(emotive classical music) - [Person Off-Camera] Oh, wow.

(emotive classical music continues) (lighter clicks) - You know, I sometimes smile to myself knowing that I've been sitting behind a bench torch for 62 years, and I have as much interest and enthusiasm and hopes for the future today as I had, you know, the beginning of my career.

When I think back over my career, it was so important to me to invent a new language to interpret native flowers in glass.

(emotive classical music continues) - He transcended the paperweight world.

The form, the scale is what most traditionally is a paperweight, but Paul takes it somewhere else completely.

Some of them are just absolute treasures.

I mean, they make people suspend their sense of reality.

You look at it, and you'll see a plant that you recognize and you go, "How did that get in there?"

- His work for me evokes this childlike wonder, a little world that you can hold in your hand that, you know, the closer you look at it, the more there is to uncover.

It's undeniably exciting.

- He is someone that's being recognized worldwide for his art form.

To see the beauty in it and the realism and the different techniques, it just becomes this almost miracle inside of glass.

(emotive classical music continues) (jazzy music) - Well, I was aware of paperweights, but it certainly did not hold an interest to me.

What I saw was primarily the historical weights, which were purely decorative objects, which to my knowledge at that time didn't carry any message beyond being a desk object or an actual, functional paperweight.

So the world of paperweights, which was already highly developed, it had a big collecting community of people like Colette, Truman Capote collected paperweights.

You know, it was a lot there, but it was not my cup of tea at all.

- Well, paperweights were a phenomenon of the 19th century in France and in England and Bohemia, and a paperweight, the concept of it is that a glass decoration is encased in a really high quality dome, they call it, of crystal.

And the shape of the dome magnifies the stuff that is being shown off.

- Most paperweights I had an anathema towards.

I just didn't care for them.

But then I was introduced to Paul and Paul's work immediately drew me in, and I started to go and look further into the paperweight world to see if I had been missing something.

And I found out that Paul was a totally unique person in this field, and that he was taking, let's say, a traditional craft form someplace it had never gone before.

And it was remarkable.

- Paul started out making very simple designs.

He then moved to different forms, mastered flowers, and then continued on until he makes the masterpieces that he does today.

I think that Paul's impact is that he exposed artists to become flame workers, to show that realism and absolute beauty has a place in the studio glass movement.

It doesn't have to be a large sculpture.

It could be small and full of beauty.

- I never call Paul a paperweight artist because it's just too limiting for him.

His productivity and his boundless energy has given him the time to just get phenomenally skilled at what he does, and it's left him, I think, possibly ahead of anybody else.

(gentle acoustic music) - [Narrator] The supreme question about a work of art is out of how deep a life does it spring?

James Joyce.

(gentle acoustic music continues) - Growing up in North Attleboro, Massachusetts on Division Street, I had a very short walk to what I thought was an endless forest, and there was ponds, streams, hills, and I was fascinated by that.

I remember I would pick flowers for my mom, mostly, probably daisies, and bring 'em home, and was so proud to give 'em to Mom.

There was a curiosity that I'm not sure where it came from, but I would leave the house around seven o'clock.

You know, growing up with seven or eight kids at the time, you know, you'd just walk out and show up at lunch.

(Paul laughs) You know, it was so, you had so much freedom.

I really enjoyed picking blueberries in July and swamps, I loved the swamp.

I could get lost in the swamp.

It was fascinating to paddle your duck boat around and you felt you were a pioneer.

You know, I think now, maybe it all came together into what nurtured this obsession with me to interpret nature in glass.

(birds chirp) (peaceful music) When I walk in my studio, I feel like I'm a monk.

Both my parents were devout Catholics, so that was the background from day one.

I've been dedicated to the idea of interpreting nature in glass as a prayer, in a way.

My labor is my prayer.

The Benedictine monastery has that as their motto, and I love that concept, to labor is to pray.

My prayer is that the excellence that I pursue will bring joy to people.

You know, in a simple way.

I want to do excellent work in order to respect God's beautiful creations.

(stirring classical music) I feel so thankful that at 79, I still am very much in the game.

