Jason Harris, aka Jerome Baker, is known for his bongs, bubblers, and more.
Baker has created art for The Register Guard building in Eugene, Oregon, which stands to this day. Baker also did an installation at a cool coffee shop located in the college town, Theo’s. Baker hung glass clouds from the ceiling.
Baker has also designed Tiki dolls, which he did while taking a break from crafting bongs Made in USA on Hawaii. Even made a piece once for the Dalai Lama.
Register Guard Building
When The Register Guard building was first built, an art installation was needed in the foyer. “We wanted to make these vessels that women would be seen carrying to the river to get water and bring back to their village,” explains Jerome Baker. “We made a number of different vessels with nice colors that were Oregon-inspired. That was a really fun project, and it still hangs there today. So blessed to have had the opportunity to put the install in.”
Theo’s Coffee
Jerome Baker also put in an installation of Theo’s coffee in Eugene, Oregon, featuring glass clouds hanging from the ceiling. “They painted a really cool, fairy tale inspired mural of the forest on the walls with benches,” said Baker. “The massive glass clouds were big hollow blown cloud shapes.”
Jerome Baker Designs team worked people from the Eugene Glass School. “We got to hang them all up in Theo’s, and they sat there for about 15 years. We just pulled those out recently and the clouds are looking for their own home.”
Tiki Dolls
Alongside producing Made In USA bongs, Baker worked on tikis for years.
“I did a lot of studying of tiki technique and culture, such as what different carvings mean, etc.”
Baker developed a series of glass Tiki dolls. “I used different techniques from carving out faces, putting tattoos on them, adding horsehair on the heads, feathers on the bodies, as well as cool ornaments or sacred objects that might mean one thing to somebody and an entirely different thing to someone else.”
Baker has made a few different bodies of tiki work on those and a few different shows, especially through the late nineties and early 2000s in Eugene.
Sphere of Consciousness
Harris did a piece for the Dalai Lama while in Mau. “We had an incredible negotiation experience with the Lama on Maui,” said Baker. “When he came to visit that temple, we got to be up there and present him a piece called The Sphere of Consciousness, and the sphere of consciousness was a hollow blown sphere, it was a purple lilac sphere. Inside was a white lotus. Around the three sides of it, we had waves on one side (water), clouds on the other side (air), and then fire on the other side. It was comprised of the elements.”
The Sphere of Consciousness sat alongisde Lama at a small 200 person event.