EDITOR’S LETTER
Spring
is my thing T
he first normal winter in recent memory — one that involved more than the occasional dusting of snow — has me hopeful. Hopeful for a normal spring that lasts well into June instead of giving way to summer temperatures in late May. Few things top spring in North Central Washington. Blooming flowers and trees paint a beautiful scene at each turn. Wildflowers burst in variety of colors in the surrounding hills, which themselves turn a wonderful hue of green you can’t find in a Crayola box. I know, I’m getting ahead of myself, but it’s hard to resist the magic of spring after three months of mostly snowy conditions. If spring turns you into a dirt digger like me, you’ll want to be sure to check out Rachel Hansen’s story on Page 20 that provides a month-by-month guide for what we should be doing in our gardens. A pair of local gardening experts share basic tips, as well as reminders for those among us who take our gardening seriously. Also, resident wine expert Rick Steigmeyer let us tag along on one of his monthly get-togethers with some of his wine-tasting buddies. Rick is part of a group of wine professionals that meet regularly to blind taste varieties of wine and talk about the regional wine industry. You can find the story on Page 52. Gary Jasinek also chips in with a couple of very different profile pieces — the first on one of the best Mexican restaurants in the region, Fonda Oaxaqueña, and its very gracious owners Paul and Ana Lopez and Rosa Olguin, Paul’s mother and the restaurant’s very talented cook. The second profile is of glass sculptor John Craddick and his West Coast Glass business. This issue’s centerpiece features the amazing winners of our annual Foothills Photo Contest. We received more than 170 entries from talented shooters throughout the region. We don’t have room to run all the entries, but you can visit ncwfoothills.com for a link to a slideshow that includes all of them.
Marco Martinez, editor
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Contents
6 Fast Five 26 Genuine Flavor 8 Spotlight 34 Mike Irwin and a full tank of gas
Family serves up its Oaxacan roots
On...
Winning Images
Jan Cook Mack gets the treatment
Top shots from the 2016 Foothills Photo Contest
12 Lines and Light Leavenworth custom home is built to please
20 Garden Gurus Local experts share month-by-month suggestions
52 Brown
Baggers
Wine pros put their palates to the test
62 Hot Stuff
West Coast Glass burns brightly
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Jan Cook Mack works with Florecita Lin, a 16-year-old Cashmere High School student who takes Running Start classes at Wenatchee Valley College.
Your paintings sell for anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars. How do you decide how much to sell a painting for? The price is based on how long it takes me to paint the painting and its size. Your public murals are eye-catching. What’s your next public mural project? I have been asked to paint a mural of Salmon in the Wenatchee River on the wall between the Museum and Centennial Park. So this professional artist thing must be a 9-to-5 job, right? I like to paint more than do anything else, so I paint on Saturday and Sunday, too. And I paint when I am on vacation. Who’s the one person you’d love to have sit down for a formal portrait?
I would like to paint (tennis great) Roger Federer. There are other local artists doing some fine work. Whose work do you appreciate? Rod Weagant is a wonderful artist from Manson and Twisp who paints landscape onsite and then in his studio from on-site studies and photos. He showed me how to hike to Stuart Lake to paint onsite there. Ron McGaughey is a remarkable on-site landscape painter from Manson. I admire Diana Sanford’s large-scale paintings which evoke the spirit of our natural surroundings with a grand vigor. Lindsay Briedenthal is a painter who inspires me. Nik Penny’s paintings inspire me, too. There are many artists in this area whose work I appreciate. If you could choose any artist — living or dead — to paint your portrait, who would it be?
Fairfield Porter and Rembrandt.
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This stainless steel railing leads from the entryway to the second floor. “I like the modern, industrial-type look,” Roswitha Ruud says. The painting at left was created by the builder’s wife, Susan Hebert of Leavenworth.
