“ It’ s tough getting someone to commit to a five-year trades apprenticeship today. Now, imagine telling them they won’ t even be good at something for 25 years..”
“ It’ s tough getting someone to commit to a five-year trades apprenticeship today. Now, imagine telling them they won’ t even be good at something for 25 years..”
— John Lawrence
up to purchase the piece they’ d just watched come to life, and the savvy young entrepreneurs made sure to keep boxes of nearly-identical pieces ready-for-sale behind the counter.
Through it all, Dick immersed the boys in a deep understanding of the chemistry making their art possible.
After high school, the looming Vietnam War prompted the brothers to enroll in college. John planned to make use of his glass blowing dexterity and eye-hand coordination to become a surgeon. Jim began studying to become an architect. But college money dwindled as glass sales soared. John and Jim headed straight to Nashville, convinced a local banker to take a chance granting them an $ 8,000 loan, and rented a shop. They slept on the floor because $ 100 monthly apartment rent was out-of-reach. Living at work in a town lacking entertainment past
6 p. m. prompted the twins to routinely work 16-hour
Jim Lawrence creating a nature piece. days honing their craft. That was the kind of commitment it took to learn at a trade that many in the industry say takes 25 years to be considered a master glass blower. Not surprisingly, that length of apprenticeship is making glass blowing a dying art, John said.
“ It’ s tough getting someone to commit to a five-year trades apprenticeship today,” John said.“ Now, imagine telling them they won’ t even be good at something for 25 years.”
The fascination of an uncommon art lures visitors into the brothers’ two Nashville studios, where the sight of molten glass spinning inside a flame is instantly mesmerizing. Their design repertoire includes more than 800 glass items they create regularly, and the brothers welcome the challenge of custom requests: figurines playing an uncommon sport, replicas of WWII pilots’ particular aircraft, or even the opossum a Brown County tourist once encountered on a getaway.“ I thought that opossum would be a one-time thing, but we’ ve sold more than 300 of those little buggers,” John laughed.
Still performers at heart, the brothers handily craft breathtaking art seemingly effortlessly, while teasing crowds with banter that their twin is“ the ugly one,” who is only“ kept around for spare parts.” Jim said the business has brought an unimaginable amount of fun over the past 58 years. He laughed, remembering a story from years ago, when one of John’ s customers was dismayed to learn he was not in the store that day. Without missing a beat, Jim changed into one of his brother’ s shirts in the back room and reemerged in character as John. And, of course, he made the sale.
Their customers know that beneath the wit and laughter is a reputation of quality, honesty, and the belief that people will always recognize and appreciate something made with care.“ Our whole business is built on three things,” Jim said.“ Make the highest quality product you can. Sell it at the fairest price you can. And service it like it’ s going to outlast you. Do those three things, and you’ ll never stop working.”
Though the brothers have formed relationships with thousands of customers
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May / June 2025 • Our Brown County 17