BRIAN BLANTHORN

Glass Pebble.
Fused dichroic glass, ground and polished

I started out with an interest in ceramics but I was always interested in what was going on inside the material of the piece. Eventually I realised that if I wanted to see the interior space then glass was the best material to work with.

I studied under Keith Cummings in the Glass Department at Stourbridge College of Art 1976-1979 and afterwards at the International Glass Centre to learn traditional glass making, specialising in cutting and polishing. This was an excellent combination of traditional and modern methods which was an important start to my professional development. Our original studio workshop was established in Peterborough, England, in 1983 and re-located to the Isle of Wight in 1997.

My inspiration comes from the myriad of patterns found in nature, such as striated and weathered rock formations and the beautiful colours and patterns of tropical marine fish.

To produce each piece of glass involves a lengthy, time consuming, process, which has taken many years to develop and perfect. From the initial inspiration the complex process involves cutting, assembling, fusing, grinding, slumