Glass house
Lampworking Artist Justin Collins’ Backyard
Business Making Pipes.
By Stacey Bowers
Photography By Matthew Martin
You could say it was serendipitous how Justin Collins started making weed pipes. In 2015, an Arkansas native living in Austin, Texas, at the time, he had a friend who worked at, according to Collins, “for lack of a better word, a bong factory.” One day that friend challenged him to make a glass joint tip, and the completely inexperienced Collins somehow created the perfect one on the first try. His friend told him to get to work making more, and every tip after the first one was, in Collins’ words, “crap.”
That beginner’s luck must have been motivation because Collins kept blowing glass and eventually made it his full-time job. Now back in Arkansas and tucked neatly into his home studio near DeGray Lake, he says he creates in his workshop honing his craft daily, making mostly bright, intricately textured hand pipes in the lampworking style using a bench torch. Glass is a tricky medium, Collins says, and lampworking is an art form in which he feels he’s constantly learning. “You work hard all day on this one really cool thing, and you’re super proud of it, then it cracks and blows up … It cuts and burns you,” he says, half-joking. “I’m really shocked I haven’t blown myself up, which is a distinct possibility in the glass-blowing world.”
Collins works alone making each piece by hand, which is impressive considering his estimation that about 50 to 60 shops in Arkansas alone carry his work, plus several more nationwide, as he has a partner marketing his pipes regionally and they take his creations to national trade shows in search of new retailers. He says that the COVID-19 pandemic was a real catalyst for getting his business going, as everyone was stuck at home and looking for something to do with their hands, whether it was working on a new skill like glass blowing or lighting up a pipe more frequently to pass the time.
He’s currently working on a website to sell his creations directly to consumers and vends at local craft markets, like North Little Rock’s Mutants of the Monster Fest held in May, when he can. He’s also active on Instagram under the name @washboardglass, where he regularly shares new creations, process videos and what events he’ll be attending.
“I’m what I like to call a smoker’s glass blower,” he says, “because I know you can buy a 99-cent stack of papers and have your smoke, but I want you to buy a piece and have fun with it.” Ranging from about $20 to $100 in retail price, Collins’ colorful pipes don’t break the bank and make smoking with a glass piece more budget-friendly.
Arkansas’s legalization of medical marijuana played a big part in convincing Collins to move back home. “It seems that even though it’s slow compared to other states, that the right idea is here,” he says, adding that he’s hopeful for more dispensaries across the state, eventually allowing people the right to grow at home, and the dismissal of past marijuana-related tickets and offenses.
He says the legalization and normalization of medical marijuana has made Arkansas a desirable place to live for craftspeople working in the weed world. “It’s hard to be a small business owner, let alone a small business owner in a business that’s a niche,” he says, but Collins is grateful for a community of smokers, shop owners and market organizers that have been supportive. “I’m truly blessed to be making weed pipes in my backyard.”
