Glassblowing is the only traditional art where the artist can never touch his media, unless he likes the smell of burning flesh. The "glory hole," or oven where the glass is heated, operates at about 2700 degrees Fahrenheit. Glass is an "amorphous solid," because its crystalline structure is never fully stable, and it transforms to liquid with heat.

Matthew Miller, this year's Best Of Miami winner for glassblowing, held a demonstration at the Bird Road Art Walk that explained some of the physical concepts behind the art, and put them into practice live. Here's what it looked like.