Liquid Fire Glass LLC

Unique, one of a kind, glass blown and mixed medium treasures

Liquid Fire: A Glass Art Caleb Storm Dickman, owner of Liquid Fire Glass LLC, has been blowing glass and creating one-of-kind art works for more than 15 years. His lampworked pieces are showcased at his Liquid Fire shop (formerly Blue Ridge Alchemy), a working studio and gallery that includes space for live glass blowing demonstrations and classes. Located just behind DJ’s Drive-in off Route 221, Liquid Fire Glass features Caleb’s pendants, kaleidoscopes, ornaments, paper weights, pipes, marbles, perfume bottles, wine stoppers and more. His copper electroformed light switch covers, oil lamps and business card holders are displayed alongside handmade consigned works from other local artisans, making the shop a unique addition to the Floyd art scene and a must-see stop for extraordinary gifts. Caleb comes from a creative family. His mother, Juniper Healy, was the long-time owner of Seeds of Light, a bead and gift shop in Blacksburg and Roanoke. Caleb grew up helping his mother in the shop, where her own handcrafted jewelry designs were a feature. His father and brother are highly skilled in home building and general building trades. Caleb’s years of experience blowing glass began at the age of 20 when he met glass artist Kenan Tiemeyer at Seeds of Light in the early 2000s. He was already drawn to glass and had friends who were working in the medium but were not interested in teaching it. Meeting Kenan was serendipitous and Caleb ended up completing a paid apprenticeship with the artist. Over the years, Caleb has found his own artist’s style by trial and error and through being inspired by other glass artists. Following his apprenticeship with Kenan, he embarked on a personal journey, traveling, going to music festivals and connecting with other artists. He took classes and worked with other glass artists when he lived in Colorado from 2008 – 2015, which is where his glass blowing took a creative new direction when he learned the process of electroforming, fusing copper over glass in order to layer materials on it. Known for his visionary lampworked pieces, Caleb works with pyrex and borosilicate glass tubes, which he fire-torches into a molten state and blows to manipulate the desired shapes. “I like to think outside the box and make things that no one else is making,” Caleb said, adding that his goal is to create colorful other-worldly pieces that spark the imagination. His glass works incorporate mixed media, using copper electroforming to embellish his pieces with crystals, gemstones, deer antlers, feathers and more. He paints some of his pieces with acrylic graphite paint, or he might add a patina finish. Caleb partnered with Kenan again with the 2020 opening of Blue Ridge Alchemy, the original shop and studio which is now home to Liquid Fire Glass, Caleb’s business name. In the summer of 2022, Caleb became sole owner of the shop and business, while Kenan maintains the Blue Ridge Alchemy business name, working from his home studio in Indian Valley, VA. “I had been thinking of opening a shop – what I would do and how I would do it – since working at Seeds of Light,” he said. “Connecting with Kenan again in partnership really helped get things going, and it all worked out the way it was meant to,” he said about the mutual decision to separate the businesses. Using a titanium pen, Caleb dates his house-made glass creations and signs his middle name “Storm.” His marble orbs and pendants that evoke fantasy space scenes, ethereal dreamscapes and tree of life roots and branches captivate and delight admirers. One pendant named “Into the Deep Blue Sea” is described as featuring peacock chameleon glass, a shark’s tooth from a Florida beach, two Arkansas quartz points, an abalone shell cab, sphere opal and a copper infinity spiral. Ornate glass-blown pipes are sought after all over the country by collectors, Caleb noted. They are often purchased for large sums and increase in value. Pipes are one part of Caleb’s extensive artistic body of work, but he is also branching out, taking a silversmithing class and setting up a crafting area for that. The Liquid Glass studio resembles an alchemist’s lab with kilns, specialized equipment and tools, an area for conductive painting and a sink for submerging pieces in an acid bath. Caleb works from a hooded custom bench, sometimes with his dog Loki by his side, named by Caleb before he knew that in Norse Mythology Loki was a mischievous shape-shifter embodied with the qualities of fire. “I get in a flow state,” Caleb said about his work process, which he described as a creative state where he’s not thinking of anything else but the piece he’s working on. Psychology describes a flow state as a mental state that can occur when actions and awareness merge, so that it seems like a task is almost performing itself. This past December, Caleb offered several live demos of Christmas ornament making to the public and taught classes in making holiday ornaments. A 20-minute live demo that accommodates up to five people can be requested and booked in advance, Caleb said. “Kids and families love it.” All-day classes for up to two people will offer instruction on setting up, learning the glass making process, learning how to find materials and tips on marketing finished product. Class attendees will work with solid pyrex rods, view a demonstration by Caleb and make mushroom pendants. Two-day classes will provide an introduction into blowing a hollow glass ornaments and in copper electroforming, coating a layer of copper over organic material, such as leaves, twigs and honeycomb. Currently the shop (115 Sweeney St. SE, VA 24091), which was once home to a TV repair, a florist and recycled clothing shop, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 to 7, or by appointment (540-250-6728). Along with creating glasswork and tending shop, Caleb also vends at crafts shows and sells his glassworks wholesale to shops. He suggests checking his website (liquidfireglassllc.com) and Instagram and Facebook (@liquidfireglass) to view his work, check for changes in shop hours and receive upcoming news. “Come say hi and support local,” Caleb recently said on his Facebook page. “Look for the purple door.”