Bedroom Panels

This commission was for a boy's bedroom in an old building which has been completely refurbished while keeping as much of the original as possible.

The brief was to provide a lighting feature that would form part of the partition between the bedroom and the bathroom.  It needed to reflect sporting life, especially including tennis and football.  Other than that, we were given freedom to choose colours and specific figures, once the design concept was agreed.

This is the set of five panels installed over an almost 5 metre span.  The design was a collaboration between Dorte Pape and me.  It consists of football players, cyclists, swimmers, runners, tennis players and gymnasts.  The forms and shapes they make while playing are graphically represented.  We were pleased to note the blue of the glass was complimentary with the blue chosen for the walls.

This view from the window shows how the LED lighting throws colour onto the ceiling adding a third colour to the scheme of the room.

The figures are sandblasted onto both sides of the fused glass panels.  This gives some depth and variation in appearance depending on which side the light shines.  These panels show gymnasts, tennis players, runners and some swimmers.

These panels show more of the swimmers, cyclists and footballers.  Both these bathroom side panels show the different effect of where the light falls as to which side is emphasised.

Glass Bends for Lights

Among the interesting things that I get to do are custom bends for interior decoration.

This bend was custom in the sense that the glass needed to protrude from the apertures to form a rectangular protrusion that is most apparent when the light is off.

This is the finished and installed set of lights by the designer Martin MacGuire.

New York, New York

This piece is going on its travels to its new home.

"Pregnant"  40x20x80cm wood and glass

The client came to the studio earlier this week and selected this piece for her New York City home.  I now need to pack it well and get the freight forwarder to deliver it safely.  I intend to use a lot of firm packing and a wooden box to help ensure its safe arrival.

This is a strip constructed piece.  The strips were cut and then formed.  These were then assembled and fused together.  Finally the piece was slumped over a special ceramic form created from a plow share.  This makes a connection for me between the growing of seed and the curves of a pregnant woman.  Both contain the developing form which will later appear.

Weary

This is the title of a piece that has been a long time in reaching completion.  

The word "Weary" seems to me to encapsulate the feeling toward the end of any pregnancy.  The tipped over stance encapsulates that feeling for me.  

I have now finished the piece and put it on a plinth ready for exhibition.

Westercraigs Nursery

After a number of months, some changes at the timber yard and fitting volunteers around the job, the tree slices are in place. They range from 1220 to 1900mm tall and are 50mm thick.

The openings were cut by Andy from the Milnbank Housing Association. I am pleased with the result, so here is a kind of photo diary.

This shows the South West corner of the nursery playground

This is the South East corner of the playground

North East corner before glass installation

South East corner with glass installed

South West with glass and the washing line

North East corner with glass

North side with glass

North West with (most of the) Glass

Too often there is a problem in installation. And in this case the problem was a hammer that missed the nail and hit the glass. This is being remade and will be installed soon.

A general view of the playground facing South East

I'm not sure if the children will notice the coloured light, but I hope their parents will

A view from the outside facing East

Earlier posts about this project are here:

Westercraigs Nursery, cont.

Monolith Project

Westercraigs Nursery Continued

I have had a visit to a timber yard where all the trees cut down by the city are delivered. This organisation then processes them with a team of trainees drawn from those out of work and wanting to learn new skills. I was taken there with some of the nursery school pupils.

There are lots of tree trunks and branches scattered around the yard, but what I really was interested in were these sawn planks.

When they are standing up, it is clear how big they really are. The glass pieces created for the school based on the students' designs will be inserted into holes made in these big planks.

Little gifts

It is rare that I am asked to design and make something where I do not also have the responsibility for installation. It is even rarer when I have not seen the location nor the final installation. I always wonder about how they look in their final location.

In this case of seeing neither the location nor the completed installation the client sent me a photograph of the completed work today.

This is a door to a bathroom on the half landing. The criteria were to obscure the view into the bathroom, to provide colour to the landing, and to reflect the idea of water. This gives some idea of the result. Of course, the photograph was taken with light in front, so the interplay of the layered colours does not show as it might. Nor can the photograph show the tactile properties of the panels. The panels were fused twice - once with a flat fuse and some of the colour, and a second rounded fuse to give a little sense of apparent depth.

In spite of the limitations of the photograph, I am grateful to him for sending it.

Latest Glass Installation

I have just finished a fused glass skylight installation this afternoon. It is above the half landing of a staircase and is 1.85 by 1.35 metres. A major requirement was that the colours were such that the light was not reduced significantly. Thus tints of colour were used in the realisation of the theme. The theme relates to the sea and the shore. A number of elements are included in an abstract manner for the clients and their children to discover and imagine.

The panel is too large for my kiln and so was made in three parts. The sinuous blue line is a raised ribbon of glass that overlaps the adjoining panels enabling the whole to be joined together on top of the 19mm sheet of toughened glass that supports the whole panel.

Community Projects - Queens Cross Housing Association

One of the community projects that I became involved with was for Queens Cross Housing association http://www.queenscrossha.org.uk/ where a number of groups provided ideas for the entryways to the houses shown below:

A vew of the houses on Maryhill Road, Glasgow

There were a variety of themes from the various groups which ranged from school children's groups to adult groups of various kinds. The suggestions were arranged according to themes and styles. Some of these are illustrated below:

This entry has a transport theme

This entry has a theme relating to children and is done in a simpler style

For this entry a theme of buildings was used

For the final entry, the QCHA wanted a Mackintosh theme, so one of the banners he and his wife designed, was used to fill the sidelights of this entry.