Dan Foster

Some artists draw inspiration from pop culture, others are captivated by sea life and the mysteries of the deep. Dan Foster finds inspiration in trees. But not just any tree. As a glass blower, Foster creates stunning smoking accessories that mimic the papery white barked birch. 

“It’s the coolest and most beautiful tree around here,” says Foster who calls Kalamazoo, Michigan home.  

Whether you’re a nature nerd or a weekend hiker, you’ve likely awed at the birch tree with its slender trunk, spindly limbs, and dark horizontal raised lines crossing the iconic white bark. Native Americans collected birch bark to make baskets, scrolls, fishing creels and even canoe construction and wigwam coverings. Foster doesn’t use the actual bark in his glass pieces, but he’s developed techniques to realistically simulate it for rigs, chillums, stash jars, and even candleholders.  

“I do a lot of ‘blow in’ where you take a color and blow it into another tube. For the birch trees, I use a golden ‘butter’ color on the inside to represent the wood and a creamy white on the outside for bark. Black and brown stringers act as the dark striations.” 

“Compared to a lot of pieces, they might seem simple. But they feature techniques that I couldn’t do without twenty years of experience,” Foster adds. “White glass is finicky. You can’t just let it cool down like you can with clear or some of the other colors because it wants to crack. It can be a pain in the ass.” 

Foster has his mom to thank for getting him started in glass blowing. Back in 2002, she signed him up for soft glass lessons with a local artist. In that hot shop, Foster learned to make goblets, vases, paperweights, and even collaborated on a chandelier. For a teenager, though, setting up a studio for soft glass was out of the budget. It wasn’t until he took a class in flameworking that he found his calling.