Morningside Neighbor Competing on "Blown Away"

Glass blower and Morningside resident John Sharvin is all ready for his debut on the Netflix reality show "Blown Away", with one small caveat: he has yet to see a full episode.

"It's a little nerve-wracking," he said, explaining that he's only seen trailers in anticipation of the launch of the third season of the glass blowing competition show. As he understands it, it's pretty typical for contestants to not see the final edit, but everyone--including John--will get to see it all when the show starts streaming on Netflix on Friday, July 22nd.

Originally from Columbus, John came to Pittsburgh to work at the Pittsburgh Glass Center (PGC) in 2014 and moved to Morningside at the end of 2016. The neighborhood was recommended to him by several of his fellow PGC colleagues who already called Morningside home. "It's a great little neighborhood. A small community in a big town."

Along with loving the neighborhood, John says he appreciates living and working in Pittsburgh as an artist because it has a communal flavor to it. "Pittsburgh is extremely affordable. We have a fantastic arts community and the arts community in Morningside is also very good," he explained. "It feels very tight knit and everyone is trying to bring each other up. If someone is offering help, they genuinely want to help you. There are genuinely good people here."

John's favorite part of living in Morningside? Our picturesque porch culture. "Honestly, I love walking around in the evenings and visiting neighbors and friends. You know, having some porch drinks and just waving to people. It kind of feels like a movie sometimes!"

John's first experience with glass blowing came in high school when his ceramics teacher took their class on a field trip to make a glass paperweight, but glass blowing became a full-blown love affair in college after a teacher encouraged him to sign up for a Saturday class. He was hesitant at first. At Ohio State, Saturday mornings were for football, but after the first session, he was hooked. "It's the most addictive and fun thing I've honestly ever done."

"Blown Away" is John's first foray into reality TV and he was overwhelmed with how friendly everyone was on-set both behind and in front of the camera. "The people were fantastic. Everyone was so nice, so supportive." While it was a competition, John notes that all of the contestants were committed to helping each other succeed instead of undermining others. "The show has Great British Bake-Off vibes. We're all really good friends now. Everyone wanted to put their best foot forward."

But going from a life without a television crew tracking your every move to a new temporary life under the lights was a huge adjustment. "You think: I could do that, but then you get there and you're like holy crap! This is really hard! The stress, the cameras right in front of you. It's sensory overload."

Even though it took a minute to get used to, John quickly settled into his new glass blowing environment. "It's amazing how quickly you get comfortable with a camera in your face. You just completely forget they're there."

"Blown Away" premieres on Friday, July 22nd and you can catch it streaming any time on Netflix. Be sure to check out John's work on his instagram (https://www.instagram.com/yeahsharvin/) and website (https://www.johnsharvin.com/).