"Glassmaking is somewhat like dancing," says artist John Gilvey, co-owner of Hudson Beach Glass. In 1987, John and Wendy Gilvey formed Hudson Beach Glass with another couple, Michael Belzer and Jennifer Smith, to craft and sell functional and sculptural objects from their studio in Beacon. "While my wife holds the torch, I hold the glass rod. Our movements have to be absolutely coordinated."

In addition to the two couples, all four of them artists, the Gilveys' sons are also involved in the business. Sean creates handblown drinkware and lighting, while Luke creates sculptural objects for the Hudson Beach Glass store and other retail shops. Luke also cofounded the Beacon Firehouse Gallery, with Roger Ricco of Ricco/Maresca Gallery in Chelsea, which showcases photography, sculpture, and outsider art on the second floor of the 1890 brick firehouse that Hudson Beach Glass bought in 2001.

On the first floor of the building, located on Main Street in Beacon's West End Historic District, are the demonstration studio and a large, bright retail store where Hudson Beach Glass objects and the work of about 25 other artists are sold. Servingware, plates, vases, perfume bottles, and jewelry can all be found, along with one of the items that the Gilveys create together: a paperweight that depicts a sinuous mermaid draped across a globe, peering through the transparent water at the vibrant, teeming world below.

When John Gilvey and Belzer first met, it seemed unlikely that they would ever become business partners. "I was an instructor at Buck's Rock," says Gilvey, referring to the performing and creative arts camp in Milford, Connecticut. "Michael was a camper. Over the years, we stayed in contact, but that was about all. Sometime in 1983, I was in the shower room of my gym, waiting to take a shower. A door opened, and out walked Michael."

Benzer and Smith had moved from Rochester to Beacon to make glass tiles, and the Gilveys had their home and studio in Poughquag—neither had realized they were only about 20 miles apart. Four years later, Hudson Beach Glass was born. Today, the company employs about eight other artists to help create items that are sold in the Beacon store, international galleries, gift shops, and catalogs.

Many of the pieces are sold in destination shops (retail outlets in areas where people take vacations or have second homes), and they adhere to what Gilvey calls a "beach aesthetic." There is the nautilus salad plate, with the repeating pattern of the shell; the jellyfish lamp, with a lovely, irregularly shaped edge; and the octobowl. They come in colors like amethyst, topaz, sapphire, and peridot, and in two finishes: beach, which is sandblasted and oiled to mimic sand-tumbled glass, and jewel, which retains its original shine. All of the handcast objects, such as the plates and bowls, are crafted in a separate Beacon location.

Hudson Beach Glass also makes more abstract modern pieces. One is a small bowl balanced on a tripod. "Before Michael came to Beacon," says Gilvey, "he was digging around in a dump in Rochester, where he found pieces of steel used for grinding lenses. He used a piece to press a small glass bowl." Gilvey took the bowl to a trade show, where he met a woman who owned a gallery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. "In one part of the booth, we had Michael's grooved tiles. In another part, we had the bowl. The woman placed the bowl on a tile, and she said that she wanted to buy the two together."

The woman had created the set she wanted, and Hudson Beach Glass was happy to supply as many as she needed. Later, John Gilvey added a divot in the tile to keep the bowl from slipping off. Then he created a different base for the bowl by pouring out glass into a "puddle" and putting a divot in that. The bowl and puddle sets were sold to high-end stores, including Bendel's and Neiman Marcus.

Consumers are encouraged to participate in more ways than one. At a retail store, a consumer can select the colors that make up a set of three "water" serving bowls (the name "water bowl" does not refer to a vessel filled with water; instead, it is patterned after sand that has been rippled by receding seawater). A customer can nest a small sapphire bowl inside a medium peridot bowl, and set the two of them inside a large topaz bowl to create an object with fresh visual appeal. Other Hudson Beach Glass objects can also be designed this way, with consumers given a choice of 14 colors.

Gilvey has seen clients spend hours trying to decide the combination of colors and sizes. "It makes them feel like they are part of the creative process."

Hudson Beach Glass: 162 Main Street, Beacon; www.hudsonbeachglass.com.