Tom Fuhrman shows me a Sotheby’s Auction catalog from a huge stack in his office. To him, a lot of this stuff is junk, but to people who are now snapping them up on eBay, they’re gold.

The catalogues show detailed high resolution color photos of glass works that made their way through the auction house in the 1980s. It’s just a taste of the stuff he’s sifting through as he boxes up what he’s taking with him.

Tom has been in the glass making business for about 11 years now, many more years before that as a hobby. His studio on Short Mountain in Woodbury, TN reflects years of hard work, but at 63 he’s now slowly packing things up and moving to Oak Ridge.

That’s where his son’s family now lives, and Tom has already found a place to set up shop adjacent to an antique store where he’s sure to get more foot traffic. He figures he should be completely set up in a couple of months.

Buffy, his dog, bears her teeth on command to smile and greet me as we make our way into the studio. Like many artists who have their own studio for years, there is a story in every corner and on every shelf. There are tools, glass fragments and discarded mistakes. In the middle of showing me around, a neighbor shows up to help Tom flip a large stained glass window for a local church so he can complete the soldering on the back side.

For another couple of hours, Tom shared some of his story of how he and his wife found Short Mountain. He said they were inspired one day by a segment on Oprah about retired couples selling everything and starting new lives. His wife learned about Woodbury in a book he thinks was titled 100 Best Art Towns In America. At age 50, he decided it was time to make the move from Indiana and to get serious about a life’s passion: glass making.

Some of Tom’s glass fountains are currently on permanent display at the Frist Museum in Nashville. A huge 2,300 pound glass sculpture resides at Southern Hills Medical Center.

One of the most interesting pieces Tom creates are pet urns. He works with a woman in California who sends him the ashes of deceased pets he then permanently places into glass hearts memorializing them forever.

I’ll share more about Tom and his work after he settles into his new place in Oak Ridge. Until then, take a look at just a small sample of his work.

Read this in the March 9, 2010 print edition of the Cannon Courier.