I am on a voyage of discovery. After
a life time designing computer systems, I have changed
the course of my life and retrained as a glass artist
by spending several years in educational establishments
learning new skills. At the same time introspection has
led to a new self awareness which I never had time to
discover in my previous life.
My
work is influenced by my love of nature and a desire to
understand what it is that makes something belong. I look
at the way in which nature, in the form of plants and
trees, changes the things that man creates, like walls
and fences, and naturalises them. If a thing belongs and
seems at home in its surroundings then it generates a
feeling of comfort. Alongside this we have people trying
to control nature in gardens and fields. The resulting
landscape is one that is familiar to us, which we have
an empathy with and to which we might say we belong. There
is a popular saying that "a weed is a plant in the
wrong place". The experience for people is similar.
They may feel comfortable in a place but to truly belong
they must also accept and be accepted. Weeds feature frequently
in my work.
When
I am creating with glass I am trying to create a feeling
of comfort in the viewer. I want the viewer to feel familiar
with the image or the item. He should be intrigued and
amazed by it and have a desire to look closer inside and
ask questions about how that was achieved.
