Walk This Way

I am lucky enough to have been selected to take part in the HOST Art Walk in Huddersfield next Thursday 11th September.  I will be at Neaversons on Byram Street with two artists, Audrey Erbany and Carol Curtis displaying my glass alongside their art.

I don't know many people in Huddersfield so, If you are in the area next Thursday, please pop in and say hello. You can get a great cuppa (or something stronger) at Neaversons and, bizarrely, they sell popcorn tea! 

Chapel Allerton - one year on

Silly me! I forgot to post that I will be at Chapel Allerton Festival in Leeds this Saturday selling hand made glass.  I can't believe it's been a year since I was there but I hope it is as brilliant as it was last year.

Scandinavian Birds

I will be bringing a selection of my Scandi Birds which have now been redesigned to make them more bird-like (I gave them a longer tail).  They did terrifically well at Strid Woods last weekend and I have been busy making replacements.  

If you at Chapel Allerton this weekend please pop by and say hello. I will be outside on Hawthorn Road (yes, I know, I don't like being outdoors with glass) but the weather is supposed to be cracking. :) 

Strid Wood Tea Rooms

Strid Wood Tea Rooms

I will be showcasing my glass at the Strid Wood Tea Rooms at Bolton Abbey on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th August. 

The Bolton Abbey Estate is a great place to visit with lovely walks through the woods from The Abbey to The Strid (a part of the river Wharfe where the water races between the rocks) and further on to Barden Bridge.

Bolton Abbey

Beautiful places like Bolton abbey are what Yorkshire is all about.  Here's hoping the weather is fine and the visitors are plentiful. 

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.

Digging for Victory

It's been a bloomin' good year for the allotment so far.  We have had a glut of courgettes and runner beans, done well with strawberries and sweetcorn and we are looking forward to potatoes and butternut squash.

It's not all been plain sailing though and we have made some mistakes such as: we didn't make good use of the space, didn't plant enough broad beans and don't even ask what happened to the peas! 

Rob the Robin 

One of the joys of working on the allotment is the wildlife, particularly visits from Rob the Robin, who likes to shout encouragement from a safe distance whilst I dig. Here he is, after his moult and sporting his new, sleek feathers. 

Next year we won't make the same mistakes that we did this year - just different ones :)