April 2024 - Oregon Leaf

THE GLASS ISSUE

ABOUT THE COVER

Every year, the Leaf team assembles a dazzling array of glass artists at the top of their game for our special issue. The “Kiln Buster” is a 45-pound, 33-inch-tall, and 22-inch-deep flameworked borosilicate glass beast. It was designed and constructed by the tremendous talents and creative collaboration of nearly 30 artists at the 2022 Molten Art Classic (see pg. 42-43.) Alex Reyna photographed this mighty morphin masterpiece, and we selected it as a symbol of the limitless possibilities this art form offers.

COVER PHOTO BY ALEX REYNA @AREYSOCAL DESIGN BY DANIEL BERMAN @BERMANPHOTOS

WES ABNEY

Editor’s Note

Thanks for picking up The Glass Issue of Oregon Leaf!

Our longest consecutive issue here at Leaf Nation, we first started photographing glass in 2010 and released our first 420 Glass Issue in April of 2011. From the start as a Cannabis user, I was transfixed by glass art and how smoking weed could be accessorized or simplified depending on the piece being used. This was pre-dabs and bangers and electronic rigs, but there were still crazy bongs and pipes to be found at the local head shop … all labeled “for tobacco use only.”

AMANDA DAY STATE CONTENT DIRECTOR amanda@leafmagazines.com

MAKANI NELSON STATE SALES DIRECTOR makani@leafmagazines.com (808) 754-4182

MEGHAN RIDLEY COPY EDITOR meghan@leafmagazines.com

We are creators of targeted, independent Cannabis journalism. Please email us to discuss advertising in an upcoming issue of Oregon Leaf. We do not sell stories or coverage. We can offer design services and guidance on promoting your company’s recreational, commercial or industrial Cannabis business, product or event within our magazine and on our website, leafmagazines.com. Email makani@leafmagazines.com to learn more about our range of affordable print and digital advertising options to help support Oregon Leaf, the state’s longest-running Cannabis magazine! WES

"SO MUCH OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE PLANT IS FACILITATED BY GLASS."

Glass blowing was an underground art for decades and artists risked more than stigma for choosing to turn borosilicate into bubblers. In 2014, I interviewed Tommy Chong about Operation Pipe Dreams, a DEA task force that raided glass blowers around the country and shut down his Tommy Chong glass company. He served nine months in federal prison for his role, and those in the legacy glass game still remember hundreds of doors being kicked down from Eugene, Oregon to Pensacola, Florida. Reminiscent of a communist country banning art and expression, the government targeted glass artists as a pathway to keep Cannabis illegal – a plan that ultimately failed.

The two forces at play were seeds and creativity, neither of which can be stifled for long. Cannabis prohibition failed, and in the last 15 years glass has gone from a somewhat sketchy genre to a legitimate art form that commands prices and attention similar to mainstream works. No longer just a pipe dream, the world of glassblowing has taken a legitimate place in the world of collectibles and art, and I believe both the marketplace and the consumer demand is still in its infancy.

So much of our relationship with the plant is facilitated by glass and it’s impossible to overlook the importance of a good piece. From function to art, simple and affordable to so expensive it’s scary to dab from, glass is how we experience the plant – and how Cannabis users can express themselves through the art they purchase. The pieces in this issue are a beautiful representation of the plant and the high that it provides us, which is why we’ve celebrated glass for the last 13 years.

I hope that our selection of high art inspires you to seek out more on social media and at your local glass shop, and to invest in an American-made piece for your next purchase. By supporting the artists that get us high, we complete the circle that feeds our culture, community and plants.

CANNABIS HELPS RELIEVE DEPRESSION SYMPTOMS

While many stoners have been studying the effects of Cannabis on depression, anxiety, sleep and pain for years, the inquisitive folks at the medical journal Pharmacopsychiatry have confirmed what we already suspected.

With at least 21 million Americans suffering from depression, it’s no surprise that big pharma has suppressed Cannabis legalization and efficacy data in pursuit of profits from pills since the beginning of the war on drugs.

“The regular use of Cannabis was found to significantly reduce the severity of users' depression and had no discernible side effects outside of dry mouth and increased appetite.”

But unlike SSRIs and other drugs prescribed for depression, Cannabis doesn’t have the pesky side effects that depression pills bring like nausea, headache, insomnia, nervousness, agitation, suicidal thoughts and sexual dysfunction. That’s how patients get stuck in a loop of pharmaceuticals – treating one symptom with another pill until there’s too many to count.

To study the effects of Cannabis, the participants selected had all failed to treat their depression with traditional pharmaceuticals and were instead given access to vaporize Cannabis flower over the course of 18 weeks. The regular use of Cannabis was found to significantly reduce the severity of users' depression and had no discernible side effects outside of dry mouth and increased appetite.

While the study organizers say more research is needed to confirm the effects of Cannabis on mental health and illness, those of us doing at home research have already concluded that Cannabis is safer than pharmaceuticals in treating depression, pain and many other ailments.

Quoted

“We’re putting people in a very vulnerable position where they have large amounts of cash. We’re encouraging criminals to break into businesses that deal in Cannabis. I am neither a user nor suggester of using, but the fact of the matter is every state that’s voted on it has made it legal, and I appreciate your work and whatever I can do to help you on there.”

-Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), addressing Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last month during a House Appropriations Financial Services And General Government Subcommittee hearing on the conflict between federal and state marijuana policies harming legal Cannabis businesses.

MOROCCO CELEBRATES FIRST LEGAL CANNABIS HARVEST

INSIDE PENNSYLVANIA’S FIGHT FOR CANNABIS FREEDOM politics LEGALIZATION

he Health Subcommittee on Health Care and Judiciary Support has taken up the subject of Cannabis legalization at the behest of Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has repeatedly pushed legalization from the stump and through budgetary requests. The state has a somewhat limited medical Cannabis program that initially restricted patient access to only infused pills, oils, topical ointments, tinctures or liquids. A 2018 law change allowed patients to vaporize dry flower – but it’s still illegal for patients to smoke Cannabis or grow their own medicine.