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“I wanted clean lines and lots of light,” Roswitha says. All the materials are from local vendors, they say. This is the second house the Ruuds have built in Leavenworth. Their first one, built in 2005, was a Mediterranean-style home. It contained 3,650 square feet and sat on 1.1 acres. They downsized with their second house to 2,375 square feet and the house sits on .21 of an acre. “I got tired of spending eight hours a week on the tractor, cutting that grass,” Doug says. “Now, with our itty bitty yard, we can play card games in the afternoon, take a nap or take our dog for a walk,” Roswitha says. Their favorite room in the new house holds the living, dining and cooking space. One accent wall is bright orange, Roswitha’s favorite color.
Among the highlights of the home: • Granite countertops in the kitchen with an induction stove. • A gas fireplace that sits at eye level with someone seated, in the large family living space. • Large glass doors that separate the front door from the living area. The Ruuds call them wind catchers. • Radiant heat in most of the flooring. • The outside of the house is made of concrete composite. A metal roof completes the firewise structure. • A small sauna in the master bathroom • Floors are done in white oak. • Custom-built metal shutters provide privacy, protection from sunlight and save on energy costs.
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Above: An orange throw cover on the couch complements the orange wall in the Ruud’s living room. Roswitha says she enjoys the painting over the fireplace “because I like dogs and because it is calming.” Right: “The Original Bombo” stools made by Magis of Italy add a modern look to the kitchen, which also features granite countertops. A backsplash behind the stove matches the counter tops.
KITCHEN CREATIONS STORY BY GARY JASINEK PHOTOS BY PAUL ERICKSON
Fonda Oaxaqueña 136 Eastmont Ave., East Wenatchee (509) 885-7317
Open daily for lunch and dinner, weekends for breakfast as well. Weekday lunch menus, with a daily special.
Fonda Oaxaqueña offers three versions of spicy sauce
M
Rosa Olguin and her son Paul Lopez offer authentic Oaxacan Mexican food including mole Oaxaqueño and tamales Oaxaqueño wrapped in banana leaves at Fonda Oaxaqueña in East Wenatchee.
ole, one legend goes, was invented hundreds of years ago by Mexican nuns who had to scurry to concoct something tasty for a visiting archbishop and tossed everything from their cupboard into one dish. Or it was when a propitious gust blew a friar’s entire spice collection into a pot, whose contents also were intended for an archbishop’s table. Or it was a special treat hospitable Aztecs prepared for conquistadores. Or maybe not. The spicy sauce was born in what now is the state of Oaxaca — or possibly it was Puebla. No one knows for sure. The competing origin narratives of mole (moh-leh) are as opaque and complicated as
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Top: Rosa Olguin cooks tortillas.
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Bottom Left: Olguin uses the heel of her hands to form traditional tortillas.
Bottom Right: Tamales Oaxaque単os are wrapped in banana leaves.
on the menu), which accompanies chicken. Mole de clavo and chileajo have dried chiles and spices that are appropriate for the proteins they accompany — cloves and sesame for the definitely hot mole de clavo and garlic, oregano and cumin for the chileajo. But let’s focus on the mole negro. The color of black coffee, and with intense and slightly sweet flavors, it’s the most painstaking to
Top: Gas-fired stove-top cooking brings a traditional flair to dinners. Leo Mejia of Cashmere cooks a dish. Bottom: Carne asada sizzles on the grill. 30
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cook and most complex on the palate. Sitting at one of the dozen or so tables in the slack restaurant time of 3:30 p.m., Lopez and his mom ran through a list of some of their mole negro’s contents: four kinds of chiles, raisins, bananas, almonds, apples, cinnamon, oregano, thyme, sugar, 32
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chocolate. That’s 13 ingredients, and it’s possible they were holding out a few. Some mole recipes — and there must be thousands — call for toasted bread as a thickener. Fonda Oaxaquena’s mole uses none; Lopez says it’s because some people are allergic to gluten, but he’s not certain the mole itself is gluten-free. It takes Olguin a full day to prepare mole negro. The chiles, which are dried to begin with, must be soaked, then chopped, then added to remaining ingredients before being ground and blended into smoothness and fried, then simmered. The sugar and chocolate are added last, before serving.
