We talked to Cajun Glass Designs about his experiences in the glassblowing industry and the future of Cajun Glass Designs. Cajun Glass Designs is an old-school glassblower who started blowing some time in '98 or '99. He had never even seen a glass pipe until circumstances led him to the house of an acquaintance in New Orleans where Cajun was planning to pick up a quarter pound of weed. The guy with the stuff had a glass pipe and Cajun Glass was immediately intrigued by it, soon thereafter going to a glassblower in New Orleans and purchasing a case of simple spoon pipes. Cajun Glass Designs sold the entire case of pipes and went back to the same blowers to purchase another case, and while he was there he watched them work on some spoons and asked them questions, finding the entire process intriguing and wanting to try his hands at it for himself.
Cajun Glass Designs eventually purchased a National Torch with a 100-hole tip and started learning how to work glass. At one point he acquired some small one-hitter bats after trading some cannabis for them, and he started making his own one-hitters and spoon pipes by the case full. After he had some experience under his belt, Cajun Glass Designs stumbled onto a glass shop in Boulder, Colorado called Diablo Glass. On a whim he emailed them and asked if they needed help or had a position for him, and they offered him a job. So he packed up his bags and moved out to Boulder.
Diablo Glass, for the uninitiated, was one of the first cannabis-focused glassblowing shops in the United States, founded by legendary glassblowers Steve Sizelove, Matt Romano, and Miko Scott. Another notable Diablo alumnus was Gigi Hoyt, the daughter of Homer L. Hoyt who authored one of the first instruction manuals on artistic blown glass. Cajun Glass Designs replaced Steve Sizelove at Diablo Glass, but not before Sizelove and the rest of the Diablo crew trained him in new techniques that would serve as a solid foundation for the rest of his career.
For roughly twelve years Cajun Glass Designs worked only from the foundational techniques that he learned at Diablo Glass, but eventually he attended a class taught by legendary glass artist Eusheen in Oakland, California in a pursuit of new techniques for his repertoire. Cajun Glass Designs loves to teach others, preferring one-on-one lessons and the occasional apprentice. Cajun finds that he really enjoys the process of teaching people who have never touched a torch before as they are a blank slate without any preconceived notions about how glassblowing should or shouldn't be done.
Now, Cajun Glass Designs works mainly on a GTT Mirage torch, one of the best in the industry, and some of his favorite techniques involve linework, the use of crushed opal, and marble work. His signature pieces are known as "Heliospheres" and they look a little like traditional bubble-bottomed bongs that are reclined back on a disc base which is attached at the bottom. Now he collaborates with his wife Marni basically every day, and they're turning out some amazing pieces. If you want to see more of their work, go check out their pieces on the Cajun Glass Designs Instagram (@cajun0420), and be sure to check out Marni's page as well (@marni420).
