Special
Features / May 2007
Touch of Glass
 Donna Ball
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By Pat Lawrence
A pianist and singer, Donna Ball was always involved in music and the arts. So, “When I found myself actually doing accounting every day, I found myself very unhappy!” she says. “I realized I needed to be involved in something creative, something different.”
Trying to find something that suited her artistic nature, allowed her to stay home with her children and provided enough income make it worthwhile, wasn’t easy. “I did a little of everything. I love to learn and try new things.” Born and raised in the small mining community of Winifrede, WV, Donna went to work as a trainee in a doctor's office before she left high school. When she met a new neighbor who was a glass paper weight dealer who sold the work of WV artists, Donna saw opportunity. She helped him set up a home party plan to market the glass artwork and ultimately bought the business.
“That’s when I got interested in glass! I was looking for something special, that wasn’t done all the time.” Glass engraving appealed to her, “because I thought personalized items were something people would enjoy; they’re something I like to give myself”. She began researching, attending glass shows and “bought every book Corning museum had about glass engraving”.
During her research she met a local glass blower. “He didn’t know exactly how to do engraving, but he showed me how the wheel worked!” Then, she met a machinist who built glass cutting machines. “I signed a contract for him to build me a machine, gave notice at my job and went home and told my husband what I’d done. He was scared to death but I knew there was a market for something unusual and special. That’s how my business was born-I was too miserable doing something I didn’t like.”
She’s been etching crystal and glass since 1979, when she started working out of her basement. As the business grew, she opened A Touch of Glass in a small storefront on a side street in Hurricane, then moved to Main Street, where her building was a familiar fixture for years.
Ten years ago, she and her husband bought a fifteen acre horse farm. The horses were already gone, but the former stables and barn are now Donna's workshop and showcase. Donna, the kilns and the cutting machines stay busy in a national enterprise that answers a broad variety of requests. She does work for Blenko, in Milton, “one of the few handmade glass makers left”, and is often called upon to create major orders of commemorative items. Marshall University asked her to create memorable gifts for the actors from the Marshall movie. Donna screen prints thousands of wine glasses for the Charleston Wine and Jazz festival. She enjoys completing special requests from individuals and hearing the stories behind the requests. But, most of her time is spent doing work for two New York companies that sell to interior designers, creating reproductions of etched antique lighting and mirrors. She says, “They are the most uncommon thing I do. I think there are less than a dozen people in the country who do this kind of work.” She made 32 pieces of glass for a chandelier in the Alabama State Senate to reproduce the original light fixture.
Etching crystal requires that she be able to see through the glass, and she works backwards and upside down when she monograms. She says, “After you get used to it, it’s not really any more difficult than working straight on!” To create accurate reproductions, clients send Donna the actual antique lamps and mirrors. “I experiment and look at samples to get it right.” If it’s something she’ll be making repeatedly, she keeps the piece, to compare against “so my cuts don’t vary”. When she does sandblasting, she wears a mask, When she engraves, she works with water constantly dripping to keep the wheel from building up heat. For screen printing, she uses a cylinder with ink that has ground up glass that melts and becomes a permanent part of the stemware or mug.
Her commute from house to work is about 200 feet. “It’s very convenient for checking the kilns-and the grandkids!” A master gardener, Donna has turned the grounds around her home and business into a welcoming garden of flowers and water features. She still plays piano and sings with the Hurricane Civic Chorus. She says, “I may cut back on how much I work, but I intend to do this as long as I’m physically and mentally able. I enjoy it very much - the work, the people I meet and the stories behind every piece.”
For more information, Contact Donna Ball, 304-562-5435 or visit: westvirginiaglass.com.
Copyright © 2007 A Woman's View. All rights reserved.
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