It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like....

At the start of November it feels very strange writing a blog about getting ready for Christmas, but the reality is that making ceramics takes time, particularly in a potting shed in the winter. It can take two weeks or more for a lump of clay to become a vase, a bowl or a mug, be finished and decorated and then make it into the kiln for the first firing. Each stage requires the clay to have a particular consistency, and a damp Autumn means a lengthy wait time for pots to dry out to just the right point, so here I am thinking seasonal December thoughts!

After a truly lovely West Bristol Art Trail, I'm delighted my neighbours, Heidi and Ian, have agreed to do another pop up with me on Sunday 1 December 11am-5pm. More details at the end of this blog.

Other than being amazing neighbours, Heidi and Ian also have a shed in which they craft exquisite fused glass work. So for this blog I thought it would be fun to find out more about how they got started and their process.

HandI Glass is Heidi Lee-Webber and Ian Lee.

We've been fusing glass for about 12 years and before that we did a bit of stained glass. We took various courses at both the Folk House and at Creative Glass Guild and now have a workshop with a kiln at home.

Fused glass is also referred to as "warm glass," with stained glass being "cold" and blown glass "hot" although if your idea of Warm is about 800 degrees Celsius, then you're obviously not from round these parts!

We buy flat sheets of coloured glass and cut them up to make patterns, or melt it though a metal grid to make new designs that can be used in different projects. Some of the pieces are fired several times to achieve different effects, so it's quite a long process with each firing taking between 16, or 24 hours!

Glass is totally unlike paint; when you mix paints, you can end up with very muddy browns, but glass maintains the colours so a rainbow of effects can be achieved. We love doing it and I hope this is evident in our work.

We have shown our work at Clifton Arts during their Summer show, and as part of West Bristol Arts Trail for 3 years in person and one year online during the Covid pandemic. We much prefer meeting people face to face. It's nice to get immediate feedback and engage with potential customers.

We have a number of "set pieces" mostly flatwear i.e. plates and bowls, but we also do commission pieces. It's always an enjoyable and interesting challenge to meet a customer's expectation and vision.

If you would like to find out more about what we do please get in touch

handi.glass@outlook.com