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

Glass Versus Weaving

Wool yarn from Texere Yarns

It's here! A big package of assorted yarns from Texere Yarns in Bradford ready for my next project. Lots of lovely colours (three shades of black) and some Chinese silk yarn for dyeing too.  I love the aqua and pistachio yarn - can't wait to start experimenting.I'm also hard at work in the attic studio creating glass for several events. The new Christmas exhibition opens at Just Makers in Harlow Carr very soon and I also have events in Masham, Saltaire, Kelbrook, East Riddlesden and Headingley in November and December. 

Christmas Trees for Harlow Carr

So glass versus weaving - which one will win out? It will have to be glass of course (but I can always weave instead of sleeping I suppose) 

I have a weaving diary on Pinterest HERE 

Glass Dishes Workshop

On Saturday 7th November I will be teaching Glass Dishes at The Garth at Skipwith Common, just outside York.  Here is a bit more information about it.

Enjoy a day designing and making a trio of fused glass dishes including trinket dish, curved dish and square dish (13cm square).  Experiment with opal and transparent colour glass, add inclusions such as mica and copper to create sparkle. Stunning results and lots of fun.  No previous experience of glass cutting necessary.  Fees: £80

If you would like to book a place on this one day workshop please click on the link HERE which will take you to Silver and Stone where you can book your place. Any questions about the workshop (or future workshops) please email me HERE

Tealights or trinket dish

Lots of preparation!

Art in the Pen is nearly here and I still have a list of tasks to complete before Friday 14th August! 

Today I ordered the flowers for my table display. We have an excellent florist in Saltaire, Brambles and Blooms, and I have picked a selection of green sculptural flowers to go with long white lilium grandiflorum. I'm hoping they will make a show.All my electrics have now been pat tested - one floor lamp didn't pass so I am buying a new one this week. I have bought dust sheets from B and Q to cover the bars of the pen and I have sewn acres of retro bunting too.  All my furniture is now painted and I am very proud of my bargain circular table I got for a whopping £20 from the auctioneers at Killinghall. My lovely new display boxes arrived on Monday, hand made by a local joiner, and tomorrow I will be painting those too. So, it looks like I am nearly ready - what am I missing?

GLASS! Oh yes, nearly forgot about the glass.....

New glass - Rretro Square

This year I introduced a new design (well it is an old design but I have revisited it and improved upon it) - Retro Square. I love the combination of lime green, acid yellow and bright tangerine shining out on white opal glass with touches of turquoise, aqua and emerald. Retro Square is all about colour and reasons to be cheerful and I have made fruit plates, oval fruit bowls, coasters, tealight holders and sushi-style dishes.

There will also be my usual glass tableware - Bar Code Stripe, Fleur, Honeycomb and Spun Sugar - as well as Scandi birds and Funky Fish.  To find out more about Art in the Pen at Skipton Auction Mart please visit the website, ArtiinthePen.

Finally, I am pen 69, surrounded by lovely artists - please come and say hello. 
Jo X

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

Glass Fusing Workshops 2015

Enjoy a day of designing and creating your own glass at our friendly workshops at Lowe Maintenance Training in the heart of Settle, North Yorkshire

Saturday 18th April 2015 10am - 4pm (maximum no: 8)

Creating Glass Coasters

This workshop is aimed at absolute beginners and intermediate glass artists as an introduction to glass fusing.  The workshop will include: cutting skills, technical know-how, working with coloured glass,  designing and glass assembly.   Expert tuition given and  Bullseye glass used.

Saturday 16th May 2015 10am - 4pm (maximum no: 8)

Designing for Glass Jewellery

Aimed at jewellers and anyone with an interest in jewellery, this workshop will enable you to create a pendant, brooch and earring set using both Bullseye and dichroic coated glass. The ability to cut glass will be an advantage.

Costs: £70 (all materials and equipment provided)

Where: Lowe Maintenance Training 18 Duke Street Settle North Yorkshire BD24 9DN

To book: contact Jo Whitehead of Glassprimitif by email to

Jfwhitehead@blueyonder.co.uk or call  07837471040 or find us on Facebook

We accept payment by Paypal, BACS or cheque.  Full payment please, no deposits taken               

                         

Pick and Mix

Exhibition at Bradford College

Early in December I was invited to take part in the forthcoming Pick and Mix exhibition at Bradford College Dye House Gallery (13th January until 18th February 2015)
Bradford College holds a huge archive of textile samples dating back to the glory days when West Yorkshire was the centre of excellence in the textiles industry. Many of these samples date back as far at the 18th century and it is a great wealth of resource for anyone studying, or has an interest in textiles.

