It's hot, loud, and physical in a way photos never convey; the glass is alive on the end of the pipe, always cooling, always pulling toward gravity, and you're constantly turning, turning to keep it centered.

Early pieces slump, crack, or shatter, and you make a lot of lopsided blobs before anything resembles a vessel.

But the moment molten glass actually obeys your breath and your tools, and you set a finished piece to cool, is genuinely intoxicating. It also needs a studio, so it's rarely something you just do at home.