Meet Jordan Ford

Owner/Operator of The Melting Point

I got my first job at the age of 10. It was an amazing gig. I was given $40 to perform a juggling routine at the public library for the summer readers group. I do my best to keep those skills sharp and they have more than helped me to provide the dexterity and peripheral awareness so critical to blowing glass.

Art Through the Eyes of a Geologist

My first passion was found in the natural world around me and the science that attempts to put an understanding of it. I was already on the path of studying geology when I discovered glass. I currently hold a Bachelor’s Degree in both Earth Science/Geology and Visual Arts/Glassblowing. Never would I have thought that the two studies could complement each other so well.

It’s the process of blowing glass that drives me. I find the physical act of making glass so overwhelmingly fascinating. I approach most of my work with consideration for the more classical techniques – it’s the framework that I use as a jumping point for experimentation.

Most of my work goes through a number of iterations before ever making it to the gallery floor. It starts its life on the head of a blowpipe where I add layers upon layers of colored glass. When I’m satisfied with how the piece has taken form, I bring it into the coldshop to carve through the exterior layers allowing the vibrant insides to surface. Similar to Sedona’s red-orange Cathedral Rock, these are forms that serve as a record of both creation and material breakdown. Each step embodied within the process is documented with the construction of the object. The final result serves as something of a stratigraphic map of the process.

The idea of this layering parallels the human experience. We are defined by our “layers” of past experience. People often use them to constrain us but ultimately we’re each given the opportunity to allow our true colors to show through.

Working at The Melting Point

I’m in love with the medium. I’ve been working with glass for nearly half of my life, and I’m every bit as captivated with it now as when I took my very first gather out the melting furnace. The process of blowing glass is incredible. It’s fluid. It’s dynamic. It’s often unforgiving. What it’s taught me most – an ability to adapt to any situation.

I wear many hats here at The Melting Point. I design and produce custom lines of work for the gallery. I work with our wonderful patronage and community members to help bring their ideas to fruition in glass. I also get the opportunity to teach to wide-eyed newcomers to the craft. The best part? I’m encouraged to push my personal boundaries of the craft. I get to create simply for the benefit of creating. I’m allotted the opportunity to develop myself as an artist. The Melting Point has made it possible for me to raise a family without sacrificing my personal values. I can’t begin to put a price on that.

So come to Sedona. Travel up the hill on Route 89A, and join us in the hot shop. Watch us work, or better yet, let us teach you how to blow your own glass art. It will change your life.