Artist Statement

I first started making stained glass in the late 1990’s when the kids were young, and I felt like I needed a new hobby to stop me watching TV every night after we had put the kids to bed.
Being a keen walker and traveller, it wasn’t long before I started making landscapes: places I’d been, places I wanted to visit, and places that only exist in my imagination.
Twenty years later, and after a lot of trial and error (and a few mistakes!) I’ve settled on a formula that works well. I use multi-coloured glass that I try to match to the colours I see around me. These could be the different shades of brown, green and purple on a rocky moorland, or the changing colours and textures of the sea, or a lake. The ever-changing colours of the sky and the shifting shapes of the clouds, provide endless opportunities for colour and light.
I draw much of my inspiration from the hills and moors of Derbyshire, but I’m also inspired by my other favourite places which include Anglesey, Scotland and the Lake District.
I mainly use the copper-foil technique, as it enables me to show more detail and to make much thinner joins. For bigger pieces, I’ll combine copper foil with the traditional use of lead strips, known as Lead “Came.”