Dive into a kaleidoscope of colour with our glass pieces exhibiting at Collect 2024. These statement pieces are an astounding feat of skill and intricacy. Featuring makers Charlie Macpherson and Ruth Shelley.
Charlie Macpherson is a leading UK glass artist and creates unique pieces of hand blown glass in Dorset near the Jurassic coast, which he finds both beautiful and inspiring. His approach balances simplicity of form with a complicated use of line and pattern. As well as winning awards for his work, he has completed commissions for a number of maker organisations.
Charlie’s latest work explores themes around movement and tone in the context of more sculptural glass. Having worked with blown glass for 25 years., these pieces have been a natural development, exploring new processes, and focusing on capturing the depth of colour and intricate details that have been important themes throughout Charlie’s work.
Drawing inspiration from his surrounding environment, and balancing the beautiful simplicity of his forms with a more complex use of texture, line and pattern, this body of work combines using hot glass components and open casting techniques, to create pieces that combine movement and intricate tonal details within the sculptural forms. All pieces have been initially hot worked in a Hot glass blowing studio, then cast in a kiln, before being meticulously ground and polished.
Ruth Shelley is an award-winning Glass artist whose main interest is colour, shape, form and pattern. Taking her cue from her love of travelling, Ruth’s inspiration derives from her observation of colour, balance and tone in nature. Her gravity dropped vessels create an interplay of light, form and colour that is evocative of the natural world which surrounds us.
After receiving a grant from Wales Art International, Ruth visited Uzbekistan for three weeks to investigate direct similarities between Celtic designs and those used in textiles from Uzbekistan on the ancient Silk Road. Since returning, Ruth developed a new body of work from the weaving patterns given to her in Khiva which she believes have a similarity to early Celtic designs.