At this stage, I'm working on a new design.

I'm titling it "Celestial Bouquet".

I wanted the design to be ethereal, heavenly, and outside of Earth, you know?

And I started to really experiment, and I wasn't happy with how it was going.

And I made a breakthrough recently with gold leaf.

And Dave Graeber, he is very skilled.

Dave helps me with the gold leaf.

I'm handing him the gold leaf with tweezers, and it's floating in the air, and he taps it with the hot glass and then he rolls it up.

So I said, "Dave, how many leaves have we put on this one?"

He said, "I think six."

I said, "Let's put a few more on there."

And so this series with the golden cup is really special because I think it suggests the sacred, sacred art.

(stirring classical music continues) This is my week's work in preparation for this morning when we encapsulate it in clear glass.

Now, Dave's taking the moss material that we pulled down and we're tucking it around the golden orb, and then I'll use that as a way to seal on the colored glass flowers and the leaves.

I've been innovative within that very, very small parameter.

You know, I'm working with two and a half, three inch diameter format, trying to do something that is poetic, I like the word intelligent, and make it happen.

(stirring classical music continues) - Okay, we're ready.

(stirring classical music continues) Oh, yeah.

- [Paul] Nice.

- [Dave] That went on nicely (indistinct).

There it goes.

When we're putting together work, you're working with all your senses.

So you can't have any distractions because the actual process itself doesn't take that long.

You know, you're working hours, hours making components, and then you switch that gear.

You go from artist to craftsman.

Totally two different mindsets.

You have to have those two mindsets.

So within that time period, you really have to stay focused.

A lot of things can go wrong.

- Thank you, Lord.

(Paul cheers) It's going to be a major piece.

I got it.

- Close, perfect.

All right.

- When I look at a flower, I don't think that God, after creating man, took a rest and then went around creating the plants.

(Paul laughs) I think that He worked just as hard on the flower, the plant kingdom as he did on the human kingdom.

(stirring classical music continues) - All right, here we go.

- Let me see it.

Yeah, (indistinct).

(metal clangs) - Perfect.

- Whoa.

(Dave cheers) We did it.

- We put it to bed.

- We did it.

(Paul laughs) (Dave cheers) - [Paul] We did it.

(tranquil music) This is exciting.

Ah, okay.

Hmm.

Uh-huh.

Wow.

I like the gold in there.

I really like the gold.

I'm disappointed with the color of the flower inside the golden cup.

I thought it was going to translate into something very intelligent, but didn't, and I put a lot of emotional energy into this.

I was on a high when this went in the oven, I was buzzing.

I thought, whoa, I did it, oh, I did it.

(Paul laughs) 40 hours, I was floating and took it out of the oven, looked at it, and then didn't do it, didn't do it, but I will do it.

I'll benefit a great deal from this effort.

I'm trying to develop a new aesthetic in the floral paperweight tradition, and this falls short.

So, you know, it's a disappointment.

But still, you know, my failures lead to my successes.

(calm music) Growing up in the Stankard household, my parents promoted the idea that education was very important.

And I felt a little awkward because I wanted to be an educated person, but my grades were like a disaster.

I went through school as an undiagnosed dyslexic, and that was difficult.

My mother would tutor me reading, and it was torture.

What dyslexia strengthened in me is this idea of focus and persevere.

In addition, I had a paper route, and that nurtured discipline.

And I think when I look over my career, it's about perseverance and discipline.

Get the job done, you know?

I was a poor student in high school, and so the guidance counselor said, "What do you want to be, Paul, beyond high school?"

And I said, "Well, I think I'd like to go to a vocational school and learn a craft."

So he gave me a brochure that had machining and electronics and all sorts of different skills, and they had glassblowing but I didn't know anything about it.

So I came home, showed it to my dad.

I said, "I'm thinking about going to vocational school and being a machinist."

He said, "That's a good trade, son."

I handed him the brochure.

He opened it up.

He said, "Scientific glassblowing.

Wow, that's what you should be."

He got so excited about it, he took the next day off from work and drove me to Salem City.

