The magic of a bluebell wood

There is a very special hidden valley that the river leven flows through, it's secret, is that it is clothed with exquisite bluebells in Spring. You can feel new life surging through the earth, as the sharp lime green of the new leaves of the beech trees contrasts beautifully with the blue of the sky and the irridescant violet blue of the bluebells. Lying on the grassy banks, studying the flowers, set me of on my glass journey. I was so intrigued to see the different layers of colour, in the petals, when they are backlit by sunlight, that combine to make a sublime force of nature, I have been trying to respond to this inspiration since. The different blues of the shapes signifies the burst of colour after a long winter,and the other pieces respond to the different elements in the flower if you look hard enough.

I have created a wide range of techniques to make and shape this design, I cut stencils, so I can sift the powdered glass onto the kiln shelf to make fragile layers that are delicatly coloured and patterned. I then assemble these and fuse them into strong but light flat piece of glass. I then make moulds, which I use to place the layers on, I then programme the kiln onto a slow sequence, to create the shapes, and finally assemble them onto a glass circle. This design may look fragile, however it is strong, due to the fusing of many layers. It is an original unique design, that I will not replicate.