Sketchbook pages 

The exhibition will showcase the work of Yorkshire based artists, makers and designers in response to the archive.  I chose two textile samples from The Americas collection because, as I am from a textile background, I am very interested in mid century design.  Now they are finished and have been shipped off to Bradford College, I will get to see them in situ at the preview on Tuesday 13th January and I am really keen to see what everyone else's work will be like.

"1952" large platter 

"1956" curved fruit dish

If you are in the Bradford area pop into The Dye House Gallery, it really is a wonderful exhibition space. The Dye House Gallery is open from Monday to Friday, 11am until 4pm; with a special Saturday opening on 7th February 2015, from 10am until 4 pm

Blog Hop

I have been invited to take part in a Blog Hop by the lovely and creative Becky Moore who makes the most beautiful embroidered velvet bags (see her work HERE) 

Becky Moore Hand Bags

The Hop requires me to answer four questions about my work and then nominate another designer maker to carry the Hop on. 

What am I working on?

This time of the year I am busy making replacements of stock sold, mostly Christmas decorations and Scandi birds, but I have also been invited to make a piece of glass for an exhibition at Bradford College. The exhibition, Pick and Mix, will showcase work by designer-makers in response to the textile archive at the College. This is a great opportunity for me to move away from my current style of work as I am constrained by the fabric samples I have chosen.  

1952, ready to be fired

I have chosen two pieces from the Americas Collection, 1952 and 1956, which are both prints on cotton in limited colours and I have been working through two ideas. ! have been playing with repeat patterns and geometric structures for one piece and trying to create more organic shapes with negative space for the second.  Both finished pieces will be slumped into dish forms  - because I like my glass to have a practical application.  
Working with colour is a vital part of my work and the structured piece will be in opal glass, the colours are reminiscent of the 1950s and will imitate the flat, dense orange and black of the fabric sample.  The second piece will be made from amber, clear and charcoal glass - all transparent - to give that piece the organic feel that I am after. 
No pressure but these pieces have to be finished before the end of the month! 

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I originally studied textile design and worked as an illustrator, therefore my designs for glass are influenced by surface pattern and colour.  There is more to designing for glass than just cutting a square of opal glass and slumping it in the kiln. I cut each piece meticulously and grind all the edges before the glass goes into the kiln and I pay great attention to detail. Over the years I have experimented and practised the craft of kiln fired glass until I now know exactly what to expect when I open the kiln up at the end of firing (apart from the odd slippage - very annoying).

Spun Sugar Fruit Dish 

Many designs simply won't work in glass - they become too "clunky" or "amateurish" -  so what looks good on paper doesn't necessarily translate to the finished product.  I used to make jewellery using dichroic glass but I gave this up because my designs looked too much like everyone else's.  However, I have recently had a rethink about dichroic glass (metal oxides coated onto glass that reflect and refract light to give a jewel-like quality) and, in 2015, I will be designing and experimenting to produce a limited edition range of earrings, brooches and pendants. 

Why do I do what I do?

My Dad was a potter and he  encouraged my sisters and I to be creative.  I always said that textiles was my life but, when I was bought a fused glass decoration, I thought "I wonder if I can do that"? Glass is just another surface for me to decorate with pattern and colour yet, as a medium, it is also quite limiting. Glass is also a slow process which is surprising that I love it because I am not a patient person.  However, like textiles, glass is very tactile and attractive to touch.  This is the appeal for me. 


I have a mass of influences that translate into glass - I love retro design, Scandinavian folk design, patchwork quilts and Indian embroidery. All have appeared in some form in my work over the past 15 years and I'm certain I will discover new influences in the future.  

How does my process work? 

