Poppy Commissioned Dish

Poppy Dish

I was recently commissioned to make a large glass dish to match the wallpaper design in a dining room.   Here is an example of the wallpaper and below that is my preliminary sketch. 

It was a bit tricky getting all the component parts to fit snugly but I used a combination of transparent and opal red glass to get more contrast in the petals.  The black poppy seeds are Glassline fusing paint and the dish was slumped into a 30cm square dish mould. 

Finished Glass Dish

If you would like to commission me to make you a unique glass dish please contact me through my Folksy Shop HERE.  Until you approve the design you are not committed to buy. 

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

Fresh from the Kiln Today

Honeycomb Dish

I got a real buzz when I opened the kiln this morning and saw that this Honeycomb dish had slumped into its mould perfectly. 

Made from clear and transparent coloured Bullseye glass, this dish is made up of a gradation of squares and rectangles, moving from greens into blues. It's great fun to make - first I flat fuse a grid of clear glass then, once cooled, layer greens and blues before refiring.  The "holes" created from the grid then form into rounded honeycomb shapes. 

This dish will be available for sale in my Folksy shop soon. 

Ilkley Arts Trail

Craiglands Hotel Ilkley

I've just found out that the venue I will be exhibiting at for the Ilkley Arts Trail will be the Craiglands Hotel in Ilkley. 
Although it's a bit off the main drag in Ilkley (it's on Cowpasture Road) The Craiglands is just a short/brisk walk from the train and bus station and there is plenty of parking. I am hoping for plenty of footfall and I will be there in person for most of the days of the Art Trail so please come and say hello.

I'm half looking forward to it, half anxious about it because, typical me, I don't have enough glass and I need to set aside some time to make some more. I do this at every show - so you think I would have learned by now! I have some new designs and colours in my head and, as I have just redecorated my studio, there is no excuse not to be productive.  I'll be posting more information about Craiglands next week - after I have had a visit there. 

Make Your Own Glass Dishes Workshop

The next Glass Fusing workshop at South Square Centre in Thornton, Bradford will be on Saturday 22nd September and students will have the opportunity to make their own fused glass dishes, using both Bullseye and float glass. 

This workshop is for all abilities so, if you have never cut glass before why not come along and give it a go? Students will make three glass dishes in different sizes:

1. float glass with copper inclusions

2. Bulleye glass trinket dish

3. Bullseye glass deep dish

You will have step by step guidance and help with your design if you need it. Class size is small, no more than eight students will be there and all equipment and materials will be provided. 

To find out more about this workshop and how to enrol by clicking HERE or emailing HERE. I hope you can make it. 

Glass Fusing Students

Funky Fish Workshop at South Square Centre

I REALLY enjoyed myself last Saturday teaching a workshop on Funky Fused Glass Fish at South Square Centre. I hope the students did too. Nine future glass artists joined the workshop to learn how to design and create their own fused glass fish in both float and Bullseye glass. The workshop covered the basics of cutting glass, grinding, working with both transparent and opal glass and making some delightful fused glass fish. The workshop also covered colour theory, glass types, how glass behaves in a kiln and fusing and annealing. In fact, a comprehensive introduction into the creative and tech side of  warm glass. Here are the results of the workshop - they did a good job!

Bullseye Glass Fish - students' work 

The next workshop at South Square will be Shards, Frits and Stringers on Saturday 4th August. This is an introduction into making glass tiles or coasters with additional glass pieces, powders and rods. At the end of the workshop I will take the students' glass home and fire it in my kiln before posting it back to them. 


I am now arranging the September workshop on Glass Fusing but I'm in a bit of a quandary regarding what to teach. I have a choice of three workshops so I am asking people to vote HERE. I will teach the workshop that gains the most votes. 
The choices are:
1. Dichroic Glass Jewellery using top quality CBS dichroic coated Bullseye glass to make pendants, earrings, brooches, cufflinks - whatever your fancy. Dichroic glass glitters and shimmers in the light and has an amazing colour shift. 
2. Fused Glass Dishes takes students through the process of designing, cutting and creating fused glass dishes in both float and Bullseye glass (examples HERE) that will then be slumped into moulds to form delightful dishes. 
3. Fused Glass Hangings and Light Catchers with copper wire, inclusions, frit and coloured glass. These look fabulous hung in front of a window (see below). 

