We were lucky to catch up with Michael Sorenson recently and have shared our conversation below.
Michael, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
When I saw a color-changing glass art pipe for the first time at a Grateful Dead show in the early 90’s, I knew immediately that I wanted to be a part of this newly innovative art form. I was just a lost young hippie kid, without a real home, and had come up from an extremely challenging and uniquely detrimental childhood. When I saw this revolutionary little pipe, I knew I had found my North Star and followed it to the Pacific Northwest in hopes of creating something unique and remarkable, to be a part of this burgeoning new community.
People now take functional glass art pipes for granted, they seem common enough. But, back then, the concept of forming a pipe from glass, borosilicate glass nonetheless, and imbuing it with beautiful iridescent colors was mind-blowing. The type of glass most people associate with art glass over the past couple millennia is collectively known as Soft Glass, a certain melted silica formulation that works slowly, usually on a larger scale. Back in the early 1980’s, a man named Bob Snodgrass from Eugene, Oregon took his education in scientific borosilicate glassblowing, hopped in his VW bus and drove between Grateful Dead shows blowing little glass pipes from this glass on a torch in his van. At some point he had a eureka moment to burn silver and gold fumes onto the surface, creating the first glass art pipe, and creating a whole new sensation in glassblowing, one very revolutionary in the 2000 years of glassblowing that had come before.
When I first arrived in Eugene, in 1997, I was not prepared for how hard it was going to be to get inducted into this art form. Much like the familial traditions of secrecy that made Venetian glass so unique, the glassblowing community was very hard to access, very secretive. Glassblowers were loathe to let others observe their techniques, because every aspect of it was developed through this tiny development, or that particular knowledge of color use, etc. There were no schools, no specialty stores to buy gear and supplies from; it was all very underground, and very expensive to get started.
In 1999, I could finally afford to buy my equipment, and contacted Bob Snodgrass who sold me my first torch and basic equipment. I set up a little shop in my drafty woodshed, and went to work trying to guesstimate how it was done, learning the properties of glass through trial and error, until I finally teased out it’s tricks. Learning to blow borosilicate glass is not for the faint of heart, or for those who easily give up. It’s one thing to figure out how to get basic shapes from the glass, and a whole other skill to use color, or prevent the glass from shocking and breaking until it’s been fully annealed.
After a bit, I was able to confidently create basic pipe designs, and had mastered being able to move fast enough and in the right order of operations to routinely make successful glass pieces. At this point, a number of glass pipe production companies had sprung up around the Eugene area, and I got a job at a shop called The Cosmic Dog. There, I was able to work alongside some of the best glass blowers to date, and I took advantage of every opportunity to observe techniques, develop designs, and troubleshoot difficult concepts.
Most of the work shops started shutting down around 2002 with the introduction of cheaper imported pipes (mostly from Mexico at this time), so I went back to my home shop and started my career as an independent glass blower. In 2003, Attorney General Ashcroft launched Operation Pipe Dreams, and began arresting glass artists and production company owners, the most notable was Tommy Chong. Business dried up, and most distribution companies closed their doors.
I would not give up. I worked too hard to become a functional glass artist to stop at this point, though the general community was reduced to a fraction of it once was. It was at this time that I created my first simulacrum pipes- my Chili Pepper and Banana pipes, in hopes of attracting the attention of the few buyers still operating, and it saved my career. I was able to acquire a small business loan from a local community bank, and pushed on. And, here I am today with one of the longest-running and most successful pipe designs on the market, I have added dozens of other unique and widely adored art pipe designs, and continue to work in my home shop. It was a very tough road, but the view of my journey has been worth it.
Michael, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
For the past 20 years, I have made a name for myself through my wide array of simulacrum glass art pipes, most prominently featuring my fruit pipe designs, but also various other nature-inspired designs. I began making Chili Pepper and Banana shaped hand pipes in 2003, after mastering the ins and outs of the basic forms of pipes at that time, and I wanted to make some thing really unique, but thoughtfully crafted to be pleasurable in it’s use. Over these past couple decades, I have expanded my line to include a full array of “Fruit Bowl” pipes that are colorful, quirky and at home in full display as modern decor with a purpose. Some of my more notable designs have become quite popular, such as my Peach, Eggplant, Apples and Strawberry pipes.
Taking from this inspiration, my collection also includes an elegant Rose in a graceful Sherlock form, a whimsical Manatee, Rain Drops that sway when set on their end, Skipping Stone pipes, and a variety of tool-inspired pipes such as a hammer, paintbrush and spark plug.
Many of my designs have inspired corporate entities to engage in their own versions, often cheaper, poorly made and imported from China at dubious ethical cost. I would be lying if I said that this wasn’t a discouraging fact, but I press on, and remain determined to prove the value of my handblown glass through consistent quality and a drive to provide excellent human-based customer service.
A couple things that continue to set my glass pipes apart is my skill in blowing well-crafted pieces, my commitment to using high-quality materials and color, and my integrity as a business. I want everyone who owns or uses my pipes to be delighted, to be as proud of their pipe as I am. As well, I want everyone to get exactly the pipe they want, which is one of the greatest benefits of shopping direct from the artist- I am always available and open to making alterations in my design to suit the buyers needs or tastes, best.
