what I did on my holidays

it's been an interesting 6 weeks back in my studio at 'home'  completing work for the guild of glass engravers national exhibition at the morley gallery in london in october.

my work seems to be going in two directions at the same time, the clear glass sculptural pieces which are most recognisably 'engraving', and the painted and gilded wall art pieces which are less easily defined. i'm developing what i hope is a strong personal style in both these techniques so i'm not willing to drop one for the other especially since the more accessible clear glass has to support the arty pieces financially for now...

buoyed up by a meeting with one of my glass mentor friends (a frientor?) i am now back in the uae feeling refreshed, focussed and excited by new developments. there are a couple of big applications i need to look at and i feel the the 'rorschach boys' have some potential which hopefully i can develop. whatever happens it will definitely be dark. also i'd like to find time to make another stop motion animation , something that really interests and stretches me.

scroll down for pics of recent pieces. the gilded animal trilogy was a special commission for a collector and great supporter of contemporary british glass. it felt good to engrave subjects not in my usual repertoire and to practice the traditional engraving skills. a fairly restrained  touch of gold leaf lifts the pieces.