The word glassblowing is defined in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary as “the art of shaping a mass of glass that has been softened by heat by blowing air into it through a tube.” Despite this bland definition, glassblowing is a lot of fun.

The Seattle Glassblowing Studio has become one of the prime places in this region to go for people with a healthy curiosity in glassblowing or for seasoned artists to expand their repertoire. Started in 1991 by Cliff Goodman, a master glassblower, this art studio offers classes in many levels from beginning to advanced and specialty classes.

In addition to these workshops, many local companies host team-building events in the studio as well as demonstrations for passersby while the production team works.

Goodman, who studied at the world-renowned Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Wash., came to Seattle more than 15 years ago to start his own studio after realizing there was nowhere in the region to go for this type of art.

“There was nothing like it,” said studio director Cyrena Stefano.

While glassblowing is considered by many to be a modern art form, Syrians have practiced the particular technique of blowing glass since the first century. Since then, little has changed in this technique, save for newer equipment making the process faster and increasingly precise.

When made with bright and vivid colors, the translucent pieces become more than just glass and can transform the atmosphere surrounding them.

They can turn an ordinary room into flashes of colored light that diffuse across floors and walls.

If you want some kind of art to liven a room — and have a lot of money — there are many stunning works to pick from in the gallery just outside the studio. From little animal ornaments to bigger elegant bowls and giant circular vessels, there is a piece of art that can modernize any space.

Seven- or eight-person teams work in flawless synchronism around flaming torches and ovens that burn up to 2,400 F. This is not your grandmother’s workshop. With 15 to 20 people in a classroom, it can be a little crowded as artists hover around the kiln. With music blasting, it is difficult to hear, much less concentrate on the task at hand. Everyone in the room has burn marks on their arms and hands. Seasoned glassblower John Moreno said he gets burned “once every couple weeks.”

The heat radiating from the kilns offsets the cold air that blows in from open garage doors. While one part of your body is sweltering, the other half is cold. It is similar to sitting by a campfire on a cold night, constantly turning your body toward or away from the fire.

Several tables, called marvers, are spread throughout the studio on which the glass will be rolled and shaped.

Depending on the size of the vessel, this process can take up to an hour as molten glass moves through three phases.

Made mostly of silicon dioxide, aka sand, this chemical compound, combined with other chemicals to give it color, is melted in the largest and hottest kiln called the furnace. Once the gaffer, or lead glassblower, picks up the white-hot batch of molten glass using a hollow steel rod, he begins to blow through the tube, allowing the glass to expand to the desired shape.

Throughout this process, the cooler orange-colored clump of glass is often reheated in a kiln called a glory hole, where it retains its malleable density.

With many tools and instruments needed to give shape to the glass piece, a person double-wielding two giant blowtorches is also needed to keep the temperature high.

Upon completion, an individual dressed in what resembles a nuclear fallout outfit places the piece into the annealer, where it will cool off and harden.

When the studio is not being used for clientele productions, it holds night classes for all levels of expertise.

Just as the studio does not look like a studio during the day, the class does not resemble a conventional class. Instead of chalkboards, instructor Julie Bergen draws on the floor what students will practice for the session.

The only thing to pay attention to is not to get prodded by a four-foot searing metal rod with molten glass on its end by any of the half-dozen students. As students on this particular night learn the art of rolling glass onto the rods, called punties, smiles and “yeses” come from across the room. They have just learned how to make a perfectly rounded shape of molten glass.

And just as various as the shapes are on the rods are the students in the class. Most have full-time occupations in areas far from glassblowing. Eduardo Martinez, an electrical engineer, said he likes the visual concept of glassblowing and decided to give it a try after always walking by the studio from his house nearby. Michelle Dedeo, a nurse at the UW Medical Center, said this type of art is both good and hard.

“Good because it is fun and challenging; it is something completely new,” she said. “Hard because it seems like it is so easy to do, but not.”

Others like Stefania Urist, a student at Seattle University, wanted to try something fresh and modern, unlike the painting and drawing classes that seem to sometimes bore her. When asked if she has decided on a particular major yet, Urist said, “That’s why I’m here.”

Reach reporter Brian Farn at features@dailyuw.com.