Hobby of creating art from molten glass turns into business idea

A few years ago when my parents were in town I thought I would take them downtown Scottsdale to the Art walk that is held every Thursday night. The art walk gives tourists and locals an evening to view the art in the galleries. I remember my dad craning his neck to see the prices of the art. I doubt he even would remember the pieces themselves, but would definitely remember some of the pricetags.

Of all the art I have seen downtown or elsewhere, the blown glass pieces by Newt Grover made one of the largest impressions on me. I would love to have one of his pieces in my house. Newt (the artist) and his wife Lee (the business manager) have been in business as Newt Glass since 1985.

Newt’s first career was as a jeweler. Self taught, he made Indian jewelry in a ceramics class, then went on to producing fine gold and platinum jewelry. By the mid 1980’s, Newt became bored with making jewelry and began another career making neon signs. That lasted twelve years, and then Newt needed another hobby. After only six hours of glass blowing experience, Newt realized his passion. He built himself the largest glassblowing studio in the Valley, and feels everything he’s done with his career has led him to glassblowing. Every piece of his work is signed. He has art all over Phoenix and Scottsdale and has made hundreds of pieces, using molten glass at 2000 degrees. He makes pieces of work for residential and commercial locations.