Top: Fonda Oaxaqueña has a full bar, including mezcal made from the maguey plant, a form of the agave plant in Oaxaca. Bottom: Tlayuda is a traditonal Oaxacan dish made with a large tortilla shell, black beans, cabbage, pork, chorizo, flank steak, Oaxacan cheese and topped with avocados and tomatoes. Olguin says she learned the recipe from her grandmother and aunt, who probably learned it from their grandmothers, who learned it from theirs. Asked whether she ever tried to alter or improve the recipe, Olguin looked shocked at the notion, and responded with an emphatic “No!” One apparently does not tamper with perfection. And which mole creation theory does Olguin believe? It was the Aztecs. In Oaxaca. F
FOOTHILLS PHOTO CONTEST
The winners T
he fourth-annual Foothills Photo Contest drew more than 175 entries from area photographers. Entries were separated into two categories — Landscape and People. Contest rules were basic: the photo had to be shot in North Central Washington during the 2015 calendar year and the image couldn’t be dramatically manipulated electronically. On the following pages, you’ll find the top three finishers and honorable mention images in both categories. The top three share $350 in prize money. We thank the photographers who shared their images with Foothills readers. To view all entries, visit ncwfoothills.com.
The judges Wenatchee World photo editor Don Seabrook, World photographer Mike Bonnicksen and World visual editor Michelle Naranjo reviewed entries on Jan. 6. They did not know the names of the photographers as they chose their favorites.
Photo by PHYLLIS JESS Horseback up the Columbia River on my horse “Buck” on Friday, Oct. 30, 2015. Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S 9900.
Judges’ comments The judges went back and forth to determine the winner of the landscape category and eventually decided on this stunning photograph of a horse in an orchard at fall. We like that there was sunlight filtering through the leaves and we like the unusual perspective from the back of the horse. We also liked that the colors of the horse and leaves all created a warm glow. 34
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are...
FIRST PLACE, LANDSCAPE
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THIRD PLACE, LANDSCAPE Photo by MATTHEW TANGEMAN This is Jim Hill Mountain. By some, it’s been given the moniker “Jim Hell” for the gnarly approach. But once you’re there, it’s hard to believe hell could have such a heavenly ambience. In this photo, my good friend Austin carves a turn into a misty powder Valhalla — the first lap of many on what became one of the best early-winter skiing days I’ve had. For me, what I find most interesting is the shadow of Jim Hill cast onto the sunlit fog below — a bizarre illusion, but creating a very surreal atmosphere.
Judges’ comments The judges like that the skier coming into the frame helps bring the viewer’s eye toward the foggy winter scene.
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SECOND PLACE, LANDSCAPE Photo by STEPHEN HUFMAN October sunrise over Leavenworth. I take joy in watching the morning fog roll back and forth in the valley until the sun chases it away.
 Judges’ comments The sun rising near Leavenworth, with low-lying fog, and fall colors gave us the sense of calmness. We enjoy photographs that convey feeling.
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FIRST PLACE, PEOPLE
Photo by KATHERINE MARCH Roger Braa, a horse trainer, comes to town for cattlesorting clinics at Appleatchee Riders. He is perched on a fence watching his students compete. His position in the sky and the quiet grin on his face depict the satisfied mentor that he is.
Judges’ comments We liked that the photographer found an angle that would create a simple background and still incorporate the lines of the fence rails to draw the viewer’s eye to the subject. The sunglasses, untucked shirt and calm expression combine to create a feeling of a man enjoying life on a ranch or at a rodeo.