With unnecessary burdens placed on patients and the war on drugs continuing through marijuana enforcement, the Joint Committee has been tasked with creating a Cannabis legalization framework that addresses social equity, criminal records and the right to bear arms, among other more common areas like testing, possession limits and regulations for businesses.

Many states have found pathways to legalization through initiatives such as Washington’s I-502 or California’s Prop 64, which were written by private groups with varying interests and concessions that got them onto the ballot and ultimately into law.

Pennsylvania has a unique opportunity to legalize via the legislative process, in which lawmakers can potentially craft a more nuanced and developed form of legalization that is based on successful parts of other state’s experiments. With two thirds of polled state residents in favor of legalizing, it’s safe to say that anticipation is high for a new law change.

NY GOV. DECLARES STATE'S POT PROGRAM A "DISASTER"

Although Cannabis plants are known to grow slowly, nothing prepared the consumers or industry of New York for the sluggish rollout of the legal marketplace.

Cannabis has been legal in the Empire State since 2021, when legislators passed the Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act.

“...there are only 85 legal stores open, with over 1,000 illegal storefront competitors in the city alone.”

For citizens and tourists, the last few years have felt like legalization was open and done, thanks to the proliferation of illegal dispensaries and delivery services operating from Times Square storefronts to tables in Central Park. This explosion of illegal players has created a booming black market that is not enforced or restricted. While individuals never deserve criminal charges or time for Cannabis possession, the lax prosecution of crime in New York has given the illegal market a head start – while licenses and applications for legal businesses remain mired in bureaucratic red tape.

The New York Times recently reported that of 7,000 applications for licenses to grow, process or sell Cannabis, only 109 have been approved this year. While a total of 500 licenses have been issued since November 2022, there are only 85 legal stores open, with over 1,000 illegal storefront competitors in the city alone.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared the rollout a "disaster" and has pressured state officials to clean up the mess and get legal Cannabis stores open. The dichotomy between the legal and illegal markets reached a fever pitch at a Cannabis Control Board meeting last month, when the governor directed a full review of the licensing process. Whether that will speed up the system for those companies desperately awaiting a chance in the legal market is sadly something only time will tell.

Morocco’s recent shift towards legalization and cooperative growing has delivered huge yields –including a 2023 bumper harvest of 294 metric tons of plants grown. While recreational Cannabis is still illegal in the country, it has been grown and shared in the country for centuries. Over the last 200 years, Morocco has grown to become a large Cannabis exporter – and more recently in the ‘60s and ‘70s, became a hash-producing oasis supplying most of the hash smoked in Europe.

In an effort to protect local tribes and the livelihood of over a million people in regions that depend on Cannabis production for income, the government is working to license medical grows to supply the growing global market for legal Cannabis.

While this export of medical Cannabis and industrial hemp is good for the economy, it still leaves a gap in freedom to grow and smoke on a personal level. So don’t book a cannatourist trip yet to this North African country, but if you really desire a taste of Moroccan hash, just visit an Amsterdam coffee shop. And always remember to ask for hash with edges, not in a ball!

REDWOODGLASS

DARBY

WJC

LYONS X PURDY

MIKE LUNA

GALLERY

THE SCENE

>> FOR OVER 50 YEARS, the Pacific Northwest has been home to some of the most influential glassblowers and lampworkers, each of them helping to shape the glass scene we all know and love today.

Moving from the glass-dense Denver scene to Eugene, I was shocked to find so few glass galleries to help represent and showcase all of the artists that Oregon has to offer. But in 2020, Marc and Lauren created Redwood Glass Gallery in Grants Pass, forging their passion and adoration for high-end art, top-shelf Cannabis, and honoring artists like Bob Snodgrass.

“CREATING A SAFE SPACE FOR COLLECTORS AND CONNOISSEURS ALIKE, THE GALLERY PROVIDES THE COMMUNITY WITH A PLACE WHERE EVERYONE CAN COME TOGETHER.”

ABSOLUTE KRUNK

As avid glass collectors since 2006 – starting with clear production and scientific pieces like PHX and Roor – Marc and Lauren have been mesmerized by the progression of the glass community for quite some time. Fast forward to today, they have a humble yet exquisite collection of incredible artists like Disk Glass, Arik Krunk, and the world-renowned glass blowers from Team Japan.

Redwood Glass Gallery is an outlet for work from artists like these. It’s also a spotlight for legendary Southern Oregon local artists like Mike Luna and Darby Holm. With both of their glassblowing shops just five minutes down the road from the Redwood Glass Gallery, there’s an organic relationship with tons of potential. “Darby and Mike Luna are our hometown heroes,” shared Marc and Lauren.

Creating a safe space for collectors and connoisseurs alike, the gallery provides the community with a place where everyone can come together and share their prized pieces, buy a new piece, and enjoy art in many forms – like canvases from Portland local artist Schnazzy and Southern Oregon’s Johnny Smith.

“It’s been incredible seeing our past and the present coming together. Redwood Glass Gallery is a passion project, and we love supporting the artists. Learning and sharing glass history is a huge honor,” said Marc and Lauren.

Later this year, you can expect a big announcement about some upcoming shows, including functional pipes and accessories from Power Pat and Darby alongside other offerings from Japanese artists like Takao Miyake and TK Happa. You can keep a close eye on the Redwood Glass Gallery Instagram page for this information and available art, as Marc and Lauren consistently add new options from the most desirable artists in the game. But you’ll have to act fast. These pieces usually get scooped up quickly!

SLOP X SLINGER

SHURLOK

EUSHEEN X PINKY BREWTZ

THE GLASS UNION

SITTING IN THE HEART OF SALEM, OREGON, there’s a hot new spot where creativity flows like molten magic. Welcome to The Glass Union, where dreams are forged in fire. Envisioned by glass artist and owner of Heady Didys, Otto aka HoodRattShit, and brought to life with the helping hands of Johnny Carcass, this stylish, street-front studio is so much more than just that. The Glass Union represents Otto’s vision of fostering a vibrant artistic community.