So we went in there and I saw these 10 or 12 kids melting glass at a big flame.

They were bending glass tubing.

I thought, wow, that looks so interesting.

That led to my signing up for the glassblowing program and I loved it.

(upbeat guitar music) I am very, very proud to be here.

And you know, here I am near the end of my career, talking to you talented people at the beginning of your career and I think that's so sweet.

You're moving into a professional realm by dedicating your life to a idea, having a vision, pursuing excellence, you are professionals.

- This is the best thing about having Paul Stankard so close by and having access to Paul.

He loves this school, and he boosts the confidence of every student that's in here.

To have somebody like Paul Stankard come up and watch you work for a few minutes and just offer some solid advice, that's a gift.

- It's about the work.

It's always about the work.

If you do great work, you're invited to the party.

- [Kristin] Yeah, the studio does bear Paul's name, and for good reason.

We've grown with what he was able to imagine.

He started the glass art program.

It was his idea, you know, and not long after the glass art program, he said, "Hey, let's have a weekend event where we bring in some artists and we'll have a flame working conference."

We just did the 21st one, so that's a big deal.

- He is the patron saint of SCC glass.

Really, he's trying to get us to ask ourselves what do we want to be?

Where do we want to go?

How daring do we want to get in this endeavor?

So we're just at the embryonic stages of what this place will be.

Paul has many titles here.

IFC Founder, Chair Emeritus, Artist in Residence, distinguished alumnus, not just for us, but for the State of New Jersey, and he has become my friend and a very trusted advisor over the years.

And as talented a man as he is with glass, he's even that much more as a human being.

So please join me in thanking Paul for being part of this and making it all come to fruition.

(audience applauds) - [Narrator] Down in southern New Jersey, they make glass.

By day and by night, the fires burn on in Millville and bid the sand let in the light.

Carl Sandburg.

(cheerful music) - We're sitting in the Museum of American Glass, which is dedicated to the history of glassmaking in southern New Jersey.

South Jersey is the birthplace of glassmaking in the United States, though there had been earlier attempts in Jamestown, for example.

The first glass factory in southern New Jersey was 1739, and there would be over 200 glass factory sites within New Jersey.

Many of the glass workers, they could work during their lunch hours or at the end of the day to make things.

So, the workers started making paperweights.

They began to evolve.

And the last and most important design that the workers made was a paperweight known as the Millville Rose, which was incredibly difficult to do but it becomes a real prized item that was produced here in Millville.

- When I first became interested in glass, people would say, "Oh, you know, the Millville Rose paperweight, my grandfather owned a Millville Rose paperweight."

Or, "Yeah, the Millville Rose paperweight is very sought after, and it's attracting a couple thousand dollars if you can find one."

And I thought, you know, if they could do it, why couldn't I?

I was trained in scientific glass, and I really got pretty good at it.

You know, I was working in industry and the last job I had was with Rohm and Haas, the chemical company.

And I had tools and equipment, and I would haul my torch and different things to each location and set it up.

And then when I had weekends, I'd come home, I asked my supervisor, "Hey, can I use these in my utility room to do some glasses?"

Sure.

And I would take 'em out of the car and I would set 'em up and I worked Saturday and Sunday experimenting with paperweights.

And that was wonderful because after nine years of scientific glass working, here I am being reasonably successful, finished the scientific glass program, worked in the industry, made a decent salary, but wanted to be on the creative side.

(soft music) - [Narrator] Till I loved, I never lived.

Emily Dickinson.

(soft acoustic music) - Let's see, we met in February of '62 at a dance.

And should we tell the dance?

Should we tell the.

- But we knew one another before then.

- At church.

- Church, that's right.

- Yeah, but I didn't, we didn't know each other.

We didn't talk to each other.

- In CCD.

- We saw each other at church.

- Yeah.

- You were at a distance.

And I thought, oh, nice looking woman there.

Nice looking girl.

I hope you were, did you notice me at church?

- Yes, you tried talking to me.

(Pat laughs) - I did?

- While we were waiting for everybody else.

- You blew me off.

