NEWPORT -- The indistinct blobs of hot glass have nearly nothing to do with their colorful finished counterparts. In his Newport glassblowing studio, which opened in January, Parker Stafford creates handmade glass from vases to bowls to decorative pieces.

To start a piece, Stafford makes a basic shape of molten glass called a gather, which can be molded into any shape on the end of a glassblowing tool called -- not surprisingly -- a blowpipe.

He then makes a small air bubble in the gather with the blowpipe and shapes the piece with glassblowing tools and air, heating and reheating the piece in a furnace at temperatures reaching 2,200 degrees.

"This isn't like factory work," Stafford said. "Things aren't made in a mold."

He then rolls the glass shape in colored crushed glass powders, alternating layers of colors with more heat. The high temperatures cause the glass powder to fuse to the gather.

"This is all trial and error," Stafford said of the color process.

Because of the high heat and layering, it's hard to tell what the colors will look like when the piece is finished.

Pieces are then finished with another layer of clear glass and then cooled in a kiln for an hour per quarter-inch. The bigger the piece, the longer it takes to finish in the kiln -- anywhere from one day for thin pieces to weeks for larger pieces.

Stafford, a Floyd native, didn't plan to get into glassblowing. He discovered the art while studying sculpture at the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in the early 1990s. He said he fell in love with it.

He still majored in sculpting, but spent time with other students studying glass and picking up tips and techniques.

After graduation, Stafford's plans to teach sculpture or work in an art foundry fell by the wayside and he opened a glassblowing studio in Culpeper in 1997.

"It seemed like the time to open a studio," he said. "I always thought I'd get back to sculpture, but it's 12 years later and here I am."

He hasn't completely given up on teaching, however. People interested in glassblowing can take classes and see demonstrations by Stafford.

Stafford moved back to the New River Valley in 2007 to be near family.

"This studio is so much different from my old one," he said. "Before I couldn't really give tours or classes, but here I have that space and I really enjoy it."

A glassblowing studio, especially one open to the public, is an asset to the area, said Pat Sharkey, trail development coordinator for the 'Round the Mountain artisan trails. For the past few years, 'Round the Mountain, a group created to promote Southwest Virginia artists, has worked to develop trails that promote artisan studios, galleries, farms, agritourism sites and venues in 23 locales including Montgomery, Pulaski, Floyd and Giles counties and the city of Radford.

"It takes an incredible amount of work and investment to have a studio of that caliber," Sharkey said of Stafford Art Glass. "The process is visually fascinating for folks to see, and it's not one you see that often."

Stafford mostly sells wholesale to galleries, at craft fairs across the country or does commissions. His Newport studio has a small gallery space that's about half full.

He plans to feature other local artists in his gallery in the future, which is another draw for local artisans, Sharkey said. Giles County's trail is still in the planning stages, but the artists involved, such as Stafford, have been very interested in opening their area up to more art-related tourism, she said.

Stafford Art Glass

Where: 8685 Virginia Ave., Newport

Hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday or by appointment

Contact: 577-0122 or staffordartglass.com