April has been a busy month for this Scottish glass making studio. We’ve been to the Cumbria Lancashire border to give a presentation to the Northern Paperweight Society, then further down to Warwickshire for a glass fair the following week. So lots of travelling.

May will see us in the US at the Corning Museum of Glass for the Paperweight Collectors Association Conference, where I’m up for another presentation, and a demo. I’ll practice what I’m going to make first for a change. It’s extremely time consuming to make the prep work on site, so I’ll do that here and take it with me. I’ve also written an article in the PCA Bulletin out later this year. That’ll be the 5th article I’ve had published now, maybe one more for next year, and that’ll be the last. I’m still writing my autobiography as well. Sue reckons its a 360 page rant, it’s just true stories about what I’ve experienced in my 52 years in this industry…The good the bad and the ugly!

It’s annoying the amount of misnamed glass terminology there is out there at the mo and it’s getting worse. Solid objects advertised as being hand blown…I mean 52 years in this industry and I still can’t blow glass with my hand…I must be doing something wrong. People listing themselves as glass makers when they import the glass in…FYI a glass maker is someone who makes the batch and melts it in a glass melting furnace. Molten glass is called “metal” by us old timers, probably named because elements used are “metal oxides”.

I also keep seeing posts on glass techniques that are in danger of disappearing from the UK. Well we’ve been keeping loads of techniques going, we re-introduced the lost art of the cotton and colour-twist stems, I suppose I should also include air-twists with that as well. Most of what is listed as in danger of disappearing is still active, just that those that log the info don’t know or relies on AI which isn’t the most reliable of sources. The main problem is why are they disappearing? Then if someone gets a grant to practice one or more to keep them alive, how far will they take it? Will they have a go and say “Yeah I can do this” or practice until it’s mastered? It’s not about who can do, it’s about who can do it properly.

On another note, I’ve been trolling the internet looking for the Scotlands Glass site, which appears to be down at the mo…Hope it’s up and running soon!

Here’s a photo of a recent copyrighted design…Inspired by dwarf water lilies growing in a used crucible in our garden.

Enjoy!