Heart of Glass

Micah Evans on art, outsourcing & the cannabis accessory game.

The Broccoli Report 
Friday, October 27, 2023

Time to read: About 8 minutes, 1,945 words.

When I reflect on my 15+ year relationship with cannabis, my weed eras are defined by smoking accessories. First, a blue glass pipe with an iridescent sheen and a curlicue handle purchased somewhere along the Oregon coast. Then, a plastic purple bong seemingly shared by my entire dorm floor during freshman year of college, and the rice Element rolling papers I reached for during my spliff phase. That one multi-component Illadelph that my dealer would bust out of its briefcase on 4/20. The straight shot, foot-tall glass bong chapter that lasted for most of my 20s, sometimes a GRAV piece, sometimes a nondescript brand from the nearest smoke shop (I’m clumsy).

While flower is the soul of this industry, glass is in many ways its heart, both in the pieces that filled smoke shops—our only public cannabis spaces for so long—and in the nostalgic origins of most consumers. That's why I am very excited to share this conversation with Micah Evans, a glass artist who’s worked in the cannabis space for the past 25 years.

Currently the senior designer on GRAV's Product Development team, Evans continues his own practice and even has a piece at the Smithsonian, straddling the commercial accessory and high art realms of glass. Evans’ latest creation for GRAV, The Monarch gravity bong, is one of those striking pieces that reminds me that no matter how saturated and developed the scene has become, we have so much creative territory yet to be explored. 

Our chat covers his start in the glass-blowing realm and how he connected with GRAV, why this true blue artist started working with a company manufacturing overseas, the inspiration behind the Monarch and his advice for new artists getting into the cannabis accoutrement game. 

The Monarch Gravity Bong. Image: GRAV.