- And I thought, oh, he's kind of fast.

(Pat laughs) I don't know if I want to get to know him.

But then we met later.

Oh, I just felt very comfortable with him.

He was full of energy, still has that energy.

(Pat and Paul laugh) And charm, he definitely had the charm.

- [Paul] Oh.

- [Pat] The Irish charm.

And you know, his mother always said, she said, the Stankards are good providers.

(Pat laughs) I guess that kind of sealed the deal as far as, you know, wanting a wonderful family life, you know, and future.

- When I met Pat and our relationship grew into a beautiful love affair and married her, her support and her faith in my abilities, something totally, so refreshing.

I mean, you know, I mean, my goodness, my wife thinks that I can do it.

- I knew Paul wasn't very content with his present vocation.

When he started doing more of his artwork, I believed in everything he was doing.

It was incredible.

And it may look small in the beginning, but I was very impressed with it.

And I knew that's where his heart and soul was, really.

And I knew at that point, yeah, let's do this.

We were very hard workers.

I mean, I took care of the children as much as I could and anything in the house so he can devote everything to the work.

I was excited for him, very excited and wanted to, see, it brings tears to your eyes too.

You're bringing tears to our eyes.

- I'm starting to feel emotional about this.

- Yeah, of course.

Just say thank you.

- Thank you.

- Thank you, that's the only thing.

(Pat and Paul laugh) - [Narrator] A man of genius makes no mistakes.

His errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.

James Joyce.

- This is a collection that I, Pat and I saved.

And many of the pieces are personalized, especially for Pat.

Love Paul, sometimes love Paul.

But yeah, this represents my career from the earliest.

This was in 1970.

It's fascinating, I'm looking at this, I'm so proud of this.

This represents a lot of failures.

When it came out very special, I was excited.

It's got a little bubble on it, two bubbles.

For the beginning of my career, my work was very delicate and small.

This is a spiderwort that I look at today and I'm thinking, oh my goodness, that is really delicate.

So, you know, these pieces tell a story.

They tell a story of how the work has evolved.

Early on, I would make all these failures.

I mean, my failure rate was pathetic, but I just persevered.

And I met a dealer in Atlantic City, Reese Palley, very fascinating individual, very successful art dealer.

Reese said, "If you decide to go full time, I'll buy your work."

And so I said to my wife, "Pat, can I quit my job?"

Now Pat's expecting her fourth child.

This is, can I quit my job and devote full-time to paperweights?

She says, "Oh, I don't know.

Well, at least wait to two weeks till after the baby's born and then you can quit your job."

So I quit my job and started making paperweights for Reese to distribute, and he was doing well.

That was my beginning.

- What makes someone decide, they're a scientific glassblower and they decide they really want to be an artist.

You know, it's so unlikely that you're going to make it.

I mean, the whole story with Paul, you know, mortgaging his house to buy glass from the great crystal maker, Schott, to be able to make these perfect domes is such a stunning story.

I mean, the idea of risking everything for that takes a lot of belief in yourself.

- So I had been selling my work to Reese Palley and who was finding an audience for it.

And at one point I said, "Reese, am I an artist or am I a craftsperson?"

He says, "Paul, don't let that distract you.

Just do great work."

I said, "Oh, okay, that makes sense to me."

(Paul laughs) This was searching for new forms to present my botanical vocabulary.

You know, I was trying to understand where did my work fit in on the artistic landscape?

Here's the beginning of my blueberry series.

I have beautiful memories of picking blueberries as a child.

This was in 1977, and that was my first bouquet.

I clustered flowers to the center and then put green leaves and buds underneath the top view so there's two levels.

In the '80s, I started to make little human forms to incorporate into the design.

And this is an environmental paperweight that I have the figures underneath.

Today, most of my work is orbs, spheres.

I love the idea of seeing my work 360 understood, it's magnified on the, in 360.

And this was a wonderful evolution of my work.

You know, I look at this collection, I think, oh my God, you know?

I was obsessed by the work.

You know, thank God Pat was so supportive.

You don't be successful on your own, by yourself.

It's really a team effort.