From glass to graffiti, Otto envisions it as a nexus of creativity, where diverse talents converge to break down barriers and cultivate a sense of belonging. “I want to bring different kinds of artists together,” Otto explains. “We’ll have art walks, demonstrations and classes, where people can learn and create together.”

But this vision took some soul-searching. Before friend and fellow artist Hex Glass convinced Otto to move to Oregon just five years ago, he had dedicated much of his life to raising daughters Hannah and Destiny and his son Dallas solo in Salt Lake City.

When they began having kids of their own, Otto knew he was ready to set out and “find his place.” He bounced around for a bit (including back to his home state of California), but was drawn to Eugene’s culture and robust gathering of glass artists. Hopping in the car with his glass collection and two dogs, he made the move.

For months, Otto lived out of a Eugene glass studio office and relied on the facilities of friends and fellow glassblowers Hex, Rob Morrison, Cowboy, Gabe Mac and Bucho to get by.

A Stoner Owner is a Cannabis business owner who has a relationship with the plant. We want to buy and smoke Cannabis from companies that care about their products, employees and the plant. You wouldn’t buy food from a restaurant where the cooks don’t eat in the kitchen, so why buy corporate weed grown by a company only concerned with profits? Stoner Owner approval means a company cares, and we love weed grown with care. Let’s retake our culture and reshape a stigma by honoring those who grow, process and sell the best Cannabis possible.

street-front location attached to the couple’s home.

First opening back in February of 2023, Otto hasn’t wasted any time making the rest of his dreams a reality.

This prime downtown location is already a creative sanctuary to Flexer Jones, Rosburg and Scomo. With talent like this, Otto explains that it’s even attracting the attention of locals new to the molten arts.

“We’ve been having Scomo working in the shop window for the past few weeks doing marbles. He gets huge groups of people out there just watching him and taking video.”

“WE’LL HAVE ART WALKS, DEMONSTRATIONS AND CLASSES, WHERE PEOPLE CAN LEARN AND CREATE TOGETHER.”

But during the pandemic, fate would find his fiancé Alena Stewart (owner of Salem restaurant and bar Amadeus and Alleycat). He’d soon move in with her at the building where his dream would blossom. A supportive landlord and the seed of a simple request to add a studio in their living space opened the door to opportunity and the

The location even hosts classes like their most recent offering “Back to School: Sculptology 102,” featuring the guidance of Grime Glass, Big Tom, Johnny Carcass and Hoodrattshit himself. He shares plans for a whole range of community options, like one-on-one instruction and couples classes. So, if the flame is calling your name, make sure you follow along for opportunities to sign up and soak in skills from some serious talent!

THE GLASS UNION

145 LIBERTY STREET SALEM, OR @THEGLASSUNION_SALEM @HOODRATTSHIT

HOODRATTSHIT & IS-BE COLLAB

OTTO & ALENA SCOMO WORKIN’ IN THE SHOPFRONT GLASSBLOWING STUDIO

MURALS BY @RATTLECANS @ALLAKSES @KAN_GOE

PEANUT BUTTER BREATH LIVE HASH ROSIN

The crew over at EASY has an ongoing relationship with legacy cultivators, Laird Family Farms. Keen-eyed stoners might recall our coverage of their supreme, cold-cured Rainbow Belts collab after the ‘22 harvest. This time they’ve caught our attention with a jar of Peanut Butter Breath that we can’t get enough of. It’s stoney, stinks in the best way, and sure enough … it was cultivated by the same folks.

THOUGH we can’t technically use the term “organic” when cultivating Cannabis, Laird Family lives by these practices when planting on their no-till farm. Over the last few years they’ve been collaborating with the dedicated hash connoisseurs at EASY and both farm and hash makers have hit their stride. EASY likes to give credit to the farmer and humbly adds that this product was “washed, squished, and carefully prepared by EASY” – but you have to crack a jar of the final product to truly get an idea of the artistry that goes into each run.

Breeder ThugPug capitalized on the early-2020 trend of foul-smelling strains and managed an exquisite funky-but-pleasing profile out of PNW favorite Dosidos and the renowned heavy-hitter Mendo Breath. The result was more than the sum of its parts and this nutty, greasy, funk-forward profile was bestowed the oh-so-fitting name, Peanut Butter Breath.

We talked with EASY owner Jordan Jacobsen about why they selected Laird’s PBB for production. “We were looking for something that would stand out above our GMO and fell in love with this one immediately,” he shared, adding that they’re keeping this cultivar in rotation and we can expect more to hit shelves soon. “For gassy profiles, this one is hard to beat.”

After three or four generous dabs of this taffy-textured concentrate, I’m absolutely floored. Strong both flavor and effect, anything more than a small dab starts to feel wasteful. Mellow thoughts replace anything else that might’ve been taking up space.

Don’t miss out on this classic combo. Like peanut butter and chocolate, Laird Farms and EASY, or a relaxing Sunday and a jar of something that’ll help you melt into the couch … some matches were simply meant to be.

BANGER BASKETS

On the topic of glass, let’s discuss a subject that you might first find boring: banger maintenance. But bear with us for this one-minute read and we’ll transform your cleaning into a sophisticated and smooth process with a colorful kick.

AS ANY dabber with respect for their glass hygiene can attest, keeping your bangers, carb caps, towers and terp pearls clean can be intolerably time-consuming. The Q-tips pile up and so does our patience.

Introducing Banger Baskets: A brilliant borosilicate glass and injection molded cleaning system made by our neighbors to the north in British Columbia. Owner and operator Kyle LeGrow has dabbled in many Cannabis creative outlets along his journey, but “the first dual dunk station on the market” was born out of necessity.

We field-tested these at The Hashish Inn’s 2023 Smoking Jacket in Portland, where Banger Baskets lined the community tables of dabbers and judges. Three days of heavy dabbing and several-hundred dirtied bangers were no match for this versatile, reusable dunk tank. This is one of those accessories that levels up your entire dabbing experience, and we haven’t looked back since snagging our own. There’s even an option to order crispy-clean customs individually or in bulk, which offers a cool and casual way to showcase your brand or commemorate an event, party-favor style.

