Chuck Caudill of Pekin slides glass into a reheating chamber at JDraper Studios while learning the art of blowing glass at a private date night workshop with his wife, Meredith, under the tutelage of studio owner Jeremie Draper.

Meredith and Chuck Caudill of Pekin were looking for a new date night adventure when they discovered they could make hand-blown glass together at a studio in Peoria.

“We had a blast,” said Chuck of their experience at JDraper Glass. “It was educational, fun and interactive. I did an egg, and Meredith made a tooth. We definitely will be doing it again soon.”

Pekin native Jeremie Draper opened the Peoria studio at 929 N. Sheridan Road two years ago after operating in a smaller space in Bartonville for about five years. She fell in love with the art of blowing glass more than 16 years ago as a student at Southern Illinois University, and she’s made it her mission to share that passion with central Illinois.

“JDraper Glass is an artistic, educational and entertainment studio providing hands-on hot glass opportunities,” Draper said. “I moved to Peoria because I saw an interest there, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to accommodate large groups where I was. My first studio was in the meat cooler at Echo Valley Meats in Bartonville.”

Draper credits Echo Valley owner Dave Alwan with helping her see the potential for a glass studio in central Illinois at a time when she thought she needed to go west to pursue her art.

“I got interested in glass in college because I had to walk past the glass studio to get to my other classes,” Draper recalled. “I got bit by the bug.”

Originally an art education major, Draper graduated with a B.F.A. in glass from SIU in 2002.

“After college, I moved out west and worked for some other glass studios in Oregon and Washington, and I didn’t think I was ever going to move back home because I needed to be touching glass,” she recalled.

Fate intervened during a winter holiday visit to Illinois when Alwan offered her a job as catering manager, along with help and incentive to acquire her first studio. A stint at the Corning Museum of Glass in upstate New York in which she and other glass blowers gave demonstrations had opened Draper’s eyes to the possibility of creating a studio that would allow her to make art, teach and provide entertainment through glassblowing demonstrations.

“I never thought I would even own a studio, but I saw a need for making this available to people in this community,” Draper said.

With a mission “to offer a complete understanding of hot glass as a studio movement in America by engaging the community through hands-on opportunities, classes, tours, team-building workshops and open houses to encourage an exploration of this medium,” JDraper Glass has reached thousands so far.

“I was surprised at how much interest there is in glass here,” Draper admitted. “It’s been so great. We participate in First Fridays, and we’re getting between 250 and 300 people coming through in a four-hour period.”

While the studio offers classes to make objects such as paperweights, sun catchers and mushrooms most months, it’s currently offering special pumpkin-making workshops for Halloween, and will host ornament-making workshops in December and January.

The studio also offers two- and four-week classes that allow the public to delve deeper into the art of glass blowing. Group tours, date nights and private parties can also be arranged.

“Glass blowing has been around in the United States for hundreds of years, but the art form has only been around for about 50 years,” Draper said. “Some people think, ‘I could never do that.’ But we work right by their side. I’m proud of how much hands-on instruction I do with the general public. I have found the best age group is over 6 and under 86.”

Meredith Caudill of Pekin (left) and Jeremie Draper, owner of JDraper Studios, shape and roll glass on a marver table. Caudill and her husband, Chuck, had reserved studio time for a date night to learn the art of blowing glass.

She’s also proud of her safety record in the studio. “I’m 100 percent accident free, and I’ve had thousands of people come through doing hands-on stuff,” Draper said.

Participants in the pumpkin-making workshops will handle hot molten glass, twisting, pinching and flattening the glass, and choosing colors and a stem style to make their own unique pumpkin paperweight in about 20 minutes. Cost of the workshop is $55 per person, and time slots are open between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Oct. 27 and Oct. 31. Register by email at info@jdraperglass.com or by phone at (309) 339-6244.

“What I love about teaching is interacting with people. I love watching their expressions, because I know what that feeling is like. I was absolutely memorized by the glass, so I wanted to understand more about the medium,” Draper said.

While she’s been focusing mostly on classes and workshops the past two years, Draper said she’s recently hired her second assistant and purchased new equipment, both of which will allow her to spend more time creating glass art in addition to teaching. She’s currently working on a project for the Peoria Symphony Orchestra.

Draper’s artwork can be purchased at a gallery in her studio, at the Gen. Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport, the Peoria Riverfront Museum and at the Exhibit A Gallery in Peoria Heights.

For more information about JDraper Glass, visit the website www.jdraperglass.com or the studio’s Facebook page.

— Peoria studio shows how to turn hot blobs into works of glass art  —