The American glass pipe industry is really struggling these days- I’ll be honest. The industry is threatening to buckle under the pressure from the import markets, but I trust that people want to support the innovation and determination that quality independent artists can provide. I think there is something moving about knowing your glassblower, supporting your community, and continuing to encourage this industry to stay healthy and vital. I have had exceptional relationships with so many of my buyers over the years, I can’t name the number of times an inquiry turned into a friendship, and I am grateful for each and every person who buys from me- you keep this dream alive, and I thank you for your support.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Borosilicate art glassblowing is a really quirky medium and industry, and one of the main struggles I have had over the years with the designs in my collection has been navigating the tricky aspects of borosilicate color. Unlike the world of Soft Glass, which has had millennia to develop its color formulations, borosilicate glass color only started being developed in the 1990’s by a few small companies in the Pacific Northwest. Color for borosilicate glass is made by mixing various metals and minerals into vats of raw molten borosilicate glass, and the process can be extremely touchy- too much of this and everything you make breaks, too little of that and the color boils into a crusty pitted mess or turns a color that was not intended. Because of these limitations and unique challenges, our color pallette is limited, but much more so a decade or two ago when this all started taking off.
When considering ideas for new designs, one of the primary challenges has always been the availability of the colors to match the idea. When I conceived of my now-viral peach pipe design in 2010, I was delighted to discover that there were a couple peachy colors available, which are now my top-selling Blush and Creme de Peche varieties. These colors were really unique not only for their peachy-look, but also because they came from the one company not in the Pacific Northwest, and in fact pre-dated borosilicate art glass pipes as a concept. This company was in Georgia, and they made glass for technology- the windows in space shuttles, and the colored glass for the diodes in electronics. The color was being made to communicate what certain connections did, and they were quite surprised to discover artists were using their colors for pipes.
So, I started using these colors for my peaches, as happy as could be with the beautiful, creamy outcomes. Things were going great, and my peaches began to really take off in popularity- I was getting massive wholesale orders, and was selling them direct through my Etsy store hand over fist. But then, one day, out of the blue- they started shattering!
Normally, when a glass pipe is going to break, it’s for some clear reason (stress, color incompatibility, poor crafting, improper kilning, etc.), and it’s usually right away. Every blower out there can tell stories of the crushing blow of opening the kiln in the morning only to find the piece you spent hours on with a ruinous crack. It’s always crushing, but you usually know right away this is a thing. With these peaches, I was having the most embarrassing and infuriatingly unusual result of them looking great out of the kiln, even for days after. I would ship them out, and then 5-15 days later I would hear from a small percentage of the recipients that their peach had just cracked for literally no reason at all! It is unheard of, and devastating to me personally and my commitment to integrity and quality in my work.
It was infrequent, but consistent, for a little period of time, and it was driving me crazy. I performed every test I could think of to figure out what factor was leading to this result- more color, less color, higher temperature kilning, lower, marking their positions in the kiln to see if it was a cool spot, on and on. Nothing resolved it, but I noticed it happened more frequently with some jars of color I purchased than others and could only draw the conclusion that something was off with the color production.
My wife noticed a little fine, white dust in the jars, and decided to try rinsing the frit (crushed colored glass that is used to coat the glass with color). After a thorough drying, I tried it again, and the problem was resolved. After this experiment, I contacted the company who made these colors and shared our discovery, and together we assessed what this was, and it turned out to be small bits of ceramic dust from the molds the color was originally formed in before crushing. And eureka- this was it! it solved the problem, and helped them improve the overall quality and reputation of their glass colors in the borosilicate art community. I still use these colors to this day, and feel a particular sense of pride that we were able to save these colors in our little pallette, adding to the ongoing potential for inspiration and creativity in this art form.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
I couldn’t be more direct about this: The best way to support glass pipe artists is to stop buying cheap pipes that are made in China, stop expecting functional glass works of art to be “cheap”, and make sure to always ask/share which blower made a piece, and communicate about the individuals who are hand-making each and every one of these glass pieces.
There are entities, corporations, predatory capitalists that are directly stealing glass pipe designs and are having them copied or redesigned and made in China using cheap, brittle glass materials and unsafe labor practices. They are demoralizing the independent American glass pipe community, which is rolling uphill to threaten even the companies who make our color.
Borosilicate glass is not a cheap art medium, every aspect is costly to glass artist, most especially for those who use full-coverage of made in the USA colors. Since roughly 2002, towards the earlier days of the industry when we started facing the pressure of cheap imported pipe competitors, we have had to continuously devalue our work. From 2002-2012, I lived in poverty trying to sustain my career, sometimes only making $290 in profit off of an entire week’s work. This only changed when I started selling direct to the buyer in 2012 on Etsy, because I was able to cut out the middle-man of distributors, but it still lacked the value of the hours of work I put in 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. I am certainly not complaining about where my business has been able to grow to in the time since, but the overwhelming onslaught of cheap made in china knockoffs is once again threatening my (and many others’) ability to stay in this industry and continue innovating unique and quality designs.
One thing about glass pipes that is unique as an art form, is that every single piece is made by a human being. There is no mass printing, no factory duplication, no quick way to cheat the process. Every pipe you see was made by someone, by their very breath, and treating these pipes as the product of the efforts and labor by some human with a name is important to keep the humanity of this art form in the forefront of consumers minds.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.humbleprideglass.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/humbleprideglass?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/humbleprideglass
- Other: Etsy Shop: https://humbleprideglass.etsy.com Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/humbleprideglass
Image Credits
Legacy Images