“This is one of those accessories that levels up your entire dabbing experience, and we haven’t looked back since snagging our own.”

As for the function of these clever contraptions, it’s quite simple. Each side of the dual tank design includes a custom strainer-like basket. Just fill each side of the glass container with ISO alcohol (or your cleaning agent of choice) and it’s ready to use.

The nifty ridges in the basket provide a safety split for soaking two bangers or accessories at once (without them bumping into each other). The handles on top of each basket save your fingertips from the dreaded ISO drench, while the lid provides a safe and secure barrier during soak or storage. Dirty accessories are placed in one side to soak (it’s important to make sure bangers are below 300 degrees Fahrenheit in order to avoid combustion). Once you’ve given your accessory a rinse in the opposite, “clean” side of the Banger Basket and a quick wipe down, you’re ready to fire up the torch again!

toad venom

GROWN BY EVANS CREEK FARMS

One of the biggest hype strains in the country right now, there are only a handful of spots on earth where you can harvest the elusive Toad Venom … and one of those is right here in Oregon.

WITH AN AROMA that mystifies logic and effects that hit even seasoned smokers like a frog leg to the face, Evans Creek has produced what many budtenders have said is the most sought-after Cannabis in the state.

Toad Venom is a cross of Animal Face and Sin Mints, created by West Coast Connoisseurs and Ronin Seeds. Insanely popular with people looking for the latest big thing in the Cannabis world, it fetches a premium in every swamp from LA to the East Coast and when it somehow made an appearance at a social club in Barcelona this year, the drop disappeared in less than two days. After local giants Evans Creek got the opportunity to grow some of it in a test garden, they received the blessing to start producing some for the local market.

Being a farm that’s focused on quality over size when it comes to a harvest, these first two batches have been an exemplary rendition of what everybody can’t stop talking about. The second batch hitting the scene has a little more of a wild shape due to the switch from LED to a combination HPS and MH light source, and while the batches out in Los Angeles are a little greener, the mottled green and purple coloring on these buds gives it even more of a toad skin feeling.

Looking at the parentage, it’s easy to see why you’d wonder how this got all the hype. The cross seems like just another Baldwin brother, until you dig in and suddenly Toadie Baldwin is on the table delivering the speech from “Dead Poet’s Society” … and even your dad is crying. When you first smell the fresh flower, there’s an element of that doughy, minty aroma – but as the curing process really hits the end zone, what dominates is a smell exactly like those peach rings candies you buy at a gas station. You almost need to stare at the jar a couple times to make sure you’re reading the genetics correctly. Taking a hit, this strain delivers that full-bodied, gassy, doughy smoke that seems to coat your mouth in cotton.

The taste doesn’t capture the smell, but it’s where you’ll find the family resemblance in this rebellious child, along with moments of what Dan at Evans Creek says is a “gassy lime” flavor. People I know who smoke a lot of impressive weed all comment on how this strain will fuck you up, and since Evans Creek will never exceed a 15-pound batch, there’s little chance of you smoking enough to get a real tolerance (though we do encourage you to stock up when you can).

Evans Creek is known for having a wonderful collection of in-house heaters, so it truly feels like the perfect place to see the second official release of this strain. Plus, Oregon deserves a little extra helping of hype now and then. @EVANS_CREEK_FARMS

“KOYAANISQATSI”

SPIRIT ANIMAL #1, HELD BY WINDSTAR, LEFT, AND HICDOGG.

FEATURED ARTISTS

THE SPIRIT

ANIMAL SERIES CURRENTLY INCLUDES FOUR PIECES THAT HAVE BEEN CREATED SINCE LATE 2019.

“It all started with Koyaanisqatsi – a cow skull that referenced the Hopi prophecies of the world falling out of balance when mankind refused to live alongside nature,” says Windstar. “When we first started making these, we had no idea that four years later we would have four master pieces – and many more planned for the series. Each of them reflects our love for the animals depicted and their mythological influence on the societies around them. These functional works of art are truly show pieces, and their power is not just in the imagery they invoke, but also in the size of their presence.”

Sirius was born in much the same way as his predecessors –through a lot of research and searching. Wolves are incredibly intelligent animals, and in some cultures, they are seen as teachers and guides. The wolf began to represent what man should have always been: a lover, a leader, a teacher, a caretaker – always reaching toward the greater good of the pack or his family, over that of himself. It also speaks to the importance of each wolf’s place within the pack and the role of good leadership and cooperation.

With this piece, we strived to embody all of those characteristics. We also chose to spend the most time and energy we had ever put into any of our previous works on this one, truly giving it our best. After working for three straight weeks, we took Sirius to DFO in Portland and finished it in competition. It follows our tradition and is a functional recycler, matching its predecessors in both high performance function and exquisite form. You can find this piece touring the country with either Windstar or Hicdogg, and it is currently available for purchase. Contact the artists for inquiries.

Spirit is the second in the series, and she was born out of our mutual love for horses and our respect for their impact on shaping the course of human history. The inspiration for Spirit’s decorative look comes from the Cheyenne people, who would decorate and parade their horses as their most cherished part of their family’s wealth. Spirit, as a work of glass, is meant to emulate the beauty, wealth and grace that the Cheyenne would show their horses – and to remind us of the continued importance of the horse in our spiritual journey in this world, always having respect for her strength and wisdom in allowing us to ride her. This piece is the tallest of the Spirit Animal series to date. It is also a functioning recycler, continuing on the tradition of matching both high-end artwork with high-quality functionality. This piece is owned by a private collector and can currently be viewed in the Torched Exhibit at the Flint Institute of Art in Flint, Michigan.

