by Ellen Timmer
ET: This facility is pretty impressive. Can you tell me what you do here?
MB: We make glass for Hudson Beach Glass, as well as for Architectural Glass and Beacon Glass Works. The products that we make under the Hudson Beach Glass name are some of the products at the firehouse gallery on Main Street.
ET: Can you tell me a little bit about the manufacturing process?
MB: The day to day processes is a lot like a foundry; we cast each piece individually. However, our molds are reusable so we don’t have to make a new mold every time. After the glass is made, we spend our time on secondary processes like sandblasting and finishing and then packing and shipping.
ET: Can you talk about the design process, what it is from concept to completion?
JS: For Hudson Beach Glass, all four of us design (Michael Benzer, Jennifer Smith, John and Wendy Gilvey). We all have different ways of how to come up with ideas. Sometimes we’re actually designing with hot glass, so we’re actually manipulating the glass as we’re thinking about shapes. Sometimes it starts with drawing paper. A lot of times for me it’ll start somewhere else. I’ll make something in glass that I may cut apart later on the diamond saw to reveal a texture or a pattern or a shape. And then I’ll go back to the drawing board and start on paper or clay and make models.
Once I have a model in clay I’ll carve the negative form in graphite. And throughout the process of carving I can push more clay into it and see what the relief is while I’m working. Sometimes I have to see it in glass, so I make several iterations of the piece from the mold before it’s actually finished. For instance, on the "Triskellion" piece---which is three figures supporting a bowl -- it started out really skinny which made it not stand up. However, I could see what was happening to the light and what was going on in the shadows and then I kept on carving it deeper in different areas until it filled out.
MB: We start with a solid chunk of graphite and then use pneumatic tools and some wood carving tools. A direct reverse carving in graphite is our final mold. So it enables us to do a lot of things. Generate ideas quickly. It’s not a permanent mold, so it by nature limits the edition of the piece. Sometimes we look at sales in terms of, well, the mold needs to be redone, it’s not selling as well as it was in the beginning, let’s retire it. We don’t say we’re only going to do a thousand pieces though. It depends on the market and how it’s selling and how we feel about it, like, is it a productive piece? Is it impossible to make? Is it hard to show?
ET: So, Michael, when the mold comes to you, to fabricate, what happens?
MB: Well, before we get to that, let me say a few more things about designing. Another way we design is, we might look at the marketplace and say, "We need candlesticks," so we’ll design in that direction. Customers have also made excellent suggestions. A coaster for a wine bottle has become one of our very good sellers. Another customer requested a butter dish for a restaurant in Chicago that was specific to her presentation. So the design process can come that way. Jennifer tends to work completely on ideas, so she’s working on forms and not as concerned about "making a candlestick". But, I like to work that way; I like the challenge.
ET: So how do you determine what to make each day?
MB: Well, Jennifer is the production manager. She does order entry and she has to collate all the orders for resellers who say, "This is what we need in green, this is what we need in white…" so from this we get a work list.
ET: So you do one color per day?
MB: One color per day. We have 14 colors, so we roughly have a 14-day cycle. Colors that are more popular are melted several days in a row. To get started, my coworkers Jacob and Korn and I have to prep the molds in terms of preheating them, attaching them to the right press, or the centrifugal spinning machine.
ET: What does the centrifugal spinning do?
MB: It’s like a potter’s wheel and it enables us to pour the glass into the mold and stretch it out to make a platter or a big bowl. It’s kind of our signature. Other glass studios have used that technique, but we’ve really gotten good at it.
So, we work down a list, which is highly prioritized. We make about 15 to 18 things in a day, so when we make them, depending on the equipment and the glass quality, it changes a lot so it can be a somewhat intense four or five hours. Then the pieces have to cool down slowly over night in an oven.
ET: Now your furnace is on all the time right?
MB: Yes, the melting furnace runs 24 hours.
ET: So how do you add color to just a particular amount of glass for just that day?
MB: We add pigments to it like you would mix your ceramic glazes or paint. Glass does not take a lot to color it, so it’s pretty easy.
ET: Is there some way of measuring the color you’re adding?
MB: We work very carefully by weight. That part actually comes in the afternoon when we’re prepping for the next day.
ET: Do you know right at that moment if there’s a problem with a piece?
MB: Yes, mostly. Sometimes we notice it the next day, but if that happens it means we weren’t really paying attention. With three of us watching, we usually catch it when it happens.
So, we finish our day and we have to scrape out the furnace. It’s harder to empty, as it gets old, so that takes a bit of time. Every ladle full of glass that we pour has some that’s left in the ladle. So we generate our own scrap and we recycle that the next time we make that color.
After we have finished our list for the day, we mix a batch of glass and shovel it into the furnace. Then it melts down in the furnace overnight.
ET: So that’s the last thing that you do for the day?
MB: Yes, in the foundry. But at the same time lots of maintenance is going on as well.
JS: The process of making glass is pretty quick. By two o’clock we’re done making glass and the furnace has to be recharged so it has time to melt overnight. Then Michael continues to do all kinds of mold maintenance and in the afternoons, he has more time for designing and customer service.
ET: I know in any business there can be a lot of equipment maintenance, but I can’t imagine how you would maintain a glass furnace.
MB: Oh, it’s a big deal. If we lose a furnace it could stop the business dead in its tracks. Which, in 23 years of doing this here the problems just become part of the process.