It's very simple - I take sheets of glass and fuse them to make - glass :) 
Kiln formed glass is stacked onto the kiln shelf, starting from the bottom and adding more pieces, and then fused at high temperatures (up to 840c) until it turns from a super-cooled liquid into nearer its natural state (liquid).  I add more glass during a second firing if necessary and can fuse some pieces up to three times before I slump them into moulds.   
My spun sugar bowls give the appearance of glass that has been dribbled in liquid form across a bowl shape but, in reality, they are made from strips of glass that are laid in a grid across the kiln shelf.  Each firing gives the negative space a more rounded edge until they look like holes in the structure.  

Honeycomb Fruit dish

Glass loves heat but only when heated and cooled slowly as it expands at a rate of 0.00090 mm per second. Any faster and it will crack with thermal shock. It needs time to rest at a holding temperature both whilst being heated and cooled therefore accurate kiln temperature timings are vital to the process. Badly annealed glass will fracture - either immediately once exposed to room temperature or anything up to six months after.  Thank goodness for the digital timer!

So here is my nominee for the Blog Hop, talented textile designer Anne Crowther from Daisy Florence Design.  Please visit her blog because her work is super.  

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. :) 

Tealights and Trinkets

Tealight Dishes

Over Christmas we snuggled up in front of the fire and watched movies by candlelight - very cosy! I bought lots of lovely scented tealights: frankincense and myrrh, Christmas tree scent and Christmas spice.

Tealights need tealight holders (doh) so I have designed and made some new curvy glass dishes that fit perfectly with tealights and small candles.  The colours of the glass reflect against a windowsill or wall by candle light.

Tealight dish

These durable tea light holders are now available for sale in my Etsy shop and includes a yummy scented tealight too.  

Tealight dish Etsy

New Year, New Glass

Kaleidoscope Dish

I have been  spending the days between Christmas and New Year restocking my glass by making lots of decorations, dishes and Christmas decorations (yes, that's right!) Although my first public show isn't until April I need to make enough stock whilst I still have the time. Once I start my new job next week I won't have this luxury for a while.

I have been enjoying making glass dishes based on a kaleidoscope pattern and have these for sale in my Etsy shop. The patterns are great fun to design, starting with concentric circles on graph paper and "colouring in" the shapes.  

Kaleidoscope dish

The colour combinations are endless and I have just made a large fruit dish in greens and ambers. I will be posting the image as soon as I have photographed it.  Meanwhile, I am now playing with new ideas for Christmas tree decorations based on snowflake patterns which will hit my Folksy and Etsy shops from October 2014.  

Kaleidoscope dish

Anyway, Happy New Year to you. I hope 2014 comes up to your expectations!

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. 

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. 

FODDER!

Fodder, Harrogate

Glassprimitif fused glass birdies, hearts and lightcatchers are now for sale at Fodder in Harrogate! 

Fodder is a shop selling and supporting local farmers and rural businesses within Yorkshire and has a lovely cafe serving local foods too.  It's just on the corner of The Great Yorkshire Showground and is well worth a visit. I hope you will go and see for yourself (and perhaps buy some groovy glass). 

Love Glass, Love Pinterest

 Duncan McClellan, glass artist

I am absolutely addicted to Pinterest and enjoy browsing for inspirational glass.  My favourite board, Glass I Love, showcases mostly hand blown or cast glass rather than fused glass because I have immense respect for glass blowers (and a bit of envy too).

Glassprimitif

I also use Pinterest to promote and catalogue my own glass and I try to remember to upload every piece of glass I have posted on-line. 

Glass Commissions

Kelbrook 2013

This weekend (Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd November) I shall be at Kelbrook and Sough Village Hall as part of the Art and Craft Fair. This is a really surprising fair because, although it is in a village hall, the quality of the makers is really very good.  There's also excellent cakes and tea there too.  So if you are in the Barnoldswick, Earby district please call into Kelbrook for an afternoon treat.   Or why not join the Event page on Facebook? 

Settle Story Telling Festival

Settle Stories

I will be at the Makers' Market as part of the Settle Storytelling Festival. Details below

Browse and buy unique and original work by artists and craftspeople from across the North of England at the Makers Market – with the makers on hand to share their passion for their creations.
Admire your new purchases over a slice of homemade cake and a cup of tea in the Market Café run by the Cave Rescue Organisation – perfect!

Date: Saturday, 12 October 2013 - 11:00amDuration: 6 hours
 Venue: St John's Church Hall, Settle

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