Seeing the world through an artist

Quade Kelley

Artist Josh Simpson creates tiny glassplanets that are meant to delight his audience.Decades ago， he gave glassblowingdemonstrations to local students in hisstudio in Springfield， Massachusetts. Simpsonstarted by showing the middle?schoolstudents how to make marbles （弹子）.

As a master of glass blower， Simpsonhas been shaping and molding glass intoart for more than 50 years. His creations，which have been showcased around theworld， range from the small planetary orbs（圆形物） to the world's largest paperweight.The 100?pound Megaplanet wascommissioned by the Corning Museum ofGlass （CMOG） in New York State.“ Simpsonis a wonderful artist and teacher whoconnects the natural world to glass in a waythat creates joy，” said Amy Schwartz，director of a glassmaking school.

More than 3000 of Simpson's palmsizedplanets are hidden around the world.He got the idea of hiding his tiny glasscreations in 1976， after finding children'smarbles from long ago in his garden. In 2000， he invited others to help him hidethe planets. He calls the archeological adventure“The Infinity Project”.“ The InfinityProject connects people to glass becausewere endlessly fascinated by thosetiny little worlds and how they're created，”Schwartz said.

“Molten glass is one of the most challengingmaterials for an artist to work with.The hot liquid just wants to drip on thefloor. It will burn you if you touch it. Workingwith a material like that is amazingand challenging， but it's also really fun. I'dlike to hide more planets in museums. Icurrently have hidden planets in the archivesof some famous museums，” Simpsonsaid.

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How long has Simpson been shaping and molding glass into art？

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