Glory Art Glass

Ed Evans at Glory Art Glass in Sandown has a topical sea-themed collection new for this summer. Taking centre stage in the light and airy gallery, Buoys N Gulls is a beach scene bursting with beautiful hand-blown glass.

Sandblasted seagulls perch atop a breakwater, overlooking a tangle of beach-found nets and rope bejewelled with brightly coloured buoys, fish, and even a sea hedgehog. The gulls and some buoys are blasted with sand, giving them a smooth matt finish similar to ceramics, and are very tactile.

“I’ve been making the gulls for a couple of years they’ve been flying out. The buoys are all new for this summer,” explains Ed, who is island born and bred, and most definitely a beach bum. “I had the best childhood ever! Much of it was spent on beaches with family. I would spend hours exploring rock pools, snorkelling, and fishing. I still do. I love the way water plays with light and colour. I’m trying to mimic that with my glass. “Sea Stones are another new thing. Big chunks of glass, they almost look wet to touch — a stone that looks as if it’s made of ocean. The seaweed, plankton, and bubbles suspended inside are just tiny, coloured glass canes and crystals fused onto a big, gorgeous lump of gloopy glass. They bounce light beautifully!” Ed’s parents, Martin and Nicky, opened the studio to the public in 1996 and enjoyed many happy years building the business; sadly the pandemic forced an early retirement. Now Ed and his wife Hanna have picked up the torch. Hanna is technically Ed’s apprentice, but we can see who’s the boss! Hanna is also a talented lamp-worker, which is glassmaking in miniature. Tiny rods of coloured glass are melted in a fierce flame torch, creating intricate beads usually in the form of animals, insects and flowers. People go bonkers for her bumblebee earrings. Aside from beautiful glass to brighten your home, this creative couple offers glassmaking demonstrations and lessons, trophies, awards and “Eternity Glass” ashes memorials and jewellery.