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SECOND PLACE, PEOPLE
Photo by DJ DOREY Gael Garcia (3) waits outside the Wenatchee train station with his suitcase and newspaper. Taken in early evening July light with a Canon 6D and 135mm prime @ F 2.2. I took this photo for Gael’s parents and I love it because I think it captures the wonder of being a kid and the promise of what lies ahead.
Judges’ comments There were a few posed photographs and this one we thought was the best of the bunch. The photographer was able to work with the child to get a great expression that carries the image. We liked the compositional use of leading lines from the caution stripe and railroad tracks to draw the reader’s attention to the subject.
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THIRD PLACE, PEOPLE
Photo by MARY ANNE WEBLEY I captured this moment at our family reunion last summer when my sweet grandson presented me with this beautiful gift. Â
Judges’ comments Selective focus helped the photographer isolate the flower while still maintaining enough focus on the boy holding it. We loved the facial expression that adds to the image.
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HONORABLE MENTION, PEOPLE Photo by CRISTOBAL ARELLANO This photo was captured on my Canon Rebel EOS T5i camera using a 35mm lens. The location where I took this photo was in an orchard in Bridgeport. The reason I like this photo is because when you first look at it, the eyes and smile grab the viewers’ attention and make it a strong, stunning portrait.
Judges’ comments This is another nice portrait that is nice and tight without the subject being in the center of the frame. We like that the background is interesting but not overwhelming to the woman.
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HONORABLE MENTION, LANDSCAPE Photo by MARC DILLEY Shooting moving water as it tumbles and winds around boulders in mountain streams is one of my favorite subjects. I like to shoot in the Icicle River canyon year-round because it’s a few miles from my home, where I look for ice formations in winter, color in autumn and wildflowers in spring. Capturing this scene in late summer, I was able to take advantage of one of the most boulder-choked sections on the river, a favorite place. Low water in late summer, running over exposed stones and branches, creates fascinating water swirls, curly sprays and other cool stuff that you can hardly take your eyes off of. To get this shot, I waded into the river just below my knees and steadied the tripod with a bungee cord. The lens got water spray with every exposure. I had to wipe it off before each exposure, shoot, and wipe again.
Judges’ comments We like the simplicity of this image that gives the feeling of motion by using a slow shutter speed to blur the water. Sometimes capturing less is more.
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HONORABLE MENTION, PEOPLE
Photo by GREG MARES I took this photo on a brisk morning at sunrise in late February near Trinidad, overlooking Crescent Bar Road. I like this photo because of the separation between the human subject and the landscape behind her. The direction she is facing draws the eyes toward the circuitous roadway in the background, which in itself is a beautiful and curious sight to see, yet it remains an afterthought to the subject in focus on the left of the frame. I think they balance one another nicely and create a story together. Â
Judges’ comments This blend of people and landscape was well executed by the timing of the sunrise that backlights the subject. We also liked the way the road coming up out of Crescent Bar brings the eye to the subject.
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HONORABLE MENTION, LANDSCAPE
Photo by GREG MARES I took this photo on a cool spring morning at Peshastin Pinnacles State Park. It was taken at dawn just before sunrise, which allowed me to silhouette the human subject and boldly separate her from the near cloudless sky. I like this photo because of how much the subject stands out from the background, and because of the disposition that the photo evokes with the town of Cashmere still sleeping beneath the colossal rocks that make up the Pinnacles. Â
Judges’ comments The pose makes this image. We like how the photographer placed the subject in front of the sky.
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HONORABLE MENTION, PEOPLE Photo by CRISTOBAL ARELLANO This photo was taken during a family reunion at my residence in Bridgeport. The reason I want to share this photo is because of the natural vignette this photo has, bringing out the subject more and placing emphasis on the baby’s eyes. The way this photo looks is so serious, but so simple.
Judges’ comments The judges fell in love with the child’s big eyes and inquisitive expression. His face is isolated from the background by the light falling on it.