ET: Have you ever had anything bad happen?
JS: Power outages. One summer we had seven brownouts mostly in July.
MB: Brownouts are the worst for us.
JS: It doesn’t take the lights out, just the electronics on the furnace.
ET: Do you have a backup generator here?
MB: We do, but it’s too small. It’s not automatic. It’s at the top of our wish list. It would be really nice.
ET: So you’ve been here for twenty-three years. What brought you to Beacon?
MB: The same things that brought Tallix and DIA here---inexpensive space, proximity to New York City by train, and the labor force.
ET: You’ve employed a lot of people over the years I would imagine?
MB: We’ve had many people work for us over the years, but the most we’ve had with all the businesses is about twelve at one time.
ET: You said there was a time when you had two furnaces going?
JS: We had a commission job for tiles designed by Robert A. M. Stern. It was an indoor swimming pool in a private residence in Boston. So it involved freestanding columns and a wave pattern of tiles on the wall that surrounded the room. All of it was mirrored. Special contour tiles were made from the client’s custom molds in several custom colors.
MB: It took us six months to make everything and we couldn’t stop our normal production of everything else, so we ran two furnaces.
ET: I would imagine that energy costs have a big impact on your business.
MB: Yeah, insurance and property taxes as well.
ET: Where do your raw materials come from?
MB: Our sand comes from West Virginia. There’s a place there where there’s really good clean sand.
ET: How much sand do you guys go through in a year?
MB: (Laughter) A lot.
ET: Do you even know?
MB: (More laughter) Palettes. We go through palettes of sand.
ET: Tell me about some other cool projects you have worked on.
JS: Another commission that we did was working with Ellen Driscoll on the north tunnel renovation at Grand Central Station. This involved bar relief castings as part of her Greek Mythology theme.
MB: Another significant customer that we work with involves making blank tiles for him that he then puts images on. To get a better understanding of his animation you can go to his website,
www.eyethinkinc.com.
ET: When you say, "put images on" what do you mean?
MB: He does artwork on the back of the tiles. And because of the lens-like shape of the tiles, the images look animated as you walk by them. At the North Carolina Zoological Society and Museum you can see ten major installations of his work. He’s also got installations in Taiwan, Kuwait, the Amtrak station in Washington, D.C., and several cruise ships.
ET: So what led you to the firehouse and opening a retail space on Main Street?
MB: Again, it was DIA. Jennifer and I were some of the few people in Beacon who had not only heard of DIA, but who had also been to DIA in the city. When I graduated from college, one of my good friends went into construction, which led him to work at DIA. This led him to be one of the first people on site at DIA-Beacon. So, as soon as the rumors started we were one of the first to know.
I immediately ran down to Nabisco and the door was open so I opened it up and walked right in. I triggered the silent alarm and the cops showed up right away. And I was telling the cop this story about DIA and he didn’t care, he said, "You’re trespassing." And I said, "You don’t know what this is going to do to the community." But he was not impressed.
Anyway, we followed the construction weekly. While having lunch with our friend, Gary was the one who told us that the firehouse was up for auction. We had wanted to expand our business by going into the retail business. We felt like we knew that end of the business, plus, we already had to keep a lot of inventory. So our motivation was DIA, our inventory, our knowledge of the business, and then finding the right building. That was key.
JS: It wouldn’t have worked as part of another building. It wouldn’t have worked with something behind us, or apartments above us. It just wouldn’t have worked.
ET: You wanted it to be a destination?
MB: We needed to be freestanding, separate. We believed from our clients across the country that had similar operations, that having a studio that was accessible to the public for viewing and education really puts it over the top.
ET: When did the Hudson Beach Glass Gallery open?
MB: Three years ago in October 2003.
ET: And how’s business?
MB: Every month has been better. And there’s no secret to it, we just have products from the artists we represent and products that we make, that people seem to want. And we’re open every day and I think that matters too.
This is important to mention too. We had based our business plan on tourists coming to Beacon to see DIA. That was the demographic that we expected to see. But, we actually get a good mix of tourists and residents. About 50/50.
ET: You’re pretty involved with BACA and you’ve been involved with the renaissance on Main Street. How do you think that’s going?
MB: It’s been hard.
JS: It’s been hard because it’s new.
MB: Volunteer work is hard. People’s expectations are really high. I mean, you know, you started the Dispatch with a volunteer group. It’s rough. And I’ve always said if you don’t step up and do something, then you don’t really care. People say, "We should have this. We should have that." You want an arts festival? Step up and volunteer for it.
ET: So what’s been your secret for staying in business all these years?
JS: Hard work!
MB: Working with the people we work with. Working on designs. Staying new. Just trying to keep the energy going.
JS: It’s tough when things are slow, but I use that time to do more designing.
MB: There’s some risk-taking. My father identified the area. I didn’t know anything about undervalued real estate when I was 23 years old. And he did. He knew construction costs. He knew proximity and he had the forty-year perspective. He’d already done that and did it well.
ET: What do you think Beacon will look like in 10-20 years?
MB: Well, we’re hoping that it continues to grow as a destination for the creative class. Being able to walk to services will attract more of the same kind of people that have come to live here. As suburbia becomes less sustainable, more people will want to live in a community where services and creativity are accessible on Main Street.
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