HILLIARDS — To Tom Doner, creating blown glass treasures is not so much about artistry as it is learning a technique and passing it on to others.

"You don't have to be an artist," he said. "It's more the desire to learn it."

Doner has been practicing the technique of shaping glass rods over a blowtorch into various forms for 11 years. Now, along with his wife, Elaine, and partners Luke Gardner and Melissa Hulings, Doner operates the Glass Blowing Center, a blown glassware shop and education complex on Leonard Road.

The shop sells pieces and sculptures made by crafters from all over the country. Many of those crafters visit the site every August for the annual Art Glass Invitation, which the Doners plan as a way for glass crafters to build community and share trade secrets.

"Years ago, nobody shared secrets. We refer to that as the 'glass curtain,'" Doner said of his craft, which has been around in some form for 4,000 years. For a long time, there was a sense of mystery surrounding the activity that continues on some level today.

"Most people are like, 'Wow! How'd you do that? How'd you start?'" Doner said. "We like to take the mystery out of glass working."

To that end, Doner gives free demonstrations to groups of 10 or more at the education center on a regular basis. In the past, he has performed demonstrations for retirement groups, scouting troops, school students and birthday parties.

Though he is becoming a well-known figure in American glass blowing, his interest in the craft began by chance. While walking through a flea market in New York in late 1993, Doner saw a man with a blowtorch at his booth and was amazed by how so many items could be made with glass rods, the torch and a few hand tools.

In his spare time as a self-employed air compressor mechanic, Doner began studying a five-part instructional video series featuring Lewis C. Wilson, a well-known blown glass artist.

After studying the videos, Doner paid a glass blower $100 to use his torch. When his first attempts came out as passable representations, he was hooked.

"I was absolutely mesmerized by it," Doner said, "the fact that you're starting with a round rod and you're able to manipulate it in the fire and you're able to make whatever you want."

Learning one technique for creating glass-blown sculptures is fairly easy to learn, Doner said — it can be learned in about three hours. From there it is learning other techniques to add to the first and discovering new ways of doing things."You're always learning," said Elaine Doner, who has tried the activity several times but spends most of her time running the shop business.Tom Doner said he likes glass sculpture better than drawing because he gets to work in three dimensions. He also likes it better than traditional sculpture, which requires the artist to chip away everything that is not wanted."That's thinking backwards. (Glass blowing) is a more logical approach; you're building it up," Doner said. "If you make a mistake, you can burn it off and do it again. A lot of it boils down to technique."As an example, he said that the technique for creating a fin on a dolphin sculpture is the same as that used for creating a leg for a horse sculpture.The process used by Doner and others at the Glass Blowing Center is known as lampworking, a term originating in the Middle Ages when artisans used oil lamps as torches. Off-hand glass working, forming glass objects by blowing through a long pipe, is not conducted at the site.For his demonstrations, Doner usually begins with a thin, solid glass rod and manipulates it into a tiny dolphin sculpture, which requires only heat and manipulation with tools. There is no blowing involved. Under the heat of the torch, the glass rod becomes liquid, and Doner uses his tools and gravity to shape the melted glass.Later in the demonstration, Doner spins hollow glass tubing under the torch to make it malleable, and then, using a thin hose connected to the end of the tube, he blows into the sculpture, enlarging it like a balloon. With a few quick adjustments, he fashions the work into a Christmas ornament.After a quick showing to his audience, he puts it back under the torch and manipulates it into a cocktail glass.Colors can be added by using colored glass rods. Other preformed embellishments made of material other than glass are also often added.The Doners said that although Christmas ornaments and other gifts are available at their shop, their emphasis will remain on education.They will continue to welcome enthusiasts from coast to coast each August to share trade secrets at the Art Glass Invitational, and they will continue to give free demonstrations to community groups interested in solving the mystery behind glass blowing.For demonstration reservations, call 724-791-2100.