"I studied textile design at Harrow School of Art in the 1980s and, although I now work with kiln formed glass, I approach the design of both as a surface pattern. I have an interest in mid-twentieth century textiles and, on examining the Textile Archive, I was drawn to the Americas Collection which has some great examples of texture and strong colour.
Both glass and textiles are very tactile and yet are flat surfaces ideal for decoration. My initial ideas were attempts to make a simple design more complex by playing with repeat patterns. My drawings also have to take into consideration the behaviour of glass under extreme heat – it expands and contracts, pushing against adjoining glass and distorting.
1952 is a large slumped platter made of opal deep orange and black bullseye glass on a white surface. Each black strip of glass has been cut freehand so that the design is less regimented, imitating the black lines of the original sample.
1956 is made from strips of deep and pale amber transparent bullseye glass laid at different angles directly onto the kiln shelf. After several firings, the spaces between the glass form 'holes' within the structure.
This is the opposite of the precise cutting techniques of 1952 as it creates a more organic and manipulated piece."