Glass act

Danette Goulet

His is a craft that has existed for centuries, and although many

companies mass-produce similar products, glassblower Charlie Keeling is a

true artist.

Keeling, 33, lives and works in Upland, but comes to Costa Mesa each

year to share his talents with spectators at the Orange County Fair.

During the fair, he spends each day in the blazing sun, working around

ovens producing temperatures up to 2,100 degrees. From his booth in the

Crafters Village, Keeling demonstrates and explains his craft to curious

onlookers three times a day.

It takes him anywhere from two minutes to cast a small glass heart to

two and a half hours to create one of his works of art, he said. His

prices reflect the range of difficulty in crafting the glass figures.

Keeling learned to work with glass at Cal State Fullerton, he said,

and has been shaping the clear material since 1989. There are many

different styles of glass blowing, from the Venetian to the common cowboy

fashion of California glassblowers, he said.

“I try to do as many as possible,” Keeling said.