Scorpius was born from the imagination of Windstar’s then8-year-old daughter (who is a Scorpio). When we struggled with inspiration for an upcoming class, she suggested we make a scorpion in her honor – so we decided to run with the idea and dive deep into the world of scorpions. Like our previous pieces, we did a lot of research to find the essence of this desert arachnid. We were very impressed with and found a deep appreciation for this maternal creature. Known for being the most motherly of all the arachnids and also the most fierce, it was during the making of this scorpion that we discovered that each of these pieces had its own unique spirit. This is when we realized that they were all part of the Spirit Animal series. Scorpius is an impressive piece and truly emulates all the mystery, power and energy of its name. This piece is a fully functioning recycler and stands 12 inches tall – but height is not the most impressive part of this piece. Positioned at a 45-degree angle, it is poised to strike at the heart of any true functional aficionado and delivers a venomous hit. This piece is currently available for viewing and purchase at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York.

@hicdogg | @windstar_glass

“SCORPIUS THE ROCK LOBSTER” SPIRIT ANIMAL #3

“SIRIUS THE DOG STAR SPIRIT OF THE NORTH” SPIRIT ANIMAL #4

“SPIRIT, THE HORSE” SPIRIT ANIMAL #2

BIOMAX is a proprietary blend of cannabis/ hemp extracts, oils, emulsifiers and natural flavors, ensuring bioavailability maximization and a faster onset of effects, along with making the cannabinoids completely tasteless making for a better edible experience.

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FAR MORE THAN JUST COOL, HEADY BONGS, THE PIECES CRAFTED BY THE MOLTEN ART CLASSIC CREW ARE SOME OF THE MOST ELABORATE & UNIQUE FUNCTIONAL GLASS SCULPTURES THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN.

GRAVE DABBER MONSTER TRUCK

What began nearly a decade ago as an excuse for a few glassblower buddies to get together has evolved into one of the world's most ambitious glass art collaboration projects: the Molten Art Classic.

FIRST ORGANIZED in 2015 by glassblowers Carlos Ali, Steve "Hops" Hoppenfeld and Adam "Hoobs" Whobrey, the project was initially called "The Ziggys Classic" – named after Ziggys Smoke Shop (Ali's glass gallery in Huntington Beach), which hosted the live glass blowing event to celebrate the shop's fifth anniversary. Over the course of a week, six artists worked together to create a phenomenal, functional funny car called “Tow U.”

The crew had so much fun that they decided to make it an annual event, and it's grown exponentially bigger ever since. In 2016, nine artists contributed to the creation of the “Ziggy’s Correctional Bus” piece. Then, in 2017, things really started getting serious: Before the event began, Hoobs and Hops spent two weeks constructing a preliminary framework upon which 16 other artists would then contribute their own unique elements. The result was a vaunted vessel weighing over 18 pounds and standing 29 inches tall that they dubbed “The Sea Cow Pirate Ship.”

By that time, Hoobs and his partners recognized they were onto something big. So in 2018, they rebranded their annual mega-collab as “The Molten Art Classic,” created

a website for it, brought in sponsors, and made arrangements to film a documentary and publish a book about the project. That July, their “Glass Odyssey Space Station” art piece became the largest glass art collaboration in the nation – weighing in at a whopping 50 pounds, standing 48 inches tall, and featuring over 3,000 hours of work from 27 different artists.

That was followed by another boat, “Shipwreck 420 Leagues Under the Sea” in 2019, and then the mean, green “Grave Dabber” monster truck in 2020 – featuring wheels that actually roll, made of rubber-coated glass with ball bearings and sandblasted tread (which later won first place for Best Collab at Glass Vegas’ 2022 World Series of Glass competition).

Due to the vast amount of time and resources necessary to produce one of these epic pieces (thousands of hours and tens of thousands of dollars), the MAC team has decided that going forward, they'll only have the bandwidth to produce their pieces biannually.

Sadly, due to Covid, the MAC was canceled in 2021 … but the group returned to Hoobs’ Classic 33 Studio in fall 2022 to create another badass borosilicate behemoth: the “Kiln Buster” Samurai Robot (over 2,500 hours of work, 33 inches tall, 45.5 pounds), which again won first place for Best Collab at Glass Vegas in 2023.

“Currently, our goal is to complete one more project this year, complete the filming and editing of a short film about the project, and plan a nationwide museum tour of the entire decade-long body of work that will tentatively begin in 2025,” Hoobs tells us.

“After that, we will be transitioning into a new series of even bigger ideas that will span multiple years to accomplish each conceptual collaboration, with the goal of creating pieces that will truly stand the test of time as some of the greatest flameworked sculptures ever created.”

I think I speak for our entire community when I say we can’t wait to see what epic insanity MAC’s torches conjure up next. @MOLTENARTCLASSIC

KILN

BUSTER SAMURAI ROBOT

FEATURED ARTIST "INFINITE

YUNK GLASS DOESN’T JUST BLOW GLASS, HE BREATHES LIFE INTO IT. His work features cartoonish appendages or fully formed, tiny humanoids that look like they could move across the table and hand you a light er. Like something out of an old TOOL music video, these faceless homunculi, seem both ready to spring to life and trapped in a moment of expression – prompting the artist to refer to them on his website as “Yunktionals.”

Operating out of the Lone Star State, Josh Yunker has spent the last 15 years honing his craft. Originally taught to make spoon pipes on a production line style, afterwards he found himself spending any time outside of the nine-to-five grind out in his mom’s garage practicing glassblowing. After two years of moonlighting, he turned to the craft full time and started working on the style he’s become so well known for. Alongside these animated pipes and rigs, his work with pendants, marbles and glassware are all in high demand when released online and sell out quickly. Perhaps it’s because much of Yunker’s work seems to speak to both the adult and child brain simultaneously – impressing you with its contrasting use of black with clear glass, the skill in the shaping of the tiny appendages, and also making you feel as if you’re holding something that could come to life at any moment. It’s a style that is both super individualistic and yet calls back to the work of Osvaldo Cavandoli, Hayao Miyazaki or Disney Animation. If “Beauty and the Beast” would have had a pipe in the castle, it would for sure have been a Yunk Glass piece voiced by Werner Herzog.

Venetian style often makes use of intricate and ornate techniques to exemplify and play with the language of glass. His aim is to “combine both philosophies by using the human form.” This duality that your brian perceives when seeing his work is the artist’s intention, hoping to convey something “both sterile and personal, high-brow and low-brow, black and white.”

