COLUMBIA, S.C. — Devin Cole is the owner of Hot Glass Academy, which combines art, entertainment and education through glass-blowing.
“We definitely blow their minds,” said Devan Cole.
He's showing his love for the craft at the South Carolina State Fair, offering live glass-blowing shows in Heritage Village.
“I love sharing glassblowing,” Cole said. “It builds an artist community, and sparks imagination amongst everybody that we show it to. We have tons of smiling faces as we walk away, and everybody tells us that it might be one of their favorite stops here in the Heritage Village.”
James Downey is another one of the glass-blowers that walks visitors through the steps, showing them how to inflate molten glass to create art pieces and items.
“When little kids come up and you see their faces light up seeing something they've never seen before,” Downey said. “And even adults because then they look like kids, because it's not too often you get to see molten glass, or glass in a molten state… or anything in a molten state for that matter.”
Jessica Bates stopped to watch the glass-blowing in action and says she learned a lot from the presentation.
“Like the temperatures and why they didn’t put it back in on the table right when it happened because it will break,” Bates said.
Cole says this is their third year glass-blowing at the South Carolina State Fair and he hopes to keep coming back every year, sharing his passion with more people.
Along with glass blowing, the fair's Heritage Village, which is designed to give a glimpse of the past, also features a tinsmith, a ceramic artist specializing in "Yellow Ware" pottery, a woodworker, an ironworker and more.