What a, you know, what a journey.

And here I am still in the game.

- [Narrator] A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.

Walt Whitman.

- I was listening to public radio and having a panel discuss excellence in the arts and hearing the phrase to do excellent work, you have to know what excellent is.

Bingo.

That was my door opening to succeed.

Early on, Paul Hollister's book, "Encyclopedia of Glass Paperweights", that became my dream book.

And then I learned that Corning had a major collection.

There's about three serious collections of antique French paperweights that I've been a student of, the Corning Glass Museum, the Bergstrom Mahler Museum and Chicago Art Institute.

I subscribed to Franklin Mint's collection of the great books on cassette.

I've listened to all these books.

And then when I finished the book, I would go out and buy a hardcover and put it in my library.

Reading Walt Whitman's poetry, Emily Dickinson, it's nurtured a sense of self-confidence in me.

I've educated myself in ways that have impacted on my work.

(peaceful guitar music) I think when I look back over my career, I'm looking at maybe three or four major breakthroughs, and it all stemmed from having this body of work evolve into new forms.

First the paperweights, and then when I came up with the cubes and the rectangular forms that I called the "Botanical Series", I all of a sudden discovered I could put more visual information about the plant kingdom into the cube.

I had more room, I had the flowers above, the roots below, and that was really a wonderful conceptual breakthrough.

The galleries, Heller Gallery in New York City, Habatat Gallery in Michigan, wanted to promote it as fine art, and it was displayed in a very serious way.

And they wanted to promote Paul Stankard, the artist.

I brought a fine art expectation to my work.

They were very labor intense, but I was trying to hide my labor.

No, this is poetry.

This is a joy.

I didn't work on it.

It's magic.

(Paul laughs) - As Paul gained a greater mastery, he wanted the things to be more complex.

You know, at one point there was just the flowers, then the flowers and the seeds.

Then there were the insects, the bees and the ants, and then the spirits of nature, these root people.

And he was always pushing himself and pushing the limits.

There aren't that many people who have that kind of a gift.

And at the same time, that kind of dedication.

Every one of us, you know, if you put your mind to it, you can master a skillset.

But you know, that's, let's say giving you the words, but are you a poet?

That's the difference.

- I got inspired by the creative people that were working in the studio glass movement, and I met Littleton and Labino and I met Mark Peiser, I met Erwin Eisch.

It's really interesting.

I really caught a wave and I loved it.

I loved going to Penland and having dinners and hearing lectures and being a part of a community of artists.

It was my art school.

(jaunty music) This is a nice one.

Good, good, good.

For the last two or three months, I've been focusing on a series that I titled "Celestial Bouquet", and I've had wonderfully talented assistants.

(jaunty music continues) - Right now I'm preparing raw material for Paul to use in his work.

This glass doesn't come in rod form, so we basically have to take the large amounts of it and pull it into rods for like prepping out the flowers, adding the clear layers that turns into negative space once it's encapsulated.

So right, now we're just making a wide variety of rod sizes for him to use.

- Okay.

- All right, nice and slow.

One, two, three.

- Looking good.

- Yeah.

I've gotten a lot of knowledge from Paul.

It really broadens my horizons as a glassblower and it keeps my base level of knowledge really broad, especially with this new "Celestial Bouquets" because he has been experimenting a lot and doing color combos that he's never done before, and so doing a lot of color tests in here.

The process is the art for me.

That's kind of how I feel.

It's not really about what comes out of the kiln for me at this point in my career.

(kiln rumbles) - I have Dave Graeber, who comes in with my son, Joe, once a week and we put the work together.

I was listening to a lecture about Adam and Eve and the apple tree.

The rabbi who was giving the talk said, "I don't think it was an apple.

I think it was probably a pomegranate."

I thought, whoa.

So I thought, well, the "Celestial Bouquet", I'll just work on developing a pomegranate.

All week, I was exploring the pomegranate theme, experimenting with the color to get that blood red shade.

And I backed off from really packing it and it did some negative space in there.

Nice, so sweet.

Has room to breathe.

