CLINTON -- Carl Jensen can make anything you can imagine out of glass. He has been making blown glass creations for nearly 40 years. Jensen is most known for the LDS temples he makes out of glass and has made thousands of temples.
"The biggest thing I've made is the Samoan Temple and that ended up in the celestial room in the Samoan Temple," said Jensen.
Jensen learned how to blow glass in a class he took at Utah State University. Jensen said a teacher in the science department was offering classes and he decided to take them.
"As far as I know, I'm the only one in those classes that has continued on with it (glass blowing)," said Jensen.
He said soon after he learned to blow glass, he was asked to make a temple. With thousands of temples under his belt, Jensen said he has patterns for each temple that have evolved over the years.
Jensen said he was the first in the state to make blown glass temples.
"I can lay claim to the glass blower that has done temples the longest," said Jensen.
Jensen said he started his business years ago by selling his creations at swap meets and in the Fashion Place Mall. He said as time progressed, he sold the temples and items in the Ogden and Newgate malls. Now, he makes the temples mostly for wholesale orders. Many of his temples are found at local Deseret Books and many bridal stores. He also makes custom orders.
Jensen said to make a temple from beginning to end takes him about an hour and a half from firing to finishing. He uses a Pyrex glass, which, according to Jensen, has a melting point of approximately 2100 degrees Farenheit. After firing the glass, the creation goes through an annealing process in a kiln that takes the stress out of the glass and tempers it.
Jensen said this process makes it a much stronger glass.
All of his family have been involved in the business at one point or another. Jensen, the father of five children, has taught four of them to blow glass. He also has 17 grandchildren.
His son Shawn said that all of the family has been involved with the company. He said if they weren't blowing glass, they were packing and shipping the temples and other products created.
Jensen, a retired school-teacher, thrives on teaching kids. He taught for 31 years, 28 of them spent at South Ogden Junior High as the media specialist.
"I put on a lot of demonstrations during those years (while working in schools)," said Jensen.
Jensen's youngest child, Shawn, started making glass horses while he was still in elementary school. Now in his 30s, his son has been blowing glass for almost 20 years.
Jensen hopes the talent will pass down through generations. He now enjoys teaching his grandchildren to blow glass, but waits to teach kids until they are about 11, because he says it is a hobby where someone could really get hurt.
Jensen says it's rewarding to be able to create something of beauty from a piece of glass.
"Everyone of them is individually unique. No two of them are the same. They're never the same. It's never boring, " said Jensen.
Prices for his creations range from $40-80 based on size. For more information, e-mail him at carljensen014@msn.com.
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