"I can literally feel my heart muscle tighten," says the artisan, who re-creates nature in botanical paperweights. "The results are made or lost in the blink of an eye."

It is this do-or-die outcome that makes glass an irresistible medium for Buzzini, a solitary and spiritual artist.

"I try to take my vision of flowers and put it back into the glass," Buzzini says in his 500-square-foot workshop just beyond the garden of his Oregon City home.

Every paperweight is a miniature marvel. His artistry and technical skill shine through the crystalline spheres that cover his molded-glass bouquets of lady's slippers, lilacs, peonies and numerous other blooms.

Buzzini, 57, says he feels the pull of nature and art as a spiritual calling. "My talent is God-given. . . . I've asked for more talent and it's been given."

The work is tedious; the material temperamental.

Turning a slender rod of glass in the torch's flame until it softens into a green teardrop, Buzzini touches the tip with another glass rod, pulling it into an elliptical shape. He flattens it with tongs and returns it to the torch.

The technique is known as lampwork, and every petal and leaf is formed this way.

The behavior of glass under flame is predictable only within a narrow range of temperatures. It can't be touched by hand while it's being shaped. Everything, Buzzini explains, must be manipulated with a tool.

Buzzini began working in glass in art school and worked professionally at several highly regarded California art glass studios, including Orient & Flume, Lundberg Studios and Correia Art Glass. After 13 years as a studio artist, Buzzini launched his own studio in 1986. It was a step that both excited and frightened him. But he had strong encouragement from colleagues and fans.

"What I needed was a 16-hour day in my own studio, not eight hours in someone else's," says Buzzini. In 1991 he moved to Oregon, settling on a half acre on the outskirts of Oregon City.

Today, Buzzini works his own schedule, selling his paperweights through his Web site, www.buzzinipaperweights.com.

His floral creations shine as expressions of beauty and light.