(metal clangs) It went into the oven with a beautiful glow, and very exciting for me.

It will be a long 38 hours waiting to see how the piece comes out.

Ha.

It's almost like being a kid at Christmas time, waiting for your presents Christmas morning.

It's kind of like that when I'm waiting for the oven to go through its cycle.

Whoa.

All right, woo.

(jaunty music continues) Okay, oh wow.

Looks good, huh?

Whoa, nice.

The orb lends itself to a 360 degree presentation.

When I pressed the "Celestial Bouquet" in a cube, I kind of lost some of the integrity of the flowers.

But here, the design encapsulated in the sphere, I love how credible it looks.

It's really nice.

So this is a winner.

(tranquil acoustic music) - I've been working with Paul since 1989, and I just can't believe how fast time flies.

I think what he saw in me is maybe a little bit of himself first starting out, you know?

I had no knowledge of glass and I guess he felt as though this is great because here's somebody that I can actually train.

I can now teach him my style.

He pushed me in the deep end of the pool.

He let me figure out things for myself sometimes.

He goes, 'cause he said, "I can easily tell you how to do things, but that's not going to help you."

He goes, "And when you work with your hands, in his art, you just have to do and make."

And that's how in the beginning, how Paul really opened my eyes on maturing as an artist.

There's certain things about the process that I like and certain things I don't.

And one of the processes I do like is the actual final polish of one of Paul's pieces, because I have an opportunity to actually see it cut and polished before Paul does.

And when I do that final polish and rinse, that's when it comes to life.

We'd been doing this long enough that you just instinctively know like, hey, this is the one, this really looks good.

And you know, I wrap it up and I put in bubble wrap and sort of like giving him a present.

I said, "Here Paul, here you go."

It's been a great journey and we're looking forward to keeping Paul's tradition going.

Having our names on the studio at University of California San Diego is a high honor.

We've been doing our artwork for all these years, and when you get this phone call and saying, "Hey, we want to honor you," it's like, whoa, wait a minute.

Maybe what we're doing is impacting, rippling out to other places.

- The studio exists because of Paul's legacy.

Part of the reason why we try not to have as many walls in this building is so that people can go, "I'd like to try that."

Maybe they start off pursuing one art form, like Paul.

Glass changed his life and he has become this amazing artist.

So we're trying to create an environment that would allow people to have that experience as well.

In the next couple years, we're going to have this amazing glass lab studio space in a state-of-the-art facility that is going to be a game-changer for the students of this campus.

It's the influence of Paul, and we're thousands of miles away from him, yet we feel his influence every day.

(mellow music) - [Narrator] We turn not older with years but newer every day.

Emily Dickinson.

(mellow music continues) - When I realized I was a dyslexic, and after 10 to 15 years of listening to the spoken word, I started writing poetry.

This is the last poem that I wrote.

It's kind of special for me because I think of it like a prayer.

"Receive This Glass".

Receive this glass.

It holds my memories.

Crafted blossoms, suspended in stillness to be pollinated by your sight, anticipating your touch through time.

(mellow music continues) This poem is for the future.

When a person is curious about my work and they're looking at it, and I perceive that to be pollinating the blossom in the crystal.

I've always had this interest in writing.

It has something to do with sharing.

And I started writing the poetry and I would do it longhand and spelling was a nightmare.

When I started working with the computers, it really facilitated my being able to express myself with words.

I had spellcheck and I had text-to-speech.

I couldn't have been the writer that I am today without a computer.

And my writings have been well received.

My writing has really helped me get in touch with what I feel is important for my work and what I feel is important to my work.

I'm happy to share with others who would be interested.

(smooth acoustic music) - Paul began coming to Wheaton in the early 1970s and participated in some of our first events and then supported other events throughout the years as the museum and the collection grew.

In the '70s, those of us working at Wheaton Village realized the need for contemporary artists to find places to work.

And in 1983, we established the Creative Glass Center of America, which became a facility for artists to be able to come, stay for several months, build a body of work which they could go on, maybe have a gallery show, sell those pieces, and raise money to set up their own studios.

Paul was very supportive of that idea.