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HONORABLE MENTION, PEOPLE
Photo by NIK PENNY The photo is a boy in the Wenatchee River. The picture was taken while I was working for Osprey Rafting. This was taken in Leavenworth under a bridge at about 10:30 a.m. while a boy was taking a swim break. The photo is as shot. I didn’t have time to edit photos. I would drive the bus, pull over, run down to river and take some shots, delete ones that didn’t turn out, and then get back in the bus and drive to the next site. I’d take about 300-500 pictures in two hours and then cut that down to 100-200 photos. This is my favorite shot of the summer.
Judges’ comments The sharp focus and blurred background and backlighting pops the subject out from the background. We liked the water on the subject’s face, which tells us he just came out of the water.
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HONORABLE MENTION, LANDSCAPE
Photo by BRIAN MITCHELL I promised a couple of friends with little hiking experience that I’d take them somewhere spectacular. Colchuck Lake in Leavenworth’s Enchantments never disappoints. I snapped this photo on the way out but preferred the shot in black and white due to the low color provided on a cloudy day.
Judges’ comments Making this image into a grayscale (black and white) photograph helps bring out all of the detail that may be lost in color.
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HONORABLE MENTION, LANDSCAPE
Photo by JOEL MATTSON This photo was taken on a January foggy evening at Douglas Church. I was on my way to some friends’ house when I saw the church illuminated, so I pulled in. It had freshly snowed. With fog rolling in, I set up and waited for the shot to happen. After some time waiting, I grabbed this shot and was very pleased with it.
Judges’ comments There is just enough fog to create a mood in this photograph of the Douglas Church illuminated at night. The tint of blue in the color helps create a sense of cold.
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HONORABLE MENTION, PEOPLE
Photo by MICHAEL LONG This photo was taken at a swim meet in Ephrata. The opportunity to freeze one moment in an event that happens so fast, and is over so quickly, helps me to remember the blur of action that just took place.
Judges’ comments The sports photograph of the swimmer caught the subject at a great moment in time with side lighting and a fast shutter speed helping to bring out the detail.
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HONORABLE MENTION, LANDSCAPE
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Photo by MARC DILLEY I call this image “Still Dreaming.” Sun glimmers through a cloud breach in the twilight between dreams and wakefulness. To get the swirling effect on this large foamy whirlpool, three miles into Tumwater Canyon, I used a very dark neutral density filter over a wide-angle lens. Coupled with an ISO of 50 and the lens stopped all the way down to f/22, allowed for an exposure time of 30 seconds. In that period of time the small bubbles had time to travel about 25 percent of a circle, giving the pool an otherworldly look. I’ve had this special pool in mind for years, noticing it below a turnout where a climbing partner and I park below a favorite crag. The suitable window for shooting these pools is narrow. Too much flow in the river and the whirlpool is chaotic; too little flow and the foam just floats in place. I really enjoy the challenge of blending this rare feature with other picture natural picture elements.
Judges’ comments The judges liked that the photographer found a spot where the water circled in an eddy and then used a slow shutter speed to get the swirling look to it.
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THE VINE
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STORY BY RICK STEIGMEYER PHOTOS BY RON MASON
bag
It’s in the
Wine group meets monthly for blind tastings
S
Washington Syrah, bagged and ready for blind tasting.
