Each time Jamie Sherman ’68, takes a gather of molten glass on his blowpipe, he repeats a ritual practiced by glassblowers for over 2,000 years. Once he has begun the process there is no stopping; he must move with the piece, blowing, shaping, and reheating, until the final form emerges. His tools are primitive: a blowpipe, a wad of wet paper to protect his hand from glass heated to 2300 degrees Fahrenheit, and simple pliers and jacks for shaping, stretching and cutting the glass.

Each piece grows out of the struggle between his agile inventiveness and the fragility of the glass. Glassblowing is an art as unforgiving as it is ancient. “It really is heartbreaking”, Jamie will tell you. “There are a hundred things that can go wrong – a moment of distraction, a jarred elbow – and the piece goes to the floor.”

A potential for calamity is just one of the mysteries of this most physical, most dangerous, most delicate of art forms. When Jamie talks about what he does, his language is elemental and musical. “It’s all feeling, hearing and movement”, Jamie reflects. “When you are working the glass, it’s too hot to look at. Everything depends on timing and rhythm. I hear the glass – I see only sparks and smoke.”

Jamie’s life path, like his art, has had a lot to do with timing and rhythm. Long and winding roads are his specialty. He grew up between Hamilton and Muskoka; in his early twenties he embarked on a successful but frustrating career as a folk musician. Late in the seventies, a serendipitous turn of events introduced him to glassblowing. He built his Bracebridge studio in 1980. The ensuing dozen years have been filled with awards, honours, and commissions, all evidence of the respect his work commands within the arts community.

His memories of his many Hillfield years are clear and wry. “Growing up, I was a complete space cadet one minute who could focus intensely the next”, he remembers. “Mrs. Eadington, my grade 3 teacher, was a saint who seemed to understand why I looked out the window so much. And then there was Stuart Waters – he was so consistent. I learned persistence from him. Being part of a tradition anchors you – Hillfield gave me that.”

Early influences endure. The persistence has meant everything. This, coupled with a genuine sensitivity to the recreation of historical works, resulted in his first commission from the ROM: a reproduction of Canada’s oldest known blown glass artifact, the 1839 Mallorytown Pitcher. Jamie’s second commission took him back in time even further. “As I held this piece in my hand” he explains, “I could see that it left metallic sparkles. Glass of great age devitrifies and this piece dated back to A.D. 50-150. The last person who touched it as an artist would was probably the glassblower. It was a hollow, blown glass perfume container, meant to portray a Mediterranean shore bird. There was a dozen or so in the world - and I was holding one. And I could see through it to a new piece.”

Jamie’s work is currently exhibited locally at Beckett’s Gallery on James Street South, in Hamilton. It’s a collection of objects that range from the primitive to the elegant, with a stopover at the whimsical. The delicate Roman birds are there, tucked beneath the primitive masks that glower from the wall. An impossible piece, innocently labeled “stoppered jar”, sits demurely on the centre table. It’s hard to pick a favourite. But not for the artist, “My favourite piece,” he smiles, “is always my next one.”