My early career in dance at the Scottish Ballet School in Edinburgh instilled in me a love of rhythm and movement. Later in life as I developed my glass work I began to appreciate the various tempos found in nature. Cadence is present everywhere you look both in my native Scotland as well as in my adopted home of Ontario, Canada. Each place has its own tempo. It can be slow and sensuous like the waves lapping the shore or harsh and staccato like an up thrusting rock formation.
Just like the landscape glass can be hard and brittle or soft and freely flowing. Using the contradictory properties of glass has provided me with a wonder opportunity to explore this element of the landscape.
I am particularly drawn to moving water which is a primary element in the Canadian landscape. Much of my recent work seeks to share the changing mood and rhythm of this landscape. I take many photographs of the local countryside to capture a specific moment in time then I interpret that photograph in glass using frits (small granules of glass) and pre-fired components to communicate my experience to the viewer. Some of my pieces are assembled and fired face down allowing for a more impressionistic image. Others are composed of a number of layers fired face up many times. I sometimes manipulate the glass when it is hot to provide movement to the piece.
“My hope is that the viewer will smell the damp earth, hear the rushing water or feel the wind in their face as they view my finished work.”
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