Hyper Culture Collective - Molten Balance
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Peter Layton features in a wide-ranging interview with Hyper Culture Collective marking 50 years of London Glassblowing. From founding the studio in a 19th-century towage works beside the Thames at Rotherhithe in 1976 — when there was little or no market for studio glass in Britain — to the thriving Bermondsey Street gallery of today, Peter reflects on a journey he describes as "something of a triumph against the odds."
The conversation ranges across the magic and demands of the medium, the urgent need to preserve endangered handskills as university glass courses close, and why contemporary glass remains a golden opportunity for collectors, with extraordinary work still available at prices that would seem modest in painting or sculpture. Peter also looks ahead to the next chapter, as his protégé and son-in-law Tim Rawlinson and daughter Sophie Layton prepare to take up the reins.
"There is still so much to explore, and I am still finding new possibilities in this magical medium after all these years."
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The Alchemist at Work: An Interview with Peter Layton
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Peter and Tim at the annual Glass Art Society Conference
Ahead of their trip to New York for the annual Glass Art Society Conference at the Corning Museum of Glass, Peter and Tim shared an insightful talk with guests at our gallery. In this special preview of the presentation they would go on to deliver at the world-renowned museum, Peter and Tim looked back on more than fifty years of craftsmanship and community. From there, they headed to Corning, New York, for the conference itself.
Our Glass Community Reflect on Peter Layton
To mark fifty years of London Glassblowing, we asked artists, collaborators and friends to share what the studio has meant to them. Their answers span five decades - from first encounters at the hotshop to lifelong friendships. What emerges is a portrait of a community built around one man's vision, and the remarkable things that vision made possible.