yrah is something of an enigma in the world of wine. It’s one of Washington’s great wine grapes and the basis of a red wine known by many names and made in many styles throughout the world. “That’s the trouble with defining Syrah. It comes in so many varieties,” said Freddy Arredondo, winemaker for Cave B Estate Vineyards near Quincy. “It’s a wine of many manifestations,” added Mike Scott, owner and winemaker for Martin-Scott Winery outside East Wenatchee. Syrah can be light and spicy, hefty and meaty, fragrant or subdued. Much of it has to do with where it’s grown and how long the grapes are left to hang on the vine. Lively discussion of a particular wine varietal and North Central Washington’s growing wine industry is a monthly event for the nine members of a wine-tasting group that has loosely become known as the Brown Bag Wine Tasters. We met recently at the Martin-Scott Winery to sip and spit and talk about Washington Syrah, and how far our wine industry has come in just 20 years. The group is made up of some of the
region’s most notable and accomplished winemakers, vineyard managers, wine marketers and oenophiles. I’m fortunate to be a member of a group that can talk intelligently about wine — not only its aromas and flavors, but why it smells and tastes the way it does from the perspectives of those who farm the vines and manipulate the chemistry of converting grapes into fine wine. Each of us brought a bottle that was quickly wrapped in a brown paper bag tightly drawn around the neck with a rubber-band to hide its identity. Each bag was numbered. One by one, we sampled the wines in a blind tasting, commenting on color, aroma, flavor, acidity and texture without being biased by the label or worrying about hurting anyone’s feelings since many members bring wines they make or market. After sampling all the wines, we unveiled them from their bags and tasted some more. We liked all eight wines and all for different reasons. Each had its own character that spoke of the winemaker’s style, grape maturity and terroir, that subtle influence of geology and climate March/April 2016
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Above: A glass ready for a pour. Right: Mike Scott hosted the most recent tasters gathering at his MartinScott Winery in East Wenatchee. he oversaw conversion of more than 1,000 acres of onion and potato crop land to vineyards around Quincy in the late 1990s for what became Jones of Washington. Two other members of the group, Allan Williams and Rhett Humphrey, market Jones of Washington wines, which have won dozens of state, region and national awards for their excellence. Only a tiny percentage of the Jones vineyards, which have expanded to about 3,000 acres, are used for Jones wines. Most of the grapes go to Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia Crest, Washington’s largest wineries. Humphrey pointed out that as the region’s wines have improved and expanded, so has the public’s appreciation for quality wine. “The quality of wine here continues to go up and up,” added Arredondo. Washington wines, much of it made from Columbia Valley grapes, are among the fastest growing and most highly considered wines in the world. Most of Washington’s vineyards were planted less than 20 years ago. When Scott was planting vineyards in 1998, he said it was difficult to find Syrah budwood to plant. Now, it’s the state’s third most-planted red wine grape variety, about 3,100 acres, behind 56
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THE ARTS
‘A jewel in
JOHN CRADDICK SHOWCASES
“I was basically a young guy looking for something to do that wasn’t a normal-type job. I started selling other people’s glass work to shops in Oregon, and figured out there was money to be made.” John Craddick Glass artist, owner of West Coast Glass Studios
Glass artist John Craddick makes a candle holder at West Coast Glass Studios in Wenatchee. 62
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STORY BY GARY JASINEK PHOTOS BY MIKE BONNICKSEN
n Wenatchee’
HIS GLASS TALENTS AT WEST COAST GLASS STUDIOS
I
n a green hoody and clear fullface shield, John Craddick applies molten glass to the spinning tube. He moves a little in rhythm to his shop’s loud reggae soundtrack as he flicks the flame from high intensity to low and back, manipulating the glass rod that’s melting onto the widening orb on the lathe. The bursts of flame are like the angry exhales of a “Game of Thrones” dragon, if that dragon’s breath were made of propane and oxygen burning at 3,000 degrees. Craddick uses paddles to smooth the twirling vase’s surface and then nips it free of the remaining tube. What minutes before was an undifferentiated transparent cylinder and sticks of colored glass has become an elegant varicolored vase. This lathe, and this process, is at the heart of Craddick’s West Coast Glass Studios in Wenatchee. And the studio, owned by Craddick, 43, and his wife, Lyndi, is the center of activities and ambitions that go beyond the mere production of decorative and functional glass objects. Craddick sees his business in terms of opportunities to do good for the community, as well as making cool stuff. Last Fourth of July, for example, the studio hosted a celebration with live music, a beer garden and glassmaking demonstrations that Craddick figures attracted about 1,000 people and raised money for Wenatchee’s Lighthouse Christian Ministries. The
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Above: Glass artist John Craddick blows into a tube to shape the glass on a vase at West Coast Glass Studios in Wenatchee. Right top: Reflected in a mirror, Craddick makes a candle holder. Right bottom: A wine bottle stopper made by Craddick.
