Terri L. Colledge Glass
The Stourbridge Glassmakers The Ruskin Glass Centre
The Stourbridge Glassmakers The Ruskin Glass Centre Terri L. Colledge Glass
All photographs and interviews by Sarah McDowall
Terri L. Colledge Cameo glass maker and enamel painter
“My name is Terri Louise College and I’ve been at the Ruskin centre for four years.” “I engrave glass, do cameo glass and I enamel paint. With enamel painting, everyone piece is a one off because the I paint on whatever I think suits the blank piece of glass.” “With the cameo it’s layers of glass that are engraved. I take away the layers of glass with a drill and again everyone is a one off because they are all hand made and they can’t really be repeated”
“The painted pieces I mostly paint those for myself to sell, sometimes I do have commissions for them. But mainly I just have the pieces of glass, usually vase’s and perfume bottles and I paint on any design.” “With the painting I do, it’s enamel paint which is powdered. I mix it to an apply able consistency so I can use it. To thin it down I use aniseed oil and then it’s fired in the kiln”
“For the cameo glass, at first I use sticky back plastic, that is stuck onto the piece of glass and then I use a sand blaster to take away the glass. Then where the plastic is acts as a resist, so I peel off the plastic and I’m left with a white shape in the glass. I then use the drill to take away the glass and the deeper I go down the more of the colour underneath shows through and that’s how I get the shading.”
“At the moment I’m working on a fuchsia cameo with ivy leaves, I think the man wants his wife’s portrait in the design.” “Sometimes I draw the designs out first especially with cameo as if I haven’t done the design before I like to draw it out so I know where the darker bits are going to be.”
Stourbridge is a town, located in the West Midlands and is known to be the glass quarter of England. Glassmaking in Stourbridge can be dated as far back as 1612, the glass is still classed as some of the world’s finest and has been used many times as gifts for royalty. The Ruskin Glass Centre is a distinct space that encompasses an array of glassmakers who are all very successful. They all have their own techniques and although it might not look like the materials they use are glass, they all have one thing in common they all are glassmakers The Stourbridge Glassmakers. Thank you to Terri Colledge for her time and patience. www.ruskinglasscentre.co.uk
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