If you ask, Yunker will tell you his work is a distilled mixture of two prominent glass art styles: Sculpted and Venetian. Sculpted references a glass object’s ability to reference something familiar in our world.

Yunker says his favorite kind of piece to create is something that allows him to work a new shape or style of piece into that of the human body, something that offers a challenge as to how much personality he can instill into the Venetian style. We asked Yunker what helped stoke the fire of inspiration and he said that he’s found the ability to take inspiration from seemingly everywhere – finding that much of it seems to spring out of everyday interactions with people and a desire to communicate with others.

yunkglass.com @yunkglass

"TORI DAIKEI" @

Elissa Newmeyer

Bends of color twist effortlessly into symbol-like shapes or stretch out into delicate geometric lattices that have a Legend of Zelda BOTW feel to their patterns – and just like that video game, it might take you a minute to puzzle out how to hit one of these sculptural pipes. Often a wonder of design as much as functional art, she exemplifies that kind of glass blower whose work looks at home on the shelf of a Danish mid-century modern cabinet, just as it does on a coffee table or in a glass display case.

Her style has been described as “inventive, playful and genre-pushing,” but Newmeyer describes it as simply “funky and fun.”

A born-and-raised Oklahoman, she still lives in the state where she’s blown glass now for 11 years. While she’s received some previous training from an old employer, she told us that most of what she’s accomplished in over a decade behind the torch has been self-taught, building on “an insatiable curiosity via trial and error.”

When asked if there’s a particular inspiration behind her vibrant and mesmerizing work, she said it’s not really any one thing or style, but the endless creativity of others that actually drives her to produce such stunning creations.

This hasn’t gone unnoticed, as last April, Newmeyer was tapped to be part of an exhibition at the Flint Institute of Arts in Michigan that focused on the historical significance of pipe-making, as well as the artists who have pushed the boundaries and changed the landscape of what we consider to be glass art and smoking accessories.

Though many of her pieces are dry pipes, she doesn’t have a particular favorite thing she likes to put into the kiln – telling us instead that it’s the sketch, the artwork itself, that really tends to drive what comes next. Looking at her Instagram feed, you can truly begin to see the truth in that … as she goes from creating pipes and bubblers to cups, jewelry, furniture, water bulbs, sunglasses, and recently even stained glass. Even the descriptions and titles of her work reflect more of a sculptural and artistic approach with names like “Third Eye Planet,” “Mid Modern Boom” and “What Punishments Of God Are Not Gifts?” Quotes from figures like Fred Rogers or Mark Nepo further provide glimpses into the journey spent constructing each one. Bottom line: Acquiring an Elnewglass item is like connecting with a piece of art that you want to display both when you’re smoking, and when you’re not.

elnewglass.com

@elnewglass

"JUPITER JAZZ" (2024) (2024)

When you’re looking for the most creative artists working in glass today, Elissa Newmeyer is a name that instantly comes to mind. Also known as Elnewglass, her art conjures up this futuristic yet ancient alien world where a ‘90s/Art Deco aesthetic is having a renaissance.

"ELECTRIC DREAM" (2023)

elbo glass

Elbo started out in the hot shop at Tyler School of Art and Architecture in his hometown of Philadelphia in 2005, where he mostly did furnace work with soft glass. It wasn’t until after he graduated in 2009 and was apprenticing for internationally renowned artist Zach Puchowitz that he began working with boro and making pipes. Elbo eventually relocated to Colorado in 2013, where he’s now the co-owner of Everdream Studio and blowing glass alongside some of the industry’s finest including WJC, Eusheen and N8 Miers.

He’s one of those artists where you can just look at a piece and immediately know, “That’s an Elbo.” He’s built a cult-like following of collectors with highly sculpted functional pieces in the shape of Raptors, Triceratops, “Recyclerdactyls” and more – and these dinosaur motifs that appear throughout his art are actually a love story.

“The woman that I fell in love with when I first started blowing glass made me these little glass dinosaurs on the torch,” Elbo tells me. “I was so focused on building my glass career that we ended up having a falling out. After that, I wanted to let her know I was still thinking about her in the studio, so I was making replicas of this Brontosaurus that she had made me.” He brought

HAVE YOU EVER TAKEN A DAB OUT OF A DINOSAUR?

three of these replicas to a trade show just as side pieces to fill the table, but ended up getting an enormous amount of orders off the dino designs alone. The rest is history.

Since then, Elbo has expanded his work into many other me diums such as plushies, vinyl figurines (like the butterfly stego collab below with Felt @feltusa) and even baseball cards – which, while not made with glass, are still inspired by his functional pipes. “I was going at them as if they were prints of my work. Like as a painter makes prints of their original canvas, I was trying to develop ‘prints’ of my glass and design them based off of actual pieces I’d made in the past.”

With this approach, Elbo has been one of the few to successfully cross over from the niche glass scene into mainstream pop culture, proven by his collabs with iconic brands such as The Hundreds, Felt and Topps. His next venture is a flagship storefront in Denver – The Elbo Shop, which will be home to exclusive seasonal capsules of glass, clothing and his entire lineup of collectibles, as well as monthly events and heady hangouts. “I’m really trying to cultivate a place for the glass community to come to where they can hang out,” he tells me. “Just like the streetwear world did with their brick-andmortars, that same vibe.”

Opening April 6th, stop by the shop if you’re in the Mile-High City.

COLLAB WITH @COYLECONDENSER AND @WJCGLASS @BORO.VISION TELEOCRATER

LA REINA DE LAGARTO COLLAB WITH @BANJOGLASS

jptoro

JP Toro has long been celebrated for his heady and pioneering contributions to the world of glass art, especially within the Cannabis community.

His many creations, such as the Terp Slurper, have revolutionized how hash and concentrate enthusiasts experience their favorite strains, melding innovative function with unparalleled artistry.

The family-owned team is currently embarking on a new journey in Ithaca, as they open a licensed storefront called The Highly Connected Dispensary in their home state of New York.