- It's very easy, almost a cliché to say that Paul has been a pillar here in this community, but I think for me, he's been a little bit of a tether as well.

You know, when I was calculating the years, Paul was on the founding board at the Creative Glass Center.

We now call it the Creative Glass Fellowship Program, and that was over 40 years ago, and I knew him prior to that.

So it's been a long relationship and he's just always been so giving and supportive.

You know, he's just been a real beacon, I think.

- So right now, Paul is assembling all of the pieces.

- I'm happy to tell people in addition to learning a craft at Salem Community College, I got my advanced degree from Wheaton Arts.

(Paul laughs) Interacting with other artists and being exposed to the creative process.

- You know, I know Paul through the lens of education, so, like, I've known him specifically from this place of supporting young artists that are coming up and it's something that he's always been excited about.

It's something that he's always been passionate about.

And I think like when he talks about his own story and his own studio practice, those kinds of opportunities weren't really there for him.

And so I think that's something that he's gotten really excited about, is like creating that opportunity for future artists.

- Whoa.

- Beautiful, isn't it?

(audience cheers and applauds) - The reward of being a successful artist is you get to keep working, right?

So, you know, I don't want to put words in his mouth, but like, I think a successful career means he gets to keep making work until the end, you know?

(audience applauds and cheers) (pensive acoustic music) - [Narrator] That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.

Emily Dickinson.

- This is my grandfather's toolbox.

And when I went into business, my mother, she said, "Paul, you know, you're a maker.

You're, you know, you work with your hands like my father and you know, I want you to have his toolbox."

And the toolbox became the most precious item that I own.

My mother used to say when I was a kid, "Oh, Paul's good with his hands, just like his grandfather."

Feeling his tools, I could feel the spirit of the man who cared about his craft and dedicated his professional life to engraving.

It brings back the memories of my grandfather, but also.

(Paul laughs) Also, I'm getting emotional.

It also makes me proud to think that I was a professional craftsperson.

I kind of want to be buried with these tools.

(Paul laughs) I don't know, I think Pat will let, you know, Pat can make that happen, I guess.

But I want to be buried with my grandfather's.

(Paul laughs) Oh my goodness, I want to be buried with my grandfather's hammer.

(phone rings) This is so spiritual to me.

(phone rings) Let the phone ring.

- [Person Off-Camera] It might be him, Paul.

- It might be my dad.

- [Person Off-Camera] Don't you put this under the ground.

(Paul laughs) - Yeah, I want them up, up above the ground.

Isn't that something?

(lighter clicks) (contemplative music) (flame hisses) (contemplative music continues) Today I put together a new design that builds on what I have been working on for the last several months.

I don't know exactly how, but on this piece that I did this morning, I had like an epiphany.

I wanted to highlight the golden orb with the flower and put it in a wreath of petals.

Not flowers, but petals.

And if it works, I'll be the happiest guy in the world, because I'll be able to play with a wreath of different colors.

Okay, let's get this thing done here.

Oh, wow.

- That looks good, Paul.

- It looks very, very good.

- Paul would always say, you know, he had pride of being part of the South Jersey glass tradition.

And with Paul being 80, Paul's sort of like passing this baton saying, okay, it's your turn now.

And I'm like, okay, I won't drop that baton.

I will do my best, Paul, to keep your legacy going and also keep that South Jersey glass tradition alive.

- [Paul] Oh wow.

The "Celestial Bouquet" series is evolving.

I'm proud of the results so far, but I know that I can give it more.

And I do believe that I'm slowly separating myself from my past.

(contemplative music continues) I would like to think that in the heavenly realm, why couldn't there be a plant kingdom?

Why not?

I'm doing the best work in my career striving for that heavenly landscape.

Maybe when people see my "Celestial Bouquet" and then they die and go to Heaven, they think that looks familiar.

(Paul laughs) Wouldn't that be nice?

Gosh.

If I had two lifetimes to give my craft, I would still need more time to explore botanical themes in glass.

You know, my job is to do the very, very best I can and let the art historians decide where it belongs.

(contemplative music continues)