Vallejo’s Mare Island Art Glass teaches glass blowing to kids and adults
From a whimsical glass pumpkin to an original vase or Christmas ornament, you can create your own glass pieces in a safe and fun environment
VALLEJO — Douglass C. Brown, the owner of Mare Island Art Glass, has been blowing glass for 26 years. He started with a studio in his backyard after retiring from a 35-year career in real estate.
The material wasn’t new to him, because he had worked as a glass technician for several Silicon Valley companies at the beginning of his career, but this was different. He was not making laser tubes, he was making art.
“I knew already how to do it and what the pieces were I needed to do, but I didn't have the skill set to do that,” Brown said.
There weren’t a lot of places to learn glass blowing at that time. Brown took some immersive courses here and there, but he learned mostly by teaching himself through practice. “I got good at it after about 10 years, and enough that I could afford to move and get a house over on the coast and go down that path,” Brown said.
In 2009 he opened a studio in Half Moon Bay, which is still very successful, and four and half years ago he opened Mare Island Art Glass at 860 Nimitz Ave.
Continue reading, Vallejo Sun February 19th, 2026 article, by Isidra Mencos