Fused Glass Hangings

If you are interested in Glass Fusing Workshops at South Square Centre in Thornton, Bradford please email Glassprimitif or contact South Square HERE. 

Apple for the Teacher

I had a great day at The Stalls pop up shop on Saturday, talking to customers, chatting with the other designers and eating cake from La Bottega.  The first piece of glass that I sold was my Glass Apple Dish and, at the end of the day I was approached by a customer who wanted to buy a ......... glass apple dish (oops)!

But nil desperandum - fortunately the customer commissioned the dish to be made and sent to her. It is a present for a teacher who has taught her children and is now retiring. What a lovely idea for a gift - so much better than chocolates or flowers. A gift that will last forever.

If you would like to commission me to make a glass dish or bowl please contact me via the Contacts page. 


If you live in the Yorkshire region I teach glass fusing to all including technical processes, design, glass colour theory and glass assembly. Find out more by clicking on the Workshops Page. 

Glassprimitif at Junc

Junc is a brand new business venture opening in Shipley West Yorkshire on Friday 1st June. It is a new shop owned by Bella Jordan with a retro theme. 

There will be recycled table lamps, pre-loved furniture and upholstery and a range of handmade goodies by local designer makers. Glassprimitif glassware will also be available with coasters and dishes.

With Mary Portas championing the diversification of the High Street, Junc is the kind of business that local people need. If you live in West Yorkshire please call in and give Junc the support it deserves. 

So, good luck for Friday Bella, hope your shop launch starts with a bang.  

Glorious Colour

Tutti Frutti

Following my blog post -Thanks Bob - here is the first proper dish I have made using the extra large slump mould. It's clear and white Bullseye glass with transparent blues, greens, amber and orange glass. I love it!

Ready for slumping

It was a bit nerve wracking whilst I was making it because I only had one piece of white glass left that was big enough and I was also a bit worried that it would slip sideways when it slumped into the mould - but it turned out well. I love the colours, particularly the new pale aquamarine glass which works so well with the acid yellow glass. 

This dish measures 30cm X 20 cm and looks good as a fruit bowl. 

Thanks Bob

 I recently met Bob, a fused glass artist, at my screen printing class. Bob is very interested in screen printing designs onto glass using enamel and binder and then fusing the glass. We had quite a few conversations about glass and glass fusing.


Bob has been kind enough to give me a large dish mould   in a shape and size that I haven't used before (it measures 30cm X 20cm) so I have tested the mould using float glass. There's no point in designing a piece using expensive glass if I make a mistake with the first fusing. 

First I drew a template of the dish and cut two pieces of float glass, grinding them to shape. Next I flat used the two pieces up to 842 degrees c (1547.60 degrees f) and then put it back in the kiln to fire polish the edges.

Finally I slumped the glass piece in the mould so that the glass would slump down into the shape of the dish. I also tested a new soap dish mould in the same firing.

Glassprimitif will be exhibiting at the Makers' Fair as part of the Saltaire Arts Trail in May 2012. Find out more about the Makers' Fair HERE. 

Getting Ready

I'm really busy fusing new glass at the moment in readiness for the fairs and events I will be attending in 2012.
I was lucky enough to be selected for this year's Maker's Fair at the Saltaire Arts Trail in May and I want to have a new range of glass ready. I have been trawling through my Image file of Sold items to gauge which designs have been most popular and I have resolved not to make any more experiments this year until I have built up my stock.  

Beach Huts

I've also bought some larger moulds so that I can make bigger dishes. As PVS Glass in Calverley has now closed they have been selling off the moulds and I bagged several bargains. 

Patchwork Quilt

Then there's my table display. My skills in interior design and product placement have always let me down in the past so I am planning a simple display that will, hopefully, show the glass off to its advantage - which means Less is More!

Cool Squares

It's been two years since I showed my glass at the Saltaire Maker's Fair so I need to research and revise my retail pricing. Fusing glass has become so expensive now that to manufacture glass dishes in the UK means a struggle between costs of raw materials and customer affordability. Having bought two sheets of clear 2mm Bullseye Glass this week, I sometimes think it might be cheaper to just emigrate to Portland, Oregon where it's manufactured.

