Woolwich recently became home to a glassblowing artisan when Ben Coombs relocated his Casco Bay Glassworks from Portland to the corner of Nequasset Road and Route 1.

Monday morning, Dec. 14 found Coombs and his wife, Molly, at work in their new workshop next to their home making glass lobster buoys for an area retailer. The order was for six dozen. Coombs also makes long-stem glasses and goblets, stemless blown glasses, bowls and, for the holiday season, Christmas tree ornaments.

Coombs loves his profession; that’s evident to anyone watching him at work. He admits that he couldn’t imagine ever doing anything else. After graduating from Morse High School in 1991, he attended Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York, where he was first introduced to, and fell in love with, glassblowing. By coincidence, he also met and fell in love with Molly there. After graduating with a degree in sculpture, Coombs headed to the west coast where he became associated with the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington. Pilchuck is known worldwide for exploring the creative uses of glass in both art and design. It was a good place for an aspiring glassblower. Coombs recalled Washington and the west coast in general as being home to thousands of glassblowing artisans. In Maine, he’s just one of a handful of people practicing the art; another, in fact, is working nearby in Dresden, and one is located in Farmington.

When Coombs returned to Maine in 2001, he set up shop in Portland in the Munjoy Hill neighborhood. “We actually leased a portion of the old Nissen Bakery building,” he told the newspaper. He initially operated under the name of Portland Glassblowing Studio but later changed the name of his business to Casco Bay Glassworks. The workshop and studio required a lot of hard work and initiative but proved successful. The rent was reasonable, so the couple stayed on in Portland up until the past year when the terms of their lease suddenly changed, unfortunately not for the better.

The couple soon found themselves looking for a new place to call home, one where they could both operate their business and also raise a family. They have two children, Allie, 9 and Sam, 4.

Things turned out for the best when they found a rambling old farmhouse for sale in Woolwich. “The home here was just perfect,” Molly Coombs said. “Room for the business in the barn, a large yard for the kids and a really nice community school just down the road.”

Sculpting with glass

Glassblowing has been around since the 1st Century B.C.; its origins have actually been traced to the early Phoenicians. Modern glassblowing as practiced by Coombs is based on the Venetian method imported from Italy and involving among other things the use of three furnaces.  

The main furnace, the largest of the three, is propane-fueled. “It’s where we melt the glass,” Coombs explained. “It runs around the clock at 2,000 degrees. The crucible inside holds 80 pounds of molten glass.”

All of the glass used in the crucible is clear. Before it’s melted, it resembles small ice cubes. Coombs said the glass he uses comes from the state of Washington and is packaged in 50-pound sacks. “It’s made specifically for glassblowing,” he added, explaining the colors are created by rolling the molten glass in “frit,” the name given to ground, colored glass. “It’s kind of like putting jimmies on ice cream!” he said, slowly rolling the glowing glass on the end of his blow pipe back and forth into a bowl of green glass chips.

Two smaller furnaces in the workshop sit on each side of the main furnace. One is for heating the glassblowing pipe ends and smaller glass pieces that might be needed, like the handles for the lobster buoys. The electrically powered furnace on the opposite side is called an “annealer.” It’s where the finished pieces are placed to slowly cool overnight. “They’re actually loaded into (the annealer) at 960 degrees,” said Coombs, gently placing a newly completed lobster buoy into it. “If you don’t cool them down this way, they’ll shatter into pieces,” the result of something called, “thermal stress,” he said.

A good part of Coombs’ business is wholesale, his clientele being retailers, although he also retails his product from his own website. Molly Coombs said they’ve had orders from all over the country, one just that morning from North Carolina.

The couple have converted an ell on the rear of their home to a small gallery. Here people can see the many distinctive pieces sold by Casco Bay Glassworks including those with a Maine theme like the colorful lobster buoys that have become so popular.

Returning to Woolwich is sort of a homecoming for Ben, who is the son of Lloyd and Collette Coombs of Brookside Drive. The family moved to Woolwich from Bath when Ben Coombs was in high school.

The hours of the gallery through the holiday season are: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. You can also explore the business’ website: www.cascobayglass.com and call 207-409-4527.