Video Transcript

John:                Okay. This is John from The Cupboard, Cincinnati, Ohio. I'm here with Niko Cray. How long have you been blowing glass and what got you into it?

Niko:                I've been blowing glass for about four years, and just all the other art that's out there, and my dad, Tony Cray, is also another glass artist.

John:                Where are you from, and are there lots of glassblowers there?

Niko:                I’m from St. Louis, Missouri and no, there's not very many glassblowers at all. There's a soft glass scene but not much of a boro pipe scene.

John:                If someone’s just starting out, what advice would you give them?

Niko:                I’d give them advice of, it’s doing what you love to do, make whatever you want to make, and give it your best shot.

John:                We have some of your newest pieces. What was the inspiration behind them?

Niko:                I started doing these characters, calling these Sherlocks, passing them off to people. They got the bird beak on them, with the birds I usually do. The inspiration behind it comes from a lot of street art and graffiti that I am very inspired by, yeah.

John:              The Cupboard will help you stay in touch with your fans through social media. What social media do you use?

Niko:                I use Facebook, and Instagram is a good way to check out my stuff.

Niko:                Yeah, this piece is very inspired by graffiti. It’s got the Dabber mouthpiece. It’s got the Sherlock, it’s hand, and stands at about, I think 10 inches, 11 inches. Yeah, a lot of street art influence on it, whatnot.

John:              GREAT – THANKS FOR JOINING US – ON ANDTHER COOL EDITION OF THE CUPBOARDS ARTISTS INSIGHTS ON CUPBOARD GLASS PIPES DOT COM.