Rockford artist transforms molten glass into stunning works of art

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — It takes time and patience for Drew Helge to make his art.

The Rockford native is a glass artist. His art begins to take shape at Firebird Community Arts in Chicago.

“It’s basically a big party,” Helge said. “For me, it’s part of therapy, too. I just really enjoy this.”

He explained the process of turning glass into art from step one to the end.

“Every day I come into the shop and I make up my drawings,” Helge said. “These are my sketches of what I’m making today.”

The sketches are an essential part of the process as they’ll guide the direction from the start. Helge’s been doing this for 25 years.

“Every single thing that we do in glass operates on three principles – heat, timing, and gravity. Oftentimes we’re doing two or more of those things at once,” he said.

“This is an electric furnace,” Helge demonstrated. ” Inside, there is a giant flower pot that holds about 250 to 300 pounds of glass.”

It’s molten glass. What he does is called hot sculpting or glass blowing. Long pipes are one of the first tools used in the process.

“We have solid pipes,” he said, “as well as blow pipes that have a hole through them.”

He first heats up the pipes, otherwise, the glass won’t stick to it. Then, he sticks the pipe in the furnace.

“Spin, spin, spin, spin,” he showed. “Come out at the same angle. And that’s called a gather.”

He cools off the pipe so he can handle it safely when it’s time to shape the glass into his next piece of art.

“We’re going to make one of these dancers that’s up here,” he said, pointing to a drawing he made earlier.

He gathers, then shapes. It’s a process that repeats itself several times.

“Glass has a mind of its own,” Helge said. “It can be manipulative, it can be additive, subtractive, it can be geometric, it can be organic. It’s so versatile.”

After a while, the piece really starts to take shape.

“We’re going to elongate these over a period of several heats,” he said while pulling on the edges of the glass he’s formed.

Before long, the glass looks like it was drawn up to be.

“Alright… grab…lift.. and ding,” he said to his assistant while breaking the glass apart from the pipe. “Beautiful.”

After final touches at his home in Rockford, the best of his art goes on display in downtown Rockford in a gallery on East State Street called Kith and Kin Art Collective, as part of the 2025 Rockford ArtScene.

“The stuff that is the highest level of craft is the stuff I’ve brought to the gallery for people to enjoy,” he pointed out.

The final message to the Stateline is a simple one.

“At the end of the day, I think it’s really important to support the arts and support people who are doing things creative,” Helge said. “I’m really grateful to be part of this community of artists and just encourage people to celebrate the arts and encourage the arts.”