I am a glass maker specialising in casting, skills I learnt during BA & MA courses at UCA in Farnham. I use textures from the environment to create sculptural work informed by nature and the layers beneath our feet.
Trading as Orchid Stained Glass, Linda Banks BA (hons) holds a degree in Art and English and specialises in working with glass, using traditional techniques to produce innovative designs. She uses various methods, including copper foil and lead, to create unique works.
Linda believes in combining the design flair of the artist with the skills of the artisan, pushing the boundaries of what can be done with methods that have been used for centuries by adding textures and uneven edges to her pieces to create designs that suit both established and contemporary settings.
She makes bespoke interiors items, including lamps, mirrors, decorative panels, wall art and embellished vases, and designs stained glass windows for every style of home.
Her main influences are the natural world, the Arts and Crafts movement, Oriental design, plus the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods.
She has exhibited at prestigious glass exhibitions, art and design fairs across the UK and her work has featured in magazines including Elle Decoration and Surrey Life. Her work sells internationally.
Linda is a member of the Contemporary Glass Society, Guildford Arts and Hampshire Crafters Network.
A regular exhibitor at the prestigious Mall Galleries in London and with collectors as far afield as Australia, Singapore, North America and Continental Europe, Adriana’s reputation as a skilled and expressive glass artist is now expanded beyond the United Kingdom.
Formally trained in glass design and making (under- and post-graduate) she also enjoys researching and exploring new techniques and pushing traditional methods to their limits.
Adriana draws upon the natural creations brought about by the combination of water and wind on our environments, and the Iceberg Series body of work is the result of a recent trip to Alaska where Adriana was lucky enough to travel to and walk on several glaciers. Each Iceberg is unique due to the way in which it is made – from model and mould-making to casting and finishing, everything is destroyed by the processes used.
Adriana’s new eggshell-thin Pate de Verre work centres around the fragility of memory and memories and seeks a solution to capturing their elusiveness.
At the core of her work is a desire to record tension, gravity and energy flow through strong line and distinct form. Conceptually she draws on man’s complex relationship with nature and merges these ideas with the qualities and limits of the material. Recent works look at theories of light and gravity as presented by physicists and how these affect our perception of natural forces.
Glass allows her to work with elasticity, transparency and light in expressing the energy present in constructed form. Often she leaves an aspect of the work to ‘finish itself’ in the kiln thus retaining a sense of spontaneity. Currently, she is working on an MA in Art and Science at Central Saint Martin in London.
Adam Aaronson
Adam Aaronson is an established glass artist who is constantly experimenting with different techniques to develop his unique work. This ranges from small-scale vessels to large sculptures that can be installed indoors or outdoors. At Clyde & Co he will be exhibiting new work that he has been developing in 2018. This includes sculptures entitled “Sanctuary” together with sculptural vessels from his new Fantasy Jewel body of work.
“Sanctuary” creates a cocoon from 23.5ct gold leaf, which is completely encapsulated inside a thick casing of clear glass. Is that a secret thought, a life form or an inner world? Whatever it is, nothing can get at it, perfectly safe in its sanctuary.
The “Fantasy Jewel” vessels are deliberately ambiguous. Are those really jewels punctuating the structure or is that seaweed floating over a coral reef? Perhaps those are figures swimming around the vessel, or is it an exotic bird’s nest? Either way, there seems to be a hint of “Jackson Pollock meets cage-cup”!
