Textured ‘hand held’ wine glasses

Fern and leaf imprints

Part of the Woods and Water series, continuing an exploration of ways to use natural forms to create texture on glass. These glasses are larger than the schnapps glass but similar in style, low to the table with either a blown foot and small coloured marble as a stem, or the schnapps glass-style heavier glass foot. They are blown using a clay moulds that has been lined with ferns and other plants, leaving an imprint on the glass.

These glasses are approximately 8.5cm diameter, 10cm high.

As with all my work, these glass dishes are flameworked by hand using a gas-fired torch and annealed in a microprocessor-controlled kiln to remove stress once blown. They are individually worked and shaped, meaning that each one is slightly different and unique. I don’t use a lathe or machines to form my work – just my hands to guide the glass, and in this case a hand formed mould to form it and add texture.