Columbus glass blower gets fired up on Netflix series ‘Blown Away’
Cooking competitions have been a reality-television staple for more than a decade, with more shows than you can shake a spatula at — among them, “Beat Bobby Flay,” “Hell’s Kitchen” and numerous programs with “chef ” in the title. But Netflix’s “Blown Away” is turning up the heat on a different craft: glass blowing.
The series, which debuted in 2019, pits 10 glass artisans against one another in a custom-built “hot shop” near Toronto, the largest one in North America. Columbus resident Jonathan Capps knows firsthand how quickly the sparks begin to fly when rival artists vie to be crowned Best in Glass and win top-dollar prizes.
“The glass community in the States is relatively small, so when the show first started, it was all the buzz, for sure,” said Capps, a glass blower featured in Season 4 of “Blown Away,” which premieres on Friday.
“For season 4, they’ve changed things up a little bit. The theme was pushing the limits a little bit more, going bigger and bolder and more extreme with the challenges. It’s a pretty grueling competition. We were 100% pushed physically and creatively in this competition.”
Capps no stranger to ‘Blown Away’
This wasn’t Capps’ first rodeo with “Blown Away.” He was a finalist in Season 3 but didn’t make the cut to be on the show. Once bitten, twice shy, Capps said he was “on the fence” about making a bid for Season 4.
“I think it’s natural to be a little apprehensive to go in front of the camera. So, when I didn’t make it, I thought, ‘Well, that was an interesting process. It’s behind me,’” he said.
However, his wife, Lindsay, urged him to try again, then Netflix reached out and asked if he wanted to resubmit an application. So, just before the deadline, Capps recorded a video with his cellphone during a walk in the woods,
discussing his glass-blowing practices and why he might be a good contestant. A casting interview followed, and Capps was accepted for Season 4.
“The competition is quick, with a lot of fast thinking. It’s very high-pressure and it’s all timed, so you’re running against the clock to finish your idea. You’re really thrown out of your comfort zone,” he said.
“Blown Away” is hosted by Hunter March, who’s best-known for his work as the host of the Netflix baking reality series, “Sugar Rush,” the “Nightly Pop” talk show on E!, and “Emogenius” on Game Show Network. The contestants were judged by glass artist and educator Katherine Gray, whose work has been exhibited internationally.
How Capps got involved in glass blowing
Capps, 41, has been glass blowing for more than 20 years, dating back to his undergraduate days at Centre College, a small liberal arts school in Danville, Kentucky, where he started out as a biology major. “All I really knew was I wanted to play baseball in college; I played as a freshman and part of my sophomore year, then I discovered glass
blowing,” he said.
“Mastering the craft, the physicality of it and the teamwork required — it all just felt like a really natural transition from playing baseball to blowing glass. I immediately fell in love with it. It’s pretty magical material.”
Capps laughed when he recalled his parents’ reaction when he told them he was switching his major to art: “My dad hung up on me. He’s my biggest supporter now.”
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in art with a focus on glass, Capps said he “did the hustle for almost a decade,” bouncing around and working
for other people before coming to Columbus with his young family in 2013 to attend grad school at Ohio State University.
“It was an amazing kind of exposure for me,” he said of his education at OSU. “It was a special experience. OSU does a great job of helping doors open for its grad students.”
After earning a master of fine arts degree in 2016, research and travel grants allowed Capps to travel to Azerbaijan to be an archaeological illustrator, then to Finland to study glass making and design.
Now he’s a faculty lecturer and teaches glass courses at OSU’S Sherman Studio Arts Center and works out of Glass Axis in Franklinton. He also will be selling his work soon on a new website, JC Glassmaker.
How much prize money can the winner of ‘Blown Away’ earn?
Even though there were moments when the sparring artists got hot under the collar, Capps said his experience on “Blown Away” was “a pretty interesting way of making art.”
First and foremost, it was a fantastic group of competitors,” he emphasized. “A reality-competition series with glass blowing as the medium — that’s a cool, unique twist.”
Capps added that Season 4 of “Blown Away” will offer the largest grand prize in the history of the series, a package worth $100,000.
“They’ll reveal what the prizes are on the show,” he said. “So, you’ll have to watch!”
bpaschal@dispatch.com