This exciting fusion of his glassblowing genius and passion for Cannabis aims to redefine the standard for Cannabis retail spaces. As the industry evolves and more states come online, figures like JP Toro are at the forefront – helping guide the way towards a more integrated, artistic and creative Cannabis experience.

In this exclusive Q&A, JP Toro and Wendy sit down with ADHDDEAD and share insights into their latest projects, vision for a unique dispensary experience, and the future of glass art in the Cannabis industry.

"I WANTED TO TASTE THE PRODUCT TO THE FULLEST AND GET THE TERPIEST EXPERIENCE."

What inspired you to venture into the Cannabis retail sector?

Wendy: We had the opportunity to be among the first applicants under the NY CAURD program. Both JP and I were legacy growers since the ‘90s. A lot of our Sour Diesel was sold in NYC in the early 2000s, but we were raided in 2009. Who knew that years later, the hell we went through would pay off?

What unique features can customers expect from your dispensary that sets it apart from others in the market?

W: In addition to the inclusion of TORO Glass products in our inventory, our most unique feature is that JP knows Cannabis and hash. At The Highly Connected Dispensary, our primary objective is to curate the finest Cannabis and hash selections in New York. With our robust presence in the global Cannabis community, we are confident that we can create a world-class showcase featuring top-tier brands, attracting Cannabis enthusiasts from near and far.

How has broader legalization impacted your glass work?

JP: As always, I hope to keep doing me and doing it all for the true love of Cannabis. My glass art is an extension of my version of the quest. I absolutely love what I do on every level. When you do it for love and passion, everything else always follows. This I strongly believe is the secret to our success. I'm constantly chasing the high to get to the ultimate experience. When you get to do what you love every day, it's not a job. Many will enter and leave our industry chasing the money. I will always chase the high, which is why I will still be relevant and around and hopefully leave an impactful legacy on the Cannabis game.

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BOB’S BEGINNINGS

INTRO TO GLASS

One day, Bob was walking his dog in Akron when he came across a new lamp shop down the street with a clear glass pipe in the window. Intrigued, he decided to pop in.

PASSING THE TORCH

When it comes to living legends of stoner culture, there are few figures whose flame burns brighter than that of the tie-dyedrenched, benevolently bearded teddy bear of a man named Bob Snodgrass. Bob was born in 1946 in Ohio and seemed a relatively average American for the first 20 years of his life. After a tour in the Air Force in Missouri during the 1960s, he got married, had kids, and moved back to Ohio in 1970 to raise his family. During the week he worked a job at a machine shop, and on the weekends he made candles with his wife Marie to sell at flea markets and craft shows. It wasn’t until 1971, at the age of 25, that Bob and his wife decided to try marijuana – buying a $15 bag from a neighbor that was mostly stems and seeds, which only gave them a headache rather than a high. But weeks later, when a former schoolmate offered him a joint of skunk weed, he became a believer. Above:

“There was a fellow in there blowing glass,” Snodgrass told Puffco in 2019. “He wore a beret and was a beatnik kind of character … he introduced himself as Chuck Murphy.”

Chuck Murphy had been apprenticing under a scientific glassblower from Germany since he was 10 years old. And unlike Snodgrass, Murphy had already been smoking weed since the age of 13 when he was offered a joint at a jazz show. Murphy brought some home to share with his teacher, who enjoyed it so much that after smoking it, he fashioned a little tubular joint holder, creating the first “flare” pipe. Soon, the two were repurposing more scientific equipment into smoking devices, becoming two of the only few glassblowers in the world making Cannabis pipes –which they continued until Chuck set out on his own. Little did he realize that now, at 23, he was about to take on a pupil of his own.

At the time, selling pot paraphernalia wasn’t exactly an easy thing to do in Ohio, so Murphy was looking for any sales opportunity he could get. Thankfully, Bob agreed to take some pipes with him on one of his candle sales trips – and returned with more orders than Chuck had ever had. With huge orders to fill, Murphy enlisted Bob to help him with the “cold work” (work on glass that hasn’t been heated) – scoring tubing into sections and fire-polishing the ends.

“He hooked a torch up … and he said, ‘I’m going to tell you the same thing my teacher told me as he first lit my torch,’” Snodgrass remembers fondly. “He said, ‘Fire burns, and glass cuts.’ That was my first lesson.”

As Murphy’s part-time assistant over the next several years, Snodgrass learned the art of glassblowing – eventually buying a torch of his own in 1974, honing his new craft, and even experimenting with innovations of his own.

RUNNING ON FUMES

Much like the candle-making, glassblowing was still just a hobby for Snodgrass; he was still working full-time as a “tool and die” guy, grinding and heat-treating metals. One day, he brought home some copper filings, which he and Chuck

Early dragon steamroller pipe.

The glass master at work.

“Without Bob and his amiable spirit, it’s hard to imagine how the current landscape of glass pipes and flameworking would have evolved.”

SHAKEDOWN STREET

“The first time I encountered the Grateful Dead scene, a friend told me he had tickets, and I should bring my bus so we could camp in the parking lot,” Snodgrass told Leafly in 2019. “He said I was going to sell glass like I’d never sold glass before.”

then attempted to fuse into some clear glass. But when their torch started running low on propane, the flame oxidized, causing the copper filings to vaporize and imbue the glass with a hint of color. The result was that as dark resin built up inside the pipe, colors would emerge that weren’t visible before. Thanks to his alchemical accident, Bob had invented the technique of “fuming” – creating what he called “color-changing glass.”

“It becomes dazzling when it’s done right,” he told Eugene Weekly in 2014. “It’s real magic.”

But fuming wasn’t the only innovation Snodgrass invented – he also created some of the most iconic pipe shapes we all know and love: the “spoon” –a simple design in which the bowl is pushed into the pipe rather than attached as a separate piece; the “hammer,” which looks similar to a gavel; the steamroller – a bong-like tube whose wind tunnel-like airflow produces massive shotgun-style hits; and the “sidecar,” which has a bowl set to the side that serves as a sort of kickstand – a style he got the idea for after he and Marie spent the night on a friend’s waterbed and their pipe kept tipping over when they put it down.

