GATHER

Artist, pioneer and mentor, Peter Layton is one of the founding fathers of British studio glass. 

He discovered the art form while teaching ceramics in the US in the mid 1960s, and has played a major part in elevating glass from a material for industrial purposes to a highly collectable art form. Most importantly, he helped to give it a home in the UK. 

The London Glassblowing studio has nurtured and produced some of the world’s leading glass artists and continues to do so to this day. This is thanks to an open door policy extending to artists, collectors and the curious public who wander into the Bermondsey Street gallery and studio. 

Tim Rawlinson studied Ceramics and Glass at Buckinghamshire New University, having previously studied Architecture at Brighton University. Graduating in 2011, he exhibited his degree work at New Designers. Here, he met Peter Layton for the first time and was subsequently invited to London Glassblowing for work experience. He has been an invaluable member of the team, setting up and managing the cold studio. Over the past few years Tim has established himself internationally as a leading glass artist. He supplies a number of major glass galleries in the US with recent showings in Florida and New York City. His work is currently in very high demand internationally.

One of the world's leading glass artists and engravers, with work in public, royal and private collections throughout Europe, America and the Far East, Alison Kinnaird's glass ranges from small intimate pieces to large-scale architectural installations which incorporate light and colour. A recipient of many awards and winner of many competitions, her creative contribution was recognized in 1997, when she was presented with an M.B.E. for services to art and music.

Bruce Marks was bitten by the glass bug when he first discovered lampworking. Intent on becoming a glassblower, Bruce introduced himself to Peter Layton in 2001 and spent a number of years assisting at London Glassblowing before becoming the Studio Manager and Peter’s principal colourist, helping him test and explore a myriad of colour applications.

Bruno Romanelli is an established and highly successful artist who has specialised in the technique of lost wax glass casting for over 30 years. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, his journey into glass began by creating figurative glass sculptures often incorporating casts of his own body. In recent years, his work has focussed on abstract and geometric concepts, exploring the fundamental relationships between material in form, light and colour. Symmetry, balance, precision and harmony are underlying themes in the work, as is the control of light and colour through combining the key material qualities of opacity, transparency and translucency. The apparent simplicity of his sculptures belies the complexity of their process and realisation.

Internationally regarded as a pioneer in the field of kiln cast glass, Colin Reid is widely considered to be one of the most important sculptors working in glass today. His artworks are represented in sixty museum collections worldwide and he has undertaken many public and private commissions. Based in his Gloucestershire studio, Colin has developed the expertise and facilities to handle a variety of mixed-media and glass commissions.

Born and raised in New York, David Patchen took a glassblowing class in 2001 and was so inspired, that he transitioned from a career in corporate marketing to a full-time glass artist. His artworks always begin with the pattern. In the early stages of his career, he would sketch pattern ideas, both to consider colour and design and to record possibilities for future use. Now, when he makes murrine, he often has a vision of a colour combination that he would like to explore, or will make a variation of different forms - cutting and arranging different pieces together to achieve the perfect mosaic.

David Reekie is an internationally renowned glass artist, whose sculptures interrogate themes of the human condition, society and the self. He studied Glass and Ceramics at Stourbridge College of Art from 1967-70 and was one of the founding members of British Artists in Glass in 1976. His work is held by a number of museums and galleries across the world, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. He is highly respected for his innovative approach to lost wax casting.

In 1988 he was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship to study Alternative Architectural Glass in the U.S.A. He was shortlisted for the Jerwood Prize for Glass in 1998 and his work was selected for exhibition at the G8 Summit in Birmingham. In 2011 he was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Arts from the University of Wolverhampton.

Elliot Walker is an extremely talented and exciting glass artist, who kickstarted his career by working for eight years in the London Glassblowing studio, after graduating with a Masters in Applied Arts from Wolverhampton University. He is one of a handful of glassblowers who focuses on sculpting molten glass at exceptionally high temperatures - a challenging and intense experience that demands consummate skill, dexterity and speed. 

James Devereux has been working in glass from the age of 15, when he discovered a natural talent for the craft, and he has been working in glass ever since. Specialising in hot glass, his skills covers solid forms as well as blown pieces, and an extensive knowledge of glass techniques means he is always primed for new challenges.

In September 2008, Devereux opened his first studio in the inspiring Wiltshire countryside, and a year later he was pulled back to London as the glass technician at the Royal College of Art, a role that opened up vast new contacts and opportunities which are still at the core of his career today.

After leaving London in 2013, Devereux set up a new studio in collaboration with glass artist Katherine Huskie. Through their combined talents, Devereux and Huskie Glassworks attracts some of the finest artists in the country as a place to make their work.