Layered Landscapes

The Yorkshire Dales 

It was such a lovely day at Skipwith Common, near York, to teach Layered Landscapes. The workshop at Silver and Stone is such a pretty place, looking out onto fields with sheep and listening to the birdsong.   Three keen glass artists designed and created fused glass panels based on ideas and drawings of The Yorkshire Dales including trees, hills, water and big skies.  I love the use of dichroic shards on blue glass to emulate water, red glass pieces for poppies and opal grey glass to make Yorkshire stone walls. 

Yorkshire Barn

If you would like to improve your glass fusing skills or learn a new craft from scratch please visit my WORKSHOPS page and my STUDIO DAYS page for more details. 

Jo X

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. 

O Christmas Tree!

Christmas Tree Decoration 

At the beginning of the year I made 30 glass Christmas trees ready for the end of the year then put them away, feeling smug. However, since November there has been a Christmas Tree explosion! I am now making a batch a week and they have been selling out each weekend.  I have another 20 in the kiln for East Riddlesden Hall Christmas Fair on 5th and 6th December.  They are such a delight to make - mixing up coloured glass and hand decorating with gold and white glass powder.  Finally, they are finished off with red and white striped string. 

Multi colour Christmas Trees

I've even made some spotty ones too and I am teaching Glass Decorations at Skipwith Common, Nr York on Monday 7th December at Silver and Stone. 

More Trees

Christmas Trees are available for sale at my Etsy Shop or visit my Facebook Page too.

Watercolour Glass

Watercolour Glass Dish

I've got a new glass design to add to my collections.

Watercolour Glass has been a bit of an experiment, using up tinted glass cullet placed slightly randomly and decorated with coloured glass "blobs".  After the second firing I painted tiny gold stars and then refired at a lower temperature. The tinted glass is 3mm thick (I usually use 2mm Bullseye glass) and so the dish is slightly chunkier and heavier. 

I am very pleased with the results so I am planning to make more dishes in different sizes (this one is 30cm).  Tinted glass is more expensive than 2mm transparent glass so it does push the price of making it up - particularly if I use my favourite colour, Rhubarb, which is a pinkish-greyish colour.  This is because pink/red glass has a gold content which creates the colour. 

But I haven't forgotten about the weaving.....