GLASS

Subcategories

• Adam Aaronson

  Adam Aaronson has been at the heart of British studio glass for nearly 40 years, first running galleries dedicated to glass art and subsequently as a glass artist in his own right; learning how to create glass art later in his career and developing self-taught methods. Adam is a skilled maker and a truly diverse and talented glass artist. He's constantly experimenting with techniques and exploring new ideas, including the potential of large sculptural works designed for the outdoors.

  Adam specialises in free blown glass. His vessels and sculptures are a celebration of simplicity and pure form. His coloured patinas draw on painterly techniques and are predominately inspired by a love of nature, especially the play of light on water and the Surrey Hills landscape where his studio is based.

  He is a consummate colourist, and the Impressionist painters -Turner, Whistler, Monet and others – have been a significant inspiration for his work.

• Stuart Akroyd

  Stuart has been making glass for over 20 years. His glassmaking career began in the North East and in 1991 he set up Stuart Akroyd Glass Designs where his creativity flourished. In 1999 Neues Glas Review selected one of Stuart’s one-off forms in their 100 best pieces of glass made in the world that year.

  Stuart moved to Nottingham in 2000 and expanded his studio to give his professional development a new direction. His adaptation of traditional Venetian techniques expanded the physical possibilities of how the glass could be worked and led to a whole new range of designs.

  He has always found inspiration from nature; his use of vibrant colours and rhythmic patterns echo the flora and fauna of the ocean. Stuart is recognised nationally and internationally as an accomplished designer/maker, sought after for commissions and collections; both public and private

• Gregg Anston-Race

  Gregg was born in Truro (Cornwall) and brought up in the small village Week St Mary. He still lives and works in the village and has his own studio. He studied at art college and later became interested in glass. 

  His early glass work was greatly influenced by the colours and effects he found in the deposits of metal ores in the old mine workings he explored as a child. He originally used mineral foils in his coloured glass work. 

  More recently he has worked with coloured glass powder to create flowing organic lines and develop new textures. He's developed techniques for working with glass powders that are unique to his process; this creates an unusual textured look in the glass, a process which requires a long time in the kiln and which allows the work to take on its organic form. 

• Jennifer Barker

• Mim Brigham

  Mim Brigham is a Cornish artist who specialises in hot and warm glass. Her work fuses together her passion of botany and art. Her use of different glass techniques produce works that have abstract individuality with a literal twist. It started with a blade of Marram Grass, carefully cut to one cell thick, stained and viewed through a microscope. She was struck by its beauty and it remained in the back of her mind until she developed this body of work.

  Mim's collection, Microscopic, has won her multiple awards including the Devon Guild of Craftsmen Design Award. Her work has been published in the Design and Craft magazine, Cornwall Today and the Contemporary Glass Society magazine following a Highly Commended award in their graduate review.
• Lesley Ann Clarke

  Lesley was born in St Ives, she is a self-tough artist, her 'Cornish Seas' collection perfectly represent her love and passion for Cornish coastline.

  “To grow up in St Ives in the seventies was an art lesson that lasts and to visit the Leach pottery regularly or to spend your days with the street artists, wandering through workshops; cements a relationship with arts and crafts that puts them at the centre of life itself."

  Over the years many artists have come to live and work in St Ives for its light and wondrous views. Lesley's blown glass makes full use of the light and flowing nature of hot glass, she uses two coloured glasses in powdered form. Blue and white glass is rolled into the hot crystal and the oxides on the coloured glass react to give ochres. The colours mix and swirl and give the impressions of the landscape and seascape within the glass itself shaped to reflect movement.

• Bob Crooks

  Bob Crooks is one of Britain’s most highly recognised leading glassmakers. Renowned for the high quality, skilfully executed dynamic forms and surfaces, he has been producing over the last twelve years, continuously thinking of original and challenging ideas. His work has been exhibited at an international level and noted exhibitions in; Italy, China, Scandinavia, Australia and the USA; alongside many exhibitions at home in the UK. 

  The pieces are inspired by Geometry, Architecture, Natural and Man-made worlds; as well as the qualities and capabilities of the glass itself. Bob exploits these properties through: refraction, reflection, transparency and opacity; whilst working with the fluidity of glass and ‘freezing’ it as the desired form is realised. 

  Within the range of production work made, Bob has consciously developed work that is, because of the nature of different applications, a one-off, it's not possible to make two pieces identical. The unique pieces have now escalated in size, creating a more dramatic statement. Although large scale, closer inspection reveals intricacies which demand closer inspection. The resultant objects demonstrate a masterly love of the material with attention to fine detail.

