Todd Abell, resident of Kent, Ohio, and art teacher at Kimpton Middle School in Stow, Ohio, prepares his blast furnace in his studio for glassblowing on March 26, 2009.

Todd shapes a piece of glass with the help of his son Colin while wife Kelley and son Caleb watch.

Todd dips a steel rod into his blast furnace to gather more glass for a piece.

Abell’s son Caleb peers through a piece of glass in the garage-turned-studio.

Abell cools a nearly finished vase by spinning it on top of a water-soaked block of old newspaper.

Todd places a pre-formed base on a finished piece, being careful not to crack the cooling glass.

Finished ornaments hang from a window in Abell’s studio.