Guru Girl Glass artist shapes patience into molten art

The process of learning to blow glass can be humbling — and dangerous, at times. When Julie Leatherbarrow was first learning, the piece of borosilicate glass she was heating over her torch rolled off onto her lap. Instinctively, she flicked it away with her finger.

“I wound up with a second-degree burn and spent the next month with my middle finder wrapped in a bandage,” she says with a laugh now. “You work very close to the flame, and you learn very quickly how close you can and cannot be to that flame.”

Perfecting any type of art requires patience — and a lot of trial and error. But over the last 27 years, she’s honed her craft with countless hours at the torch. Her life as a blown-glass artist has taken her throughout the country. Now settled in Naples, her business, Guru Girl Glass, features a collection of jewelry and small sculptures among other keepsakes. 

The Buffalo native first got into glass blowing in Eugene, Oregon. She was a Deadhead at the time, following the American rock band Grateful Dead around the country, and ended up connecting with Eugene’s eccentric artisan community. Leatherbarrow got her first torch in 1999 and was hooked on the artform. She eventually moved back to Buffalo, raised a family and helped start a local art market that she still assists in running today. In 2022, her family moved to Florida, where she found artistic inspiration in the area’s natural beauty and diversity of cultures. She frequently sells at festivals around the state, including Art in the Park in Naples. 

Leatherbarrow also is a yoga instructor, and she’s found common ground between the two practices. “They both have taught me to slow down, to be mindful, to breathe, to be humble and at the same time acknowledge the time that I have put into my work,” she says. “Patience is crucial.”