Vallejo’s Mare Island Art Glass teaches glass blowing to kids and adults

VALLEJO — Douglass C. Brown, the owner of Mare Island Art Glass, has been blowing glass for 26 years. He started with a studio in his backyard after retiring from a 35-year career in real estate. 

The material wasn’t new to him, because he had worked as a glass technician for several Silicon Valley companies at the beginning of his career, but this was different. He was not making laser tubes, he was making art.

“I knew already how to do it and what the pieces were I needed to do, but I didn't have the skill set to do that,” Brown said. 

There weren’t a lot of places to learn glass blowing at that time. Brown took some immersive courses here and there, but he learned mostly by teaching himself through practice. “I got good at it after about 10 years, and enough that I could afford to move and get a house over on the coast and go down that path,” Brown said.

In 2009 he opened a studio in Half Moon Bay, which is still very successful, and four and half years ago he opened Mare Island Art Glass at 860 Nimitz Ave. 

“I started as a maker. Then I realized teaching was a lot of fun and people really enjoyed it, so I started doing that,” Brown said. “I'd say 90% of our income these days comes from classes.”

Last December, Brown had 600 students between his two studios. His business averages between 5,000 and 7,000 students a year. He has five employees, although not all of them work full time, and he also teaches, aside from managing the business. 

While the Half Moon Bay location is sought after for corporate retreats, the Mare Island studio has been very popular among homeschooled students. 

“We've had three different groups, and one of them had 300 kids,” Brown explained. “They said that when they offered our class for the first time, it sold out at eight o'clock in the morning.” The kids come in groups of 30. Some of them meet each other in person for the first time at the studio.

The classes are also very popular for birthday parties, date nights, or simply for a group of friends who want to do something creative together. 

Since the studio is right by the Mare Island Brewing Company Coal Shed Brewery, Brown allows students to buy food and drinks there and bring them into class. “It adds this fun evening kind of feel to it, it's a different feeling than coming in at 10 o'clock in the morning for a class, a little more casual, a little more festive,” Brown said.

The Mare Island location was one of the reasons Brown got the Vallejo studio. He loves the water view and the proximity to the brewery. The cherry on top has been the addition of the vintage boats currently docked at Mare Island. “That's been amazing, getting all kinds of people over to visit as a result, who would not normally come here,” he said.

When Brown opened the Half Moon Bay studio, he was mainly making pumpkins to sell at pumpkin festivals. He sold a lot, but the organizations who put together the festivals would take 40% of the sale price. Another problem was that these festivals only happened in October and he needed steady income all year.

He decided to try something different. He offered a class to make a pumpkin through Groupon. “I sold 300 pumpkin vouchers in five days, and was able to book the whole year,” Brown said. After that, he closed the Groupon sale and refocused the business on teaching.

“We have 25 different projects that people can choose from,” Brown explained. “You can choose tier three if you want a drinking cup, or you want a big pumpkin or sculptural stuff like a sea star or sea urchin. All of that is possible. And then you get to choose the colors, which is fun.” One client booked a whole set of six glasses which she then gave away as Christmas presents.

Mare Island Art Glass is open by appointment on weekdays and all day on Saturday. Students don’t need previous experience. Projects can be as simple as a holiday ball or as elaborate as you want. You can book a class online. 

Classes last two hours and every student gets individual time with an instructor who will support their project. The pieces are picked up the next day so they have time to cool, or Brown can mail them.

“The most rewarding thing for me is when people come in the next day to pick up their work and I see how excited they are,” Brown said. “They always feel really good about the overall experience, so that's one thing I'm quite proud of.”