Glass at The Butterfly Rooms

Photo Credit Helen Drye

For everyone who has been asking for glass fusing workshops in West Yorkshire I will be teaching a workshop at The Butterfly Rooms in Saltaire on Sunday 12th June 2016. 

Creating Glass Dishes Workshop Sunday 12 June 2016 10am to 3pm Cost: £80

This workshop is aimed at absolute beginners and intermediate glass artists as an introduction to glass fusing including: cutting skills, technical know-how, working with coloured glass, designing and glass assembly.   You will be using best quality Bullseye glass from the USA and working in opal and transparent coloured glass. You will create two stunning glass dishes measuring between 11 and 13cm  to your own design. Hand outs will be given on fusing schedules for future use.

The Butterfly Rooms is an independent gift shop in Saltaire, West Yorkshire and I will be teaching s at the studio upstairs. It is a small venue and there are four places available. Unfortunately there is no disabled access as it is a Victorian building.  To find out more or to book your place visit my Workshops page HERE

Our little bit of land

Lovely little greenhouse

So 2016 started with a phone call telling us that we have an allotment! We gave up the shared one in Ilkley at the end of 2014 so I have had a whole year without growing any fruit or veg.

This allotment is half a plot just at the top of the road where we live. We weren't expecting much so we are thrilled to report that it has a greenhouse and a shed and a compost bin and a tree and a beck and is completely fenced in! 

Lovely little shed

Despite the terrible weather work has already commenced on the plot. I have cut back the fruit bushes and treated them with potash and Jonathan has made repairs to the greenhouse. There are two fruit trees (probably apple) and a raised bed - full of weeds.  Our next job is to make the shed water tight and put up guttering and a water butt.

Our plot

I have a Pinterest board about Our allotment where you can see more pictures and watch us charting our progress. 

Create Your Own Glass

Fused glass platter

Have you ever wanted to make your own fused glass platter, dish or wall piece? I offer individual tuition at my studio in Silsden, West Yorkshire to enable you to make a stunning piece of glass to your own design. 

Glass plate after the first firing

I design, cut and clean all my glass prior to placing it on the kiln shelf for fusing. Most of my glass goes through 2 days of kiln firing (coasters up to four) to achieve the finish that I like - a slightly raised design but all edges are well rounded.

Glass plate on platter slump mould

Once the glass is fully fired it is washed to remove any resideue of kiln wash and then placed onto a ceramic slump mould. The piece is then fired at a lower and slower rate so that it slumps down into the mould and takes the shape of the platter. This is always the exciting bit - opening the kiln to see the finished dish. Some glass fusers will grind the edges of the dish and refire it to "polish" the edges but if your firing schedule is slow enough this isn't necessary.

Slumped platter stll in the mould

If you would like to visit the Glassprimitif studio and make a large glass platter or wall piece you can contact me HERE. No previous experience of glass fusing is necessary and all materials are provided and refreshments too (but bring a packed lunch).

£150 full day - 10am to 5pm

Creative Saturday

Kaleidoscope Fruit Dish 30cm

Today I am working on a large Kaleidoscope fruit dish which will hopefully be finished in time for the Chapel Allerton Festival at the end of August. A friend recently asked me how I have the patience to cut, grind, clean and position every piece of glass before placing the glass in the kiln - well I don't.  Instead I work on a section of the design each day before moving onto something else which makes the task a lot less arduous.First I take my template, which I created by drawing concentric circles and adding radiating lines before photocopying it, then I draw out the radiating shapes onto the photocopy.  After that I decide which colours of transparent glass I am going to use and start cutting the shapes.  THis dish has 230 component parts, measuring no more than 30mm, so you can see why I break it down into sections!
The worst part is washing, rinsing and drying each piece, making sure there is no residue powdered glass or pen marks and the fun part is positioning the jigsaw of tiny parts onto the base clear glass before fusing.  Oh, I forgot to say that I don't have to remember where each piece goes because I take a photo of it on my phone before I start the washing process.
Even so, these dishes are quite labour intensive but hugely enjoyable to make. Here are a few more....

Deep Kaleidoscope dish measuring 20cm across

Deep Kaleidoscope dish measuring 20cm across

If you want to see more of #whatiamworkingontoday please view my Instagram or visit my Folksy shop for the finished glass products.

Scandinavian Style Quilt

It's finally finished! The red and grey sofa quilt has been machine pieced, hand quilted and edged in a stripey binding ready to snuggle up on the sofa with.  

I like machine piecing during the summer so that I can hand quilt in front of the fire during the winter. It's a very simple design of squares and rectangles edged with a figured white cotton.  

