Blown Away, Netflix’s new original series, is bringing craft artistry back to the reality tv stage. The first season of 10 episodes debuted on Netflix on July 12th. The show highlights ten master artists, who complete glassblowing sculpture challenges for the chance to win a $60,000 prize, and an artist’s residency at the renowned Corning Museum of Glass.

In each episode, artists interpret a creative brief in their own style. The challenge: impress the judges with their glassblowing skills, or risk being eliminated. Ten artists compete on Blown Away: Alexander Rosenberg, Edgar Valentine, Janusz Pozniak, Kevin Kiff, Leah Kudel, K. Momoko “Momo” Schafer, Patrick Primeau, Annette Sheppard, Benjamin Kikkert, and Deborah Czeresko.

The artisans’ levels of experience are varied. 23-year-old Edgar speaks openly about how many underestimate him because of his age. Compare with Janusz, who trained under glass master Dale Chihuly, and has 30 years of experience. I asked Blown Away competitor Momo, a recent MassArt graduate, about how she felt about joining the show:

“It’s been a running joke amongst glass blowers, saying ‘there totally should be a reality show about glass, because so many crazy things already happen in a studio.’ It just very easily leads to drama.”

When Momo was contacted by the casting director for Blown Away, she was hesitant. “I was a little bit nervous… we knew that this would be the first impression for so many people. To even know what glass art is, or what glass blowing looks like… If this is their entry point, we didn’t want to make a bad impression. I felt excitement and apprehension all at once,” Momo explained.

Inside the Hot Shop

The series is recorded in North America’s largest glass studio “hot shop.” The studio provides the space and the equipment the artists need to create exceptional work. Watching the process is alternately spellbinding and nerve-racking. Artisans manipulate molten glass taken from a furnace with a long metal blow pipe. Using paddles, mitts, metal tools, and the force of their own breath, they sculpt the material, reheating the glass using torches, or by inserting it into a furnace called a “glory hole.”

Fragile materials add drama to the creative challenges. Artwork can easily crack and break away from the pipe, shattering on the floor. The artists have just a few hours to complete their challenge, with help from their assistants, glass students from Sheridan College. The head judge, award-winning glass artist Katherine Gray, circles the studio as they work, inquiring about each artist’s process.