Karl Harren

I went to see the studio of Karl Harren another glass artist that is based in Northern Ireland on Tuesday. He makes the most amazing glass vessels with Bullseye glass that look more like ceramic than glass and has more than twenty years of experience working with glass. It was interesting to see what equipment he has and how he had adapted a potters wheel into a flat bed grinder something that I had thought might work before but seeing one that had been adapted was great.

He also hires out the use of his equipment and kiln which is fantastic so if I needed to do bigger pieces than I can fit in my own kiln I have somewhere to go. He also showed me some new work he has been working on and a lot of samples. Its so nice to talk to somebody that works with the same medium but in another way. This is the link to his site http://www.theglasstudioireland.com

Finished Panel for Steven's Competition

This is the finished panel ready for framing.

Julia Cookley

I read an article in last weeks Mail on Sunday about Julia Cookley. She exhibited a Stained glass panel in 'Heart of Swansea' part of the celebrations for the 75th Anniversary of the glass school in Swansea. She should be an inspiration to us all!
Here is the link to her story from the news article and her interview on Radio 4's Between Ourselves I have posted a photograph of her panel for you to see. http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/mail-on-sunday-london-england-the/mi_8003/is_2010_March_21/woke-blind-artist-julie-coakley/ai_n52663483/?tag=content;col1
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rdyg6/Between_Ourselves_Series_5_Episode_1/

Fabrication of Sample Panel for Steven's Competition

Fabrication of my sample panel has been going well all thought it has been time consuming cutting it all out by hand with a scalpel and blade.
The blades get blunt very quickly and need changing all the time to get a good finish and nice sharp text. The Sandblasting didn't take long I just need to frame it and finish the artwork and it will be ready to go.

Design for Steven's Competition

Have been busy working on a design for the Steven's competition over the last few weeks for The Archives Centre at Churchill University, Cambridge. My design has been inspired by a bronze plack of Winston Churchill on one of the ceremonial doors in the Jock Colville Hall, text from his many famous speeches and his personal achievement of a Nobel prize for literature awarded to him in 1953. My design is just simply sandblasted which I felt would give the entrance an statement about what lies inside the building but without a loss of light to the stairwell and landing area inside the building. The blue area signifies the sandblast and the white area will be left clear.