinking glass.

“You’re wiping sweat out of your eyes, but there is something about watching (the glass turn) and watching for the mark that you can take it out and do something with it,” said Timmons, while molding a Burnet Bulldog-green glass heart to demonstrate her creative process.

To shape a heart, she uses a metal rod to pull a white-hot, honey-textured blob of glass from her high-heat kiln and sticks it into a slightly less scorching kiln nearby, where she deftly manipulates the mixture and incorporates pigments and details along the way. She draws from a suite of tools and techniques to achieve the final product without a single burned appendage, at least this time. 

Timmons has learned how to manage the burn risk, but not without a few hard lessons. Plastic lettering from a T-shirt she was wearing was once seared onto her skin when she spent too much time by the fire. Ironically, the letters read “art.” While she has been singed several times, she has never had a student injured, she said.

Her at-home art studio, Blown Glass Creations in Burnet, serves as a gallery and a classroom. Glass hearts are a specialty for Timmons, but she also makes perfume bottles, drinking glasses, dishware, marbles, animals, wine stoppers, vases, or whatever else she decides to conjure from the kiln.

While it takes years to develop the skills and sixth sense necessary for the work, her decades of teaching mesh well with sharing her hard-won glasswork knowledge with beginners.

“The thing I enjoy most is watching my students bloom,” she said.

Timmons grew up in Houston, but her family visited the Highland Lakes every summer for water skiing and the idyllic country lifestyle. She moved to Burnet and started her own family in 1988. She taught for a combined 24 years between Liberty Hill and Burnet before retiring in 2020.

Timmons was always an artist, just not always a glassblower. After earning a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Sam Houston State University, she worked as a graphic artist for Shell oil company, taught art to students in elementary through high school, and never stopped learning.

After her youngest graduated from high school, Timmons, at the age of 54, pursued a Master of Arts education through Texas Tech University to further hone her skills and bolster her teaching credentials. 

She was exposed to a wide variety of styles through her coursework, but one particular genre caught her attention and has yet to let go.

“Our nighttime entertainment was watching the glassblowing,” said Timmons, referring to her time studying at a Texas Tech artists retreat near Junction. “We didn’t care if we were getting eaten alive by mosquitos; we wanted to see the magic.”

Timmons had always been drawn to the hands-on aspects of art. Her master’s thesis project consisted of spending days hiking through the mountains of North Carolina, where she painted waterfalls on fabric, using actual water from each of her subjects. 

Glass represented a new and different kind of challenge to the seasoned artist: from water into the fire.

“You can’t get perfection, and you can’t pause with glass,” she said.

She learned all she could through Texas Tech, but her pursuit of knowledge took her beyond the classroom, all the way to New Mexico, where she and a friend had to convince a den of grizzled glassworkers to share their secrets.

When the duo arrived at Prairie Dog Glass in Santa Fe, the head honcho tossed an iron glassworking pole their way. Timmons knew not to catch it, but rather let it drop, to avoid a potential burn. That was enough for her future mentor, Patrick Morrissey, to give her a shot. 

Timmons later learned the pole was cold.

“It was almost like a test,” she said. 

The trials didn’t end after the initial test. Timmons and her fellow neophyte, Brittany, had to make glasses on the spot in front of a live audience and lend their assistance to a cast of glassworking veterans across the Land of Enchantment.

After years of work, Timmons is now one of those veterans and still returns to New Mexico every other month to connect with her friends. Her current operation at Blown Glass Creations would not have been possible without their support, she said. They also helped her acquire the high-dollar kilns and equipment she uses at an affordable price.

“It’s a wonderful community,” she said. “We all call and depend upon each other, and I enjoy that.”

Now, she is passing on her knowledge to whomever is willing to step into the fire. She offers private lessons and experiences at her workshop, where she continues to improve her craft.

Timmons is able to mold a heart or a marble in seven to 10 minutes, work out new designs with a little trial and error, and show you how to do it, too. 

Some of her pieces are explorations into technique, like the small glass elephants she makes, while others are more personal. One of the more impactful versions of her work is incorporating the ashes of loved ones into glass, using pigments that match the color of their eyes.

For Timmons, her workshop is a sacred space where she can share her passion with others.

“It’s where all the world fades away,” she said. 

Learn more about Timmons, her work, and how to have your own heart-warming experience at blownglasscreations.com. 

dakota@thepicayune.com