David McDermott's career as an internationally recognized glassblower came about by pure chance, or perhaps you could call it by looking through a glass, brightly.

After graduating from Bourne High School in 1972, McDermott heard about a job as an engraver at Pairpoint Glassworks. Possessing no knowledge about glass and wondering, "whether you mined it, got it off trees, or what," McDermott went to work at Pairpoint in Sagamore as an apprentice, under skilled master gaffer Robert Mason.

One day, while watching Mason create a swan out of glass, McDermott decided to master this ancient art and become a master gaffer himself. He remained at Pairpoint for more than 30 years, perfecting his glassblowing skills.

In 1999, McDermott took a glassblowing class in Corning, New York, "the mecca of glassblowing," where he met a Japanese-born glass artist Yukimi Matsumoto. Matsumoto had recently graduated from the Osaka Designer School in Japan.

McDermott and Matsumoto began working together. The pair married in 2001 and have formed a successful working relationship, opening McDermott Glass Studio in 2002.

McDermott says that working with his wife has been a "dream come true. To do what you love with someone you love, in a place that you love is amazing."

McDermott says he opened the studio to showcase the intricate beauty of his wife's work. "She's an amazing glassblower," he says with pride.

 However, his own luminous work has received acclaim in some very high places--he has been commissioned to create one-of-a-kind pieces for six U.S. Presidents, the Empresses of Japan and Portugal, Henry Kissinger, and Pope John Paul II, among others. His art can also be found at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

 The public is encouraged to watch McDermott, Matsumoto, and their team of three other talented artisans, blowing glass. It is an amazing spectacle. The artists swoop and twirl as the glass is transformed from a honey-like substance into solid, glittering forms. It is easy to see why these artists' stunning glass creations, including bowls, vases, and stemware in sublime colors, are quickly snapped up by studio visitors year-round. -- Patricia Angelle

McDermott Glass Studio, 272 Cotuit Road, Sandwich, MA, 508-477-0705, www.mcdermottglass.com.

Patricia Angelle of Harwich is a freelance writer.