Site search
sponsored by
Home
News
ENLARGE
Greg Luff enjoys making jewelry out of glass. The senior from Palisade High School has made more than 300 pieces in the past two years.
Sitting in the shade, droplets of sweat trickled down the face of Greg Luff. The perspiration was the least of his concerns, because he was melting glass and turning it into something pretty.
Like jewelry.
Working in an outdoor workshop in a tent in the back yard of his Grand Junction home, Luff has made nearly 300 pieces of glass jewelry in the past two years with a unique brand and style that illustrates his fascination with light, color and shade.
For the past two years, the senior from Palisade High School has displayed his work at the American National Bank Downtown Farmers Market. His business is called “Elements of Earth.” And Luff doesn’t have to do much salesmanship to sell his wares.
“Sales have been OK,” Luff said.
But many don’t realize the beautiful glass jewelry is created by a teenager.
Susanne Smith sure didn’t.
She purchased a light green pendant a couple of weeks ago. She thought Luff was just a salesman.
“I bought it for my sister. It looked like a good-luck charm,” Smith said. “I can’t believe a kid did that.”
Believe it.
There’s earrings that sparkle and pendants that seem to dance as they dangle from your neck.
There’s clear marbles that encase just about any scene you can think of. They have flowers, lots of flowers, and some with silver sparkles that look like a starry night in western Colorado.
He also made some special necklaces for the Palisade Peach Festival this weekend. He designed glass pendants in the shape of peaches, which hang from green cord.
He’s not sure how they will sell. But that’s not why he made them.
“I love doing this. It’s great to create unique things,” he said. “I’d still do it even if it wasn’t producing anything for me. It’s really, really fun.”
Fun indeed.
Though he continued to perspire as he adjusted a laser-like flame from a torch that was attached to a 120-pound gas tank, he wore a feel-good grin. He put the ends from some glass sticks in the fire and the tips melted like butter.
Wearing dark glasses, Luff slowly licked his lips as he shaped the gooey glass. He grabbed another glass stick, this one, blue, and put it in the fire. As it softened, he rotated the blue stick, which left strands of different colors and mass.
With a vice-like tool, he flattened the glob of glass to make a pendant. After that, he melted another glob of glass, mounted it and attached it to the pendant where it will hang from a chain. Then, he put it in a kiln.
“I’m having fun,” he said.
Though he’s always been interested in art — he designed his first piece of art when he was 4 years old — his inspiration for glass art was born after a trip to Europe two years ago. He was a student ambassador with People to People and traveled to the United Kingdom. Part of the trip included a visit to Waterford Crystal Factory, where delicate wine glasses, tumblers and crystal sculptures are made.
“I was hooked,” he said.
After returning to Grand Junction, he was determined to learn and create in that medium. Though he worked in ceramics the past four years, glass art was a new challenge.
He attended Glasscraft in Denver and the Eugene School of Glass in Oregon. He’s also been accepted into Snow Farm in Massachusetts, which is part of the New England Arts and Craft Program. He’s toured many glass hot shops throughout the Northwest, Colorado and New Mexico.
His dream, one day, is to own his own shop and make creations that make people smile and feel good.
And you can bet, Luff will keep having fun.
Like jewelry.
Working in an outdoor workshop in a tent in the back yard of his Grand Junction home, Luff has made nearly 300 pieces of glass jewelry in the past two years with a unique brand and style that illustrates his fascination with light, color and shade.
For the past two years, the senior from Palisade High School has displayed his work at the American National Bank Downtown Farmers Market. His business is called “Elements of Earth.” And Luff doesn’t have to do much salesmanship to sell his wares.
“Sales have been OK,” Luff said.
But many don’t realize the beautiful glass jewelry is created by a teenager.
Susanne Smith sure didn’t.
She purchased a light green pendant a couple of weeks ago. She thought Luff was just a salesman.
“I bought it for my sister. It looked like a good-luck charm,” Smith said. “I can’t believe a kid did that.”
Believe it.
There’s earrings that sparkle and pendants that seem to dance as they dangle from your neck.
There’s clear marbles that encase just about any scene you can think of. They have flowers, lots of flowers, and some with silver sparkles that look like a starry night in western Colorado.
He also made some special necklaces for the Palisade Peach Festival this weekend. He designed glass pendants in the shape of peaches, which hang from green cord.
He’s not sure how they will sell. But that’s not why he made them.
“I love doing this. It’s great to create unique things,” he said. “I’d still do it even if it wasn’t producing anything for me. It’s really, really fun.”
Fun indeed.
Though he continued to perspire as he adjusted a laser-like flame from a torch that was attached to a 120-pound gas tank, he wore a feel-good grin. He put the ends from some glass sticks in the fire and the tips melted like butter.
Wearing dark glasses, Luff slowly licked his lips as he shaped the gooey glass. He grabbed another glass stick, this one, blue, and put it in the fire. As it softened, he rotated the blue stick, which left strands of different colors and mass.
With a vice-like tool, he flattened the glob of glass to make a pendant. After that, he melted another glob of glass, mounted it and attached it to the pendant where it will hang from a chain. Then, he put it in a kiln.
“I’m having fun,” he said.
Though he’s always been interested in art — he designed his first piece of art when he was 4 years old — his inspiration for glass art was born after a trip to Europe two years ago. He was a student ambassador with People to People and traveled to the United Kingdom. Part of the trip included a visit to Waterford Crystal Factory, where delicate wine glasses, tumblers and crystal sculptures are made.
“I was hooked,” he said.
After returning to Grand Junction, he was determined to learn and create in that medium. Though he worked in ceramics the past four years, glass art was a new challenge.
He attended Glasscraft in Denver and the Eugene School of Glass in Oregon. He’s also been accepted into Snow Farm in Massachusetts, which is part of the New England Arts and Craft Program. He’s toured many glass hot shops throughout the Northwest, Colorado and New Mexico.
His dream, one day, is to own his own shop and make creations that make people smile and feel good.
And you can bet, Luff will keep having fun.