• Julie Langan

  Julie is an artist with over 21 years’ experience within the glass industry; she has built up a reputation for quality, innovation and uniqueness. Alongside bespoke interior and exterior artwork, Julie produces an exquisite selection of glass giftware.

  Her inspiration is derived from natural landscapes and environment. From dramatic panoramas of the Lake District and Scottish mountains, to the delicate flora and fauna of Lancashire pastures. 

  These unique pieces of art are created by fusing metals, oxides and enamels between layers of glass to capture dramatic panoramas, the tranquillity of earthy tones and textures contained within the beautiful British Landscape.

• Peter Layton

  Peter is one of the finest and most respected glass artists working today. Such is Peter’s contribution to glass art that it is difficult to know where to start; how to condense more than half a century of boundary-pushing, skill, bravery and expertise into a few words?

  True to say, his impact is noted by both critic and layman alike; he's been at the forefront of British studio glass since the 1970s and has contributed more than most to its promotion and burgeoning success.

  Peter’s work is highly sought after and is in numerous private collections as well as museums both here and abroad.

• Julia Linstead

  Julia Linstead lives and works in the Scottish Borders. She produces a range of unique glass pieces, engraved with classic flowering designs, based on animal and plant themes. Her approach to decoration is influenced by the fluid nature of the glass and the way in which natural light illuminates the subject, creating atmosphere and mood.
  
  Each piece is blown to her specification in 24% lead crystal by glassblower Jane Charles. The work is usually ‘cased’ meaning it is blown as a sandwich of coloured and clear glass. The piece is then covered with a film of plastic, the design drawn on this and then sandblasted, etching the design into the glass. Varying depths of engraving result in differing intensities of colour and further effects can be achieved by cutting into both sides of the glass. This is a simple description of what can be a fairly complicated process, the end result being a unique and beautiful object.

• Rebecca Mansbridge

  Rebecca Mansbridge has been involved with fuse glass since the early 1990s and a close relationship with the material has developed since then.

  Her passion for glass transcends her pieces from craft into art. The interplay of light, shadow, reflection and form add to the sculptural and tactile quality of her work; this is derived from a unique process which involves hand-cut glass pieces. Rebecca's studio is situated in the Suffolk countryside; which provides endless amounts of inspiration for her work. 

• Morpheus Glass

  Morpheus Glass studio is a family business owned by the fused glass artist Stephanie Bowen and graphic designer Ian O’Brien.
  Contemporary fused glass design and individuality is the focus of fused glass designer/maker Stephanie Bowen. Using a range of advanced glass fusing techniques; Stephanie is able to achieve a beautiful, unique and original range of contemporary fused glass products. Her passion for designing and making fused glass is inspired from the exploration of the materials she uses and the effects and textures possible, along with her fascination with combining colours and patterns.

  Her interest in this fascinating material started over 15 years ago during her studies at college. After just one year of experimenting with several different techniques, Stephanie chose glass as her specialist subject for her degree at university. Since completing her studies, Stephanie has continued to learn new skills and develop her unique fused glass technique.
  
  As one of the leading fused glass artists in the UK; Stephanie now supplies fused glass work to galleries, shops, interior designers, architects and independent traders both nationally and internationally.

• Thomas Petit

  Thomas Petit Glass lives and works on the edge of the Peak District in Derbyshire. His early career development began in ceramics and steadily broadened his medium perspective to the art of glass. After an apprenticeship at The Glass House in Covent Garden and various job positions both in the UK and abroad, studio glass soon became his creative speciality.

  Thomas draws upon many influences from UK natural landscapes in which he's familiar; particular notable landscapes include the South Downs and Peak District moors.

• Alison Vincent

  Alison uses glass to capture impressive details from her encounters in remote, pristine locations; her art aims to raise awareness of the environment, wilderness and the fragility of nature.

  
  ‘I hand-create art inspired by my encounters in remote wild nature using glass and unexpected techniques. I have a passion for being in extreme wildernesses - especially oceans and ocean life, mountains, ice and sailing or diving. These big expanses give me a sense of adventure and exhilaration and being there is a real privilege. Vast, rugged landscapes make me feel very small but connected with this world. I am concerned about their fragile future and want to raise awareness so others care and protect them too.

  
  Glassblowing is the hardest thing I have ever done! It’s challenging, expensive, addictive and satisfying. My making process can be dramatic and is part of my overall enjoyment. I first blew glass in 2012 and mid-2019 focused fully on it. I self-trained in the UK by hiring studios and the owner for one to one tuition. I am based in South Buckinghamshire.’