Eden Prairie banker explores the art of glass blowing
Steve Garver picked up glass blowing from his son, Scott, who started more than 20 years ago. They operate the “Goblets of Fire” booth at the Renaissance Festival. (Submitted photos) BY SUE WEBBER • CONTRIBUTING WRITER Steve Garver of Eden Prairie is a reverse-mortgage banker with a zest for living. “I am a passionate proponent of creative aging,” said Garver, who is 73. “I have a new career coming. It just isn’t here yet.” His son, Scott, became a glass blower more than 20 years ago, and as Garver watched his son’s career blossom, his own interest in the craft began to grow. Seven years ago, his son rented a booth at the Renaissance Festival to showcase his craft for seven weekends, and Garver’s interest peaked. “I fell in love with it,” Garver said. Father and son bought the booth, and Scott is teaching his father the rudiments of glass blowing.
“My son doesn’t want to be a teacher, but he’s a good one,” Garver said. “I watch and listen to him. I’ve made mushrooms and some Christmas ornaments. To think that you can heat something to 1,700 to 2,000 degrees and make it into something you’re thinking about in your head fascinates me.” Garver is just finishing this year’s seven-weekend booking in the family’s “Goblets of Fire” booth at the Renaissance Festival. “Last year at the ‘Ren,’ I suggested that my son make pendants,” Garver said. “He said to me, ‘Why don’t you learn how to do it?’ I’ve just ordered my own torch and now I’m making pendants. I’m learning that you’ve got the creativity; you’ve just got to let it out.” He does his work in his son’s glass blowing studio in south Minneapolis. “I try to go there every other
day for three to four hours,” Garvey said. “I aim for 20 hours a week.” An Army brat who attended 17 different schools while he was growing up, Garver recalls doing a lot of drawing and some painting when he was a child. “My mom was a portrait painter,” he said. “I was going to major in art.” He has a degree in business from Drake University. After he got out of the Army, he considered becoming a physical therapist or a chemistry teacher. But he ended up becoming a structural iron worker for four years. “I loved it,” he said. “I was fascinated with the transfer of raw materials and out comes a washing machine. That just blew my mind.” GLASS - TO PAGE 4