GLASS OF 2007

by Samantha Nicholas, Thu Feb 15, 2007

By Samantha Nicholas

It all started with glassblowing legend Bob Snodgrass. He was the visionary artist who first experimented with clear borosilicate (or Pyrex) by adding powdered metals, thereby creating "color-changing glass." Pipes like these had never been seen before. They were clean, eye-pleasing and delivered superior smoking satisfaction. When vendors began hawking them on the Grateful Dead tours of the early '90s, thousands were snapped up. However, the emergence of glass smokeware represented more than just a shift in stoner habits. The Snodgrass discoveries opened a Pandora's box of innovation, artistic excellence and legal peril.

Marbleslinger is a top glassblower and documentary filmmaker who has observed the glass-art scene for the past decade. "There wasn't a large population of youth culture making metal, wood and clay pipes prior to Bob Snodgrass," he says. "There weren't 5,000 kids carving designs, signing their names on them and …READ MORE

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THE HIGH COUNTRY

by Samantha Nicholas, Mon Jan 6, 2003

Story by Samantha Nicholas Photos by Dan Skye T.J. stopped on the edge of the dense foliage, beeped the horn twice, and hollered something out. A distant voice replied, equally unintelligible. T.J. was announcing our arrival. It felt good not to be moving. T.J. was showing off his driving skills on the Jamaican back roads. His vehicle was the customary dinky minivan—lightweight, shaky and capable of missile-like speed—basically, a fuel-injected refrigerator with windows. Most frightening were the teeny-weeny Tonka Toy tires. I hid my fear of momentary incineration in twisted metal, because T.J. was doing me a favor. His initials don’t stand for anything. He took his name from T.J. Hooker, the TV cop played by William Shatner. The nickname comes from some unspecified work T.J. once performed using a hook, but I chose not explore this with him. I knew someone in Jamaica who knew him and …READ MORE

tags: outdoor, jamaica, grow articles 0    « add a comment