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studio’s location, hard up against Walla Walla Point Park, where the official community celebration took place, definitely added to that event’s popularity. In another act of generosity, Craddick hired a limo to take women from the Grace House shelter, a branch of the Ministries, to a pizza party for which he picked up the tab. And he gives a percentage of his profits to Lighthouse,
for which Shawn Arington, its executive director, is thankful. “He has financially blessed us in many ways,” Arington said. Also for the sake of the community, Craddick says he plans to start a vocational glass-working program for at-risk kids, emulating one he founded in Eugene, Oregon, a few years ago. The financial underpinnings of these good deeds are in large part provided
by a glass product with a very specific purpose: smoking marijuana. Craddick and his crew of piece-work glass artists produce a range of smoking devices, from one-of-a-kind, 5-foot-tall bongs to small, mass-produced pipes that fly out of the studio by the dozens each week. Craddick says he was named one of the top five glass workers in the state by Dope Magazine. Weed is also the theme of Craddick’s
“(Initiative) 502 passing meant we don’t have to worry as much about people who don’t like pipes being offended. The stigma is way less now than before it was legalized.” John Craddick Owner, West Coast Glass Studios
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“Legalized” brand of apparel and accessories. Glass smoking devices were Craddick’s introduction to the industry. “I was basically a young guy looking for something to do that wasn’t a normaltype job. I started selling other people’s glass work to shops in Oregon, and figured out there was money to be made.” So he hung around with other glass blowers, had a few lessons, and he was off. Recreational pot legalization in Washington went a long way toward legitimizing his business, Craddick said. “(Initiative) 502 passing meant we don’t have to worry as much about people who don’t like pipes being offended. The stigma is way less now than before it was legalized.” And legalization dramatically increased the outlets available for selling his work — in a valley where before there was perhaps one smoke shop, there are now at least six marijuana retailers. And it also
opened up wholesale opportunities unimaginable before. Craddick is working on hooking up with marijuana growers to package his pipes with their product on a large scale, a move he sees in terms of profits — but also job creation. While pipes are the monetary lifeblood of the business, the studios also offer classes, glass-working events by reservation, and many other products not intended to be inhaled through, such as beer steins and growlers, wine glasses, decorative marbles and animal-head walking-stick caps. Plus, Craddick’s prime joy: glass drums. He says he’s one of only two makers of glass djembe drums in the world (the other is in Washington also). The instruments have goatskin heads and are tuned by cords around the perimeter. Craddick hopes the drum part of his business will take off after he sells a few
Left: A Craddick-made glass djembe drum. Above: Some of the glasswork pieces made at West Coast Glass Studios in Wenatchee. Below: Craddick melts a glass color rod onto a piece of glass that will become a vase. The glass rod adds color to the vessel.
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Above: John Craddick uses a reamer to flair the top of a vase. With just a bit of different work on the piece, he could make it into a bong. Below: Craddick works in his shop near Walla Walla Point Park in Wenatchee.
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to the likes of Mickey Hart. Craddick shared a cab with the Grateful Dead drummer/percussion scholar awhile back, and says Hart is interested in owning one of his drums. Their cost: $2,000 and up. Hart, one assumes, can afford one. Another specialty item produced by West Coast looks sort of like a bong, but isn’t. It’s glass bamboo, which comes in up to four sections and looks disconcertingly lifelike, except when it’s illuminated from the inside. Then it looks like bamboo from Mars. It’s marketed and produced in conjunction with Bob Rice Glass, a Seattle-area studio specializing in