Bright coasters

I've been reassessing my glass fish - which have always proved to be one of my best sellers - but I need to rethink the design. Back to the drawing board.

Restoring My Confidence

The Stalls, Harrogate

I haven't been making much glass lately, despite buying a lovely new kiln, because I have been too busy with the day job and also organising Handmade events in West Yorkshire.  I have been neglecting both my Folksy and Etsy shops and haven't exhibited at a craft fair in over a year. To be honest, I'm never happy with my table display and I think that the way I show my glass makes it look amateur and a bit "cheap". 
Then last week I gave a talk on glass fusing to my friend's church group and sold lots of glass, which restored my confidence in my product.  So it's time to get back in the saddle and start finding selling opportunities and marketing my glass again. The first gallery to stock my glass designs is The Stalls in Harrogate. Natasha only received the box of glass I posted out yesterday and she has already sold one cupcake dish! This has given me a boost and I am already planning new designs.

Cupcake Dish

As for handmade and designer-maker fairs I am going to start back behind the craft stall. I have been looking at mechandising and window display for retailers so that I can create a more inviting and professional  layout. Having visited the British Craft Trade Fair this year I have studied each trader's stand to decide what works and what doesn't. Less is definitely More so I am cutting the clutter and resisting putting out every piece of glass I make. I'll let you know how it goes.

Swanky Maison

My glass dishes are now available to buy on the Shopping Site Swanky Maison.

About Swanky Maison - this new shopping site prides itself in sourcing new designers who create original items for the home. Items include ceramics, glass, textiles, prints and furnishings and... now me!

All glass that I make for Swanky Maison is designed exclusively for the website and you can buy my cupcake glass dishes only from them. I have also started work on a series of dishes based on Seaside Designs, including lighthouse, boats and beach huts (I sold the beach huts yesterday).

I have also listed three glass Sushi Girls on the website, one of my favourite designs. These Sushi Girls have been slumped into deep curved moulds that make them ideal as soap dishes, for sushi, canapes or keeping your earrings in on the bedside table.

I am now working on a series of Matryoshka Doll Dishes, coming to Swanky Maison soon.

Join Swanky Maison on Facebook or visit the website for more home wares.

More commissions and collaborations

I recently received a request from a customer, via Etsy, to make a dish with a red gingko leaf design fused onto it.

I started with some drawings. Deep shapes cannot be cut into glass unless a Taurus saw is used as it will fracture under the stress. Of course, I don't own a Taurus saw, just a glass cutter and a grinder, so I had to plan where I could make cut lines that wouldn't make the glass leaf look "pieced" together. The final drawing was redrawn in thick black marker pen so that I could see the design clearly through the glass.

I made a prototype of the design in float glass so that I could work out any problems before I committed to the final piece. As you can see, I didn't spend enough time grinding the curved shapes on the leaf and the curves flattened out slightly when fused.

Because this is a flat design (the customer didn't want any additional texture or glass blobs) I wanted the actual red leaf to have some depth so I bought a sheet of streaky red and clear Bullseye glass from my favorite glass suppliers, Warm-Glass UK.

Streaky glass is tricky stuff. The streaks of color are random so it's hard to position the leaf design so that the best streaks are used. I only had one sheet so I couldn't afford to make any cutting mistakes. Of course, the best streaks were in the centre of the glass so I have lots of small pieces left!



I fused the leaf onto opal white and clear Bullseye glass and then slumped it into a dish mold. Fortunately the line between the leaf parts has fused closely together and has not made the deep ridge that you see in the prototype. Next, I emailed the image of the finished dish to the customer and awaited her verdict.

Success! The dish was shipped off to Germany and here is her feedback:

"The dish has safely arrived this morning. Simply great! Many thanks."

Spaghetti Glass

More experiments with float glass products. This time I have been messing about with a tub of mixed glass "tangles".



After some disappointing results with bubble powder I have had success with the tangles. They are in assorted colors and are different thicknesses of hollowed glass, similar to stringers. These tangles are all 82 coe, making them compatible with float (picture) glass.



Noodles is a fused glass dish, now for sale on Etsy. I would, ideally, like a wider color range but I am quite pleased with the outcome.