Snodgrass was also the first to make “marbles” –glass orbs with intricate art and patterns inside them.

ON THE ROAD

Bob and Chuck began going on sales trips together all across the Midwest each summer – selling pipes and marbles at festivals, fairs, flea markets, and, of course, to whatever headshops or underground boutiques they could find. They continued these trips throughout the late 1970s and into the ‘80s – that is, until 1986 when Bob’s wife decided she wanted in on the fun.

“When I got ready to leave in ’86, Marie says, ‘Oh, you’re not getting away on your own this year – we’re all going with you!’” he told the “Elev8 at 8” podcast in 2022.

Snodgrass converted an old 1940s school bus into a mobile home/glass studio and went on tour with his wife and youngest daughter full-time. At first, he would typically produce and sell just enough product at each stop to get them to their next destination. But that all changed in 1987 when Snodgrass stumbled upon the counterculture catalyst that would catapult his sales and fame into the stoner stratosphere –namely, the Grateful Dead.

On Easter weekend of 1987, Bob and his family headed to Irvine Meadows in Southern California to experience their first Dead show. He set up his mobile studio in the vending area of the parking lot known as “Shakedown Street” (after the Dead song) and began selling pipes. To appeal to the Deadheads, he crafted a special pipe specifically for the event: a hammer-style pipe in the shape of a skull with a top hat (one of the band’s iconic images). The response from the fans was tremendous.

“We ended up working the next two days and nights straight in the parking lot trying to keep up with demand,” he recalled.

The Top Hat pipe quickly became one of his signature designs and a highly sought-after collectible. Snodgrass had done more than tap into a receptive new sales market for his pieces, though – he had found his people.

“I was just blown away by the atmosphere,” he recalled. “When I got inside and the music started, I saw everybody just go off in a dancing frenzy. I thought, ‘That’s so tribal ... I want to be a part of it.’”

From then on, Snodgrass followed the Dead –becoming a permanent fixture on Shakedown Street and building a cult-like following of heads who looked forward to picking up a new “Snoddy” each year. What’s more, his glassblowing demos in the Dead lots attracted crowds of fascinated onlookers, some of whom would end up apprenticing under Bob in years to come.

THE EUGENE SCENE

However, as fun as the Dead tour was, Bob and his family eventually grew weary of the road and sought a new place to put down roots. In 1990, at the recommendation of Bob’s first apprentice, Hugh Salkind (aka Hugh Glass), the Snodgrasses went to check out the small town of Eugene, Oregon. Falling in love with the community’s weather, weed and thriving art scene, they deciding to settle there.

University of Oregon student named Jason Harris –future founder of the world’s most successful glass smokeware company: Jerome Baker Designs.

“There was just some magical attraction to Bob,” Harris remembers. “He was the coolest dude I’d ever met. I just wanted to be like him instantly.”

In the decade that followed, Snodgrass helped transform Eugene into the functional glass art capital of the world – taking on nearly 30 apprentices and founding the Eugene Glass School in 1998.

“Under his pioneering flame and tutelage, the Eugene-Springfield glass scene in the 1990s became like Montmartre in the 1890s or Greenwich Village in the 1960s – a place where artists flocked, a hub where innovators rubbed shoulders and ideas spread like wildfire,” opines Eugene Weekly’s Alex Notman.

LIGHTING THE WAY

Sadly, the Eugene Glass School closed this past fall … but not before teaching nearly 1,000 artists the many techniques that Snodgrass helped pioneer. Moreover, many of Bob’s family members are now among the dozens of apprentices he’s trained at his hippie compound by the Willamette River, ensuring his legacy will live on for generations to come.

Once word got out that Snodgrass was in Eugene, aspiring glassblowers started making pilgrimages there to learn from him. One such admirer was a

SLY VEGAS

“My oldest son blows glass; his son blows glass. My oldest daughter’s two sons both blow glass … My five-yearold grandson Ryder, he’s even made a marble,” Snodgrass told Leaf in 2019.

“Without Bob and his amiable spirit, it is hard to imagine how the current landscape of glass pipes and flameworking would have evolved,” attests stokedct.com. We couldn’t agree more. Thanks for lighting the way for our culture, Bob.

To read the full, unabridged version of this article, visit worldofcannabis.museum/cannthropology.

A signature “Snoddy” color-changing Top Hat Skull hammer pipe.

Bob selling pipes and marbles out of his school bus studio at a Grateful Dead show.

Bob with former pupil Jason Harris of JBD.

DRAGON STEAMROLLER PIPE PHOTO COURTESY WORLD OF CANNABIS MUSEUM

SURE, YOU CAN SIT ON YOUR ASS ALL DAY and pile up the layers of blubber while filling your brain with useless information from the boob tube – but that only goes so far until it’s time to get outside and do shit. And the moment you cross that threshold from front door to sidewalk, the real-life video game begins. Be it driving down roads to licking the backs of toads, unforeseen hazards exist at every turn.

Think about it: There just aren’t too many places you can go where the Grim Reaper isn’t posted up with his sickle ready to punch the clock and get to work. Be it getting hit by lightning, tripping on a tree root that sends you off a cliff while snapping a selfie, or your building collapsing because some asshole didn’t stay up with city code for 40 years –the perils are abundant.

You never know when it’s your time to go. So, what’s the best option for navigating unpredictable physics while testing the limits of reason to help you feel accomplished in knowing that you lived a fun life? We all know it’s probably not the safest idea to bungee jump off the Rio Grande bridge in New Mexico or cruise a submarine for gold doubloons off the tip of the Bermuda Triangle, but we still long to create some relative excitement while maintaining the standard nine to five existence.

They say golf is a safe game, but last time I checked, they still haven’t begun requiring helmets on the course. And hiking is always a healthy way to get your blood pumping, but the more it flows, the more the mountain lions and wild boars want to eat your lunch.

Even Cannabis is dangerous – one drop will kill you.

If it was a bale falling out of an open window on a Boeing jet, that is.