Stained Glass Works
Lighting
Cullet
These chunks of cullet are simply placed on top of my very sturdy oak cupboard with 3 halogen lamps behind.
They are formed when a hot-glass furnace is decommissioned and has to be rebuilt. The hot glass left in it is allowed to cool and cracks like dried mud. The resulting chunks are called cullet are beautiful and when lit, become a stunning lighting feature. These things are very rare as there are very few furnaces of this size left in the world.
Lamps
I love to make lamps. This was how my hobby started, using copper foil and soldering pieces of glass together with some sort of electrical wiring to make a 3D object that lights up. I have built many beautiful, adventurous and ridiculously complicated shapes, as well as some horrendously ugly ones. Rest assured, these will not be given an airing here.
When working with hot glass, it can be formed very organically. I can make beautiful symmetrical shapes or pull and squeeze them into the form I’m looking for.
Obelisks
These obelisks are made on the end of a 1.5m blowing iron, and weigh between 7 and 15kg. The bigger one on the left weighs in at 15 kg and stands 1.5m high. It took three men to lift it to the glory hole (reheating furnace) where it was heated until it sagged, allowing me to form the twists.
Both of these use silver sand which is trapped and semi-melted into each of the layers to catch the light as it travels up through the glass. The tips are
cut and polished like diamonds.
The base of this obelisk is made from pieces of copper and brass plate and features an angelic face engraved into the top section.
Art Nouveau
This pattern was derived from my customer’s favourite vase. I played with the main part of the design until it was possible to make in glass.
I have previously sourced patterns from cornices, curtains and upholstery, so if you'd like something to match the things you love then we can use them as the starting point.
Art Deco
Art Deco patterns lend themselves well to leaded glass. These pillars are around 30 cm high, but can be built to any size. The energy-saving bulbs give off a very gentle heat which allows me to enclose them completely.
This mirror utilises a Frank Lloyd Wright geometric pattern which, when built in three dimensions are used to house striplights and spotlights.
Vine lamps
These lamps were bult as part of the painted scenery in a trompe-l'oeil (mural) of a vinery which covers the walls and ceiling above a basement swimming pool.
Real tree branches are fastened onto the walls and ceiling. The transformers are hidden in the beams, and the wires have been fitted with silk leaves and bunches of grapes. The rest of the vine has been painted to match.
You can see more of this commission on the Speciality page.
Tree
It took me years to figure out how to make this tree. I originally built the one on the right from flat glass soldered together, but it was not very strong, cost an arm and a leg, and took ages to build.
The blown version features part of the process used to make handmade glass sheeting known as a "muff", as the top.
The base was the most difficult part, and is in essence a long blown cylinder with many glass trails added then opened at the bottom.
It stands almost a metre high.
Cala Lily
These lilies are fun to make. First a bubble is blown, and this is then dripped to stretch it, before a big V is chopped out and the edges folded over with tweezers. Lit with a 12v 10w halogen light, they give off a lovely gentle light, which is still powerful enough to allow reading.