But I can't rest on my laurels because I have another quilt to finish and a new one to start for a very special person.....  

All my patchwork and quilting inspiration is on my Pinterest board HERE

East Riddlesden Hall

I shall be at East Riddlesden Hall near Keighley this Sunday (1st December) at the Christmas Craft Fair.  The fair will be held in the Great Barn from 11am to 4pm with 25 stalls of Christmas crafts.  East Riddlesden Hall is a 17th century manor house, now owned by the National Trtust, set in lovely grounds with a duck pond and two barns. I shall be in the Great Barn and I hope you will come and say hello.  I have lots of new glass goodies including tree decorations, lightcatchers and the popular Scandi Birds. 

Glass Fusing Workshop for Christmas

It's time to think about which handmade gifts you are going to give for Christmas (or keep yourself). Join my exciting glass fusing workshop at Hive Shipley and learn to create your own beautiful decorative glass in a day.

Saturday 23 November 2013 10:00  -  15:00

Fused Glass Lightcatchers and Decorations

A great  introductory workshop for anyone wishing to learn the basics  of glass fusing and also create wonderful Christmas gifts. All materials will be provided.  An additional cost of £3 will be required if you wish to have your glass posted onto you or arrange collection from Hive.  Fee: £48

 Email: Jfwhitehead@blueyonder.co.uk for details and booking  or call 07837471040

HIVE  Kirkgate  Shipley, West Yorkshire BD18 3EH

The Local Press

Here I am promoting the Making and Doing Festival at Haworth tomorrow (Saturday 5th October) in The Keighley News.  Shame the "arty" pose makes my hand look like a dead thing but it's all good publicity for the Festival. For more details visit Pennine Prospects HERE

Spun Sugar Fruit Dish

Large Spun Sugar Fruit Bowl

I love commissions, particularly when the customer asks for colour combinations that I would never have thought to work with.  This 30cm fruit dish has been made from clear, leaf green, chartreuse green, fuchsia, cranberry, coral and light orange Bullseye glass.  Who would of thought?

Before Fusing

If you would like to commission me to make you a totally unique piece of glass please contact me via my Folksy shop

MAD Festival 2013

Making and Doing at Haworth

I am taking part in the Making and Doing Festival on Saturday 5th October - hosted by Pennine Prospects. Professional artists, makers and designers will be showcasing/demonstrating their work all over the South Pennines, from Hebden Bridge to Cullingworth and I shall be in The Old School Room, Haworth for the Meet the Maker event. There will be local ceramicists, sculptors, artists and textile designers all demonstrating their skills and inviting the public to have a go too.  Entrance is free and there will be lots to see and do. I will be inviting people to have a go at designing and making their own fused glass decoration and Trufood Catering will be there to provide the tea and cake. Yum! 

The Old School Room Haworth

The Old School Room is opposite the churchyard which separates The Bronte Parsonage from the church. Charlotte Bronte taught here and, more excitingly, Patti Smith performed here last year! (Yes, really). It is quaint and shabby and I am looking forward to being there on 5th October from 11am. Hope to see you there! 

Headingley Heart Centre

Yes I shall be at Headingley Heart Centre next Saturday with lots of new lightcatchers, coasters and dishes. Now back to the kiln.......

Chapel Allerton Arts Festival

Chapel Allerton Festival 

Yikes! I have just been invited to take part in the Chapel Allerton Arts Festival's Makers' Fair and it is tomorrow!

No panic but I have glass to sort and wrap, a table to paint and a car to load. Also, must remember to go into town and get some float.  I don't know anything about this festival except that I am outdoors(!) but my friend Natasha assures me that it won't rain... hmmmm. (But what if it is windy)? OK. Better bring a plastic table covering and an umbrella too.

If you are visiting Chapel Allerton Arts Festival please visit their website HERE for more information. I will be on Wells Lane so come and say hello. 

Gardening Times

Alliums and Aquilega

After last year's terrible weather it's been lovely to actually get into the garden and enjoy the planting.  This year the alliums have put on a great show (we didn't see them last year) and the day lilies - Hemerocalis - are thriving.  I have replaced the Penstemons that died off from the bitter cold of last winter and planted Nepeta and Gladioli too.

Day lilies and Alchemilla Mollis

Crocosmia "Lucifer" and Valerian

Meanwhile, at the back garden there are peas, onions, parsley, lettuce, broccoli and more Gladioli crammed into the small veg patch.  Sadly, the courgettes have been a casualty of the snails and, although the remaining solitary courgette plant is flowering, the flowers won't set.

Veg patch

More pictures of our Yorkshire Garden HERE 

News!

www.southpennines.co.uk

I shall be taking part in the South Pennines Making and Doing Festival in October. Not sure where I will be yet but I will be doing a free glass Make and Take activity there :)

www.settlestories.org.uk

I will be at the Makers' Market as part of the Settle Story Telling Festival on 12th October. More details to follow soon. 

www.creativemasham.com 

My last piece of news is that I have been accepted at Crafted By Hand in the Dales village of Masham on 27th October. So excited! 

Retro Glass Commission

Retro Glass Dish

I love glass commissions and I receive most of my commissions via my Folksy shop where I have a large range of my different styles in glass. This dish was commissioned by The Cotton Potter because she liked the colours of the dish below but wanted something bigger for the coffee table. 

I wanted to show Emma (The Cotton Potter) the shape of the dish so I fused and slumped a float glass test dish, just to check that she was happy with the shape. 

Float glass test piece

I used some graph paper to chart the design and planned out the colours on a grid.  Once I had cut the glass to size I would need the graph to help me place the coloured squares accurately onto the vanilla and clear glass surface. 

Coloured glass tiles on graph paper

The next stage was to place all the component parts together and put into the kiln on a full fuse programme. The glass I am using is Bullseye 2mm opal. I never compromise on quality so it has to be Bullseye. 

Glass dish on kiln shelf prior to fusing

Once fused, the glass is washed and dried then placed back into the kiln for a second firing.

Fused glass ready for slumping

Finally, the fused piece is placed into the slump mould and fused at a lower temperature to create the finished dish. 

TaDa!

If you would like me to make you a dish to your specification please email me HERE 

Northern Contemporary Glass Society Exhibition

The Piece Hall, Halifax

I have just joined the Northern Contemporary Glass Society and will be taking part in their annual exhibition at Halifax Piece Hall from 5th to 14th July.  The exhibition will be in Unit 58 on the ground floor and will be open from 11.00 to 16.00 daily.

The exhibition will showcase a wide range of work by professional glass artists from the North of England so come and meet the artists, be inspired by their creativity and buy something original.  The following artists will be exhibiting:

Genevieve Thompson, Jane O'Neil, Gina B, Annette Vernon, Jane Littlefield, Karen Redmayne,  John Orson, Diane Mellor, Jo Whitehead (that's me)! and Anne-Kari Kramer.

The exhibition is part of the Halifax Festival, 10 days of amazing cultural events across Halifax.  Check out the website to see what other great events are taking place in Halifax www.halifaxfestival.co.uk/

The Kiln is on but nobody's home....

Yikes! Only six days left until the Saltaire Arts Trail and I have more glass waiting to be fused than time to fuse it in! 

I have now finished making decorative hangings and cocktail swizzle sticks but the number of dishes waiting to be slumped is growing and I have two very large dishes still waiting to be fused AND slumped! Well, if it's not finished, it's not finished - not a lot I can do about it. Just waiting for the gift boxes to arrive this week. Gulp! 

Rainbow Cocktail Swizzle Sticks

If you are thinking about visiting the Saltaire Arts Trail then I strongly recommend that you go. Everything is FREE yes, free! With The Makers' Fair in Victoria Hall (I'll be there, hopefully near the cafe and in sight of the cake) Open Houses around the village, three exhibitions, free family activities and choirs singing outside, this is the most vibrant and exciting weekend in the calendar of Saltaire. 

Hope to see you there. X

16 Days to go!

Victoria Hall, Saltaire

Only sixteen days to go until the Saltaire Arts Trail, when I shall be showing my glass at The Makers' Fair in Victoria Hall. So, NOW is not the time to be thinking about making new designs in glass..... but I am!

I am working on some new glass hangings and "swizzle sticks" but will I get them made in time for 25 - 27 May???

A Busy Weekend

Platform Gallery Clitheroe

Saturday 27 April sees the opening of the Craft Open exhibition at The Platform Gallery, Clitheroe where I am exhibiting three pieces of glass. I will be there from 12.30 to see the prize giving and to see all the exhibits. This exhibition is open until 6th July so,if you can't make it on Saturday, there's still plenty of time to visit. 

Otley Courthouse

Sunday 28 April I shall be at Otley Courthouse as part of the Designer Craft Fair from 9.30am to 1.00pm. Entrance is free so if you are in Otley please pop in and give me a wave! 

I Love Commissions Part 2

Grid design dish

This dish was commissioned for a 

retro-style/Scandinavian mix house whose owner likes minimalist interiors  with a splash of colour.  I used clear, amber and silver grey transparent Bullseye glass with touches of bright orange to give this dish a taste of the 1960s. 

Here it is in situ, complementing the warm yellow and silver grey of the decor.