James Haffner,  a Hoxie artist, wasn’t exactly seeking to become a glassblower.  But thanks to the help of master artists and teachers at the University of California at San Diego’s craft center, Haffner is not only making a name for himself, he’s giving back in a big way.   From now through March 23, his work can be viewed at The Deines Cultural Center’s exhibit,  “Veteran Arts:  Custom Glassblowing by James Haffner”.
Haffner was like most boys who grew up farming.  He could do anything and everything on the farm.   Then, 9-11 happened, and upon graduation, Haffner joined the U.S. Navy.  He served as an aviation maintenance technician until he was injured while stationed in Japan.   He is now medically retired from the Navy.
When he returned home, his family had a hard time understanding his injuries.   On the outside, Haffner looks like a young, strong, capable young man. But the injury he endured left him with a condition called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD).
Never-ending pain
RSD is a condition that features a group of typical symptoms, including pain (often “burning” type), tenderness, and swelling of an extremity associated with varying degrees of sweating, warmth and/or coolness, flushing, discoloration, and shiny skin.
“When you touch a flame, it feels hot,” he said.  “With RSD, I feel this pain all the time.”
The constant pain made it impossible for him to endure the things he’d always done that helped define the role he’d always played in his family.  No longer could he help with farm chores or construction projects, things he’d been trained to do and could do well.
Essentially, his nerves are sending pain messages to his brain non-stop.  There is no cure for the disease.
Traditional therapy wasn’t working well enough, so, like many RSD sufferers, he began to explore alternative treatments for his symptoms, including art therapy.  Ceramics didn’t work because working with clay requires a lot of elbow movements, and that is where the center of his pain resides.  Working with art instructors at the University of California at San Diego, he was involved with neon glass when he was allowed to try glass blowing.  The results were good.
Glassblowing new focus
For the average person, learning the art of glassblowing can be an expensive and dangerous pastime.  In addition to working near intense heat for long periods of time,  there are difficult, repeated hand movements that require focused concentration.  It’s precisely because of this that glassblowing works for Haffner.  It’s so difficult to do, his full concentration is required, and for a while, he can’t focus on the pain involved in traditional therapy.
“I’m lucky because I can avoid a lot of the pain while I’m creating,” he said.  “It’s meditative.”
This is a growing trend in therapy for his condition, he said, and while the pain is still there, the benefit outweighs the cost.
Heat is painful, but he wears long sleeves, and he’s learned to keep his arms back from the heat.  He’s lucky because he can avoid a lot of the pain while he is creating.  He is meditative while he is doing it.
As a safety measure, he pays for a private teacher to assist him at the center.  If he is in too much pain, his teacher can take over.  That’s important because the glass is often heated to a few thousand degrees.
Social benefits
Glassblowing helped Haffner to build surrogate family in San Diego made up of art teachers and other veterans.  With their help, he says he has stopped shutting himself off from others and they challenge him to do things.  Before, he would avoid being in public most of the time because he doesn’t want to be touched by people.  The interaction keeps him from becoming depressed, and helps him control Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
He continues to live in San Diego so he can be close to the doctors he relies on, but as his skills have increased and his treatment has worked, he’s been making more trips home to Hoxie.  A few years ago, he brought some pieces of art glass home with him to show at the fair.  This sparked some local interest.  Last summer, he entered his work in the Hays Fair and the Hays Art Walk, which is where he met Shannon Trevethan, director of the Deines Cultural Center, and she invited him to show his work at Russell.
Sponsoring veterans in arts
While someday, Haffner hopes to be posted to a military base in either Kansas or Colorado where he can grow a non-profit he’s in the beginning stages of developing.  Recently, he had a “light bulb moment.”  Since hands on visual art has helped him so much, he began using profits from the sale of his art to sponsor other veterans who could benefit from art therapy.
He finds he can relate better with other service members who suffer from PTSD or Traumatic Brain Injury.
“There is a difference from the regular pain others feel,” he said.  Family members have a hard time understanding, he’s found.  Being around other service members, he’s able to laugh and joke around again.  He wants to help others regain that part of themselves.
One person he has helped is a Marine who suffered from anger issues so severe, he had a hard time talking to other people and was in and out of trouble with the law for fighting.  Haffner sponsored him as he learned ceramics.  Now, through his art, this soldier has relearned how to relax and find his calm.  Breathing and focus, skills he’s learned while working with clay, he can now transfer to other areas of his life.  It’s helped him to be able to have better experiences with other people, and to calm down.
Haffner would like nothing more than to help family members of veterans with TBI and PTSD understand what their family member is going through.
“These kids are going through things no one should go through,” he said.  “They’ve lost best friends they’d give their lives for.  They lose the ability to connect with their family.”
That need for family doesn’t go away, though, he said.  Many military people, in fact, go into service because they don’t have a family.  These veterans, especially, need to find family too.  Art, he’s convinced, can help make that possible.
Haffner comes back to visit  his family in Hoxie every summer now.  While his dad and brother are busy farming, he will continue to share glassblowing through fairs and art shows.
Last summer, he learned he’d won over his dad, who was skeptical about his art at first.  Now that he’s seen it, he’s impressed, and friends say he brags on it alot.
“It’s always good to have your parents proud of you, especially after being injured and not being able to do the things you’ve been trained to do,” he said.  “It makes you feel like you’re not important to your family anymore, but learning that your family is proud feels good.”