Collegiate passion for glass blows into shop.

WHEN John Mooney took a class in glass blowing in college, he was hooked. After a decade's apprenticeship in Venice he opened Moonlight Glass three years ago. His work is featured at regional craft shows and several local galleries.

"In my senior year at Pomona College I took a glass-blowing class and got addicted to it. I moved to Venice and met a fellow who blew glass, Richard Silver. I became his apprentice and worked for him for 10 years.

"I have been on my own for about three years. I got started making stuff on consignment and selling to friends of friends and got business from several galleries.

"Now I have my own studio in Venice. People come in here to see the work. I have a hot shop with a furnace that holds 200 pounds of molten glass. But I don't just blow glass, I sculpt it. I sculpt table lamps and hanging lamps. And I have a planet, sun and solar system piece that lights up. I also make sculptures that are pedestals that light up.

"And I do one-of-a-kind pieces that involve cold work--cutting and grinding glass to come up with something unique. I also sell tumblers and candle bowls.

"I have about $30,000 worth of equipment, including a furnace that runs all the time. And I have what's called an annealing oven to cool the pieces. It can take from 12 hours to a month to cool a piece, depending on its thickness. The glass itself is not expensive to buy. But running the furnace is.

"Clear glass is the cheapest part of the whole business. There are different sources, and I buy a pre-mix soda lime glass, made of silica and soda and lime and some other ingredients. The small studio thing has grown in the last 30 years, and there are more and more distributors. The palette of color for glass is growing every day. A hundred years ago, you basically had prime colors.

"Mostly people find me through the phone book, word-of-mouth, and several local galleries carry my work. I also have been doing a fair number of craft shows.

"I like selling my own work at craft shows. I meet really interesting people. The problem is that it's heavy. It's physically hard to do.

"I sell my pieces for as low as $20 for a tumbler. My highest price item is the solar system that sells for $2,500. My best selling items are the candle bowls that go for $150 to $200 and the glass fish that sell for $75."