Jim Downey photograph by Matt Ray Photography

A sign reading “Sea Turtle Hatchery” hangs on the door of glass artist Jim Downey’s Wilmington studio. As Downey sits at his workbench, holding his hand torch, a flotilla of new hatchlings takes shape. He uses an assortment of tweezers, pliers, and glass rods to pull, bend, and twist each tiny sea turtle into existence. He forges some molten swirls of colorful glass into pendants and fuses other pieces of glass inside clear balls to create ornamental works of coastal-inspired art.

The son of a chemist, Downey spent more than three decades in New Jersey, blowing glass beakers and test tubes by day and butterflies, dragonflies, snowmen, and other miniature sculptures at night for fun. His love for sea turtles coincided with his retirement, and move, to the Carolinas in 2011. Here, he became fascinated by the history of these marine reptiles, whose ancestors lived in the late dinosaur era. Sea turtles are fragile — nearly all species of these vulnerable creatures are endangered or threatened in the United States.

Inspired to connect his art to their cause, Downey now crafts hundreds of glass turtles each year and donates a large portion of his profits to various sea turtle protection groups. He also shares much of his artistic process through live social media videos, holding on-the-spot fundraisers for fans watching at home.

“Depending on what we do to our environment over the next 50 years, we might be gone one day,” Downey says. Conservation efforts could ensure that “the sea turtles are probably still going to be here.”

To learn more, visit jimdowneyglass.com.