With the ever evolving styles and techniques used within the realm of the functional glass art industry we’ve been seeing more interesting concepts than ever. From the intricate wire wrappings of Jason Burrus to the fine titanium engravings from Heady Ti it seems as if talented artists from a multitude of different realms are adding their expertise to enrich the art of smoking.
One such artist Kuhns has made his headway into the industry by pioneering some of the first ever readily available DIY titanium skillet kits. But with more than 10 years in hand-crafting and designing jewlery from early on in his career he has conceptualized brining both his passion for fine jewelry and functional glass together.
Creating a finished manifestation of his dreams proved to be difficult. Several vastly different processes were used to make these jewel-infested masterpieces. More often then not all of which required plenty of trial and error before there were even viable test pieces. Kuhns took some time to explain his process…
“Other than initial concept, the work first takes shape in the virtual 3D world, being designed in CAD first. Once I have completed a design, I utilize 3D printing and several other processes such as mold making, casting, finishing, stone setting, and of course electroforming. Somewhere in there the glass has to be produced also. The magnitude of this process is what led me to start small, to get the technique down, before I step up to larger and more involved projects. The Bo$$ dome takes the most amount of stones, 65, and each needs to be individually set.”
….65 individually hand-set stones? B0$$3$ only!
When it came time for the electroforming process Kuhns looked to none other than copper-master Snic. Copper plated by the man himself each piece carries the Snic’s name, so if you’re into collabo’s these are right down your alley.
In this first inaugural run Kuhns has chosen Cubic Zirconia to adorn his pieces which are known for their low cost, durability, and close visual likeness to diamonds. Using Cubic Zirconia Kuhns Offers a wide variety of colors such as:
• White
• Black
• Emerald Green
• Tanzanite
• Coffee Brown
• Aqua
• Amethyst
• Orange
• Apple Green
This inaugural release includes a wide variety of accessories everyone needs for their session. Spruce up that flower tube with a bling-ed out slide or give your rig that extra pizazz with a stunning dome, dish, and dabber set. If you’re interested in picking one up for your personally collection or just a couple for your shop please contact Kuhns at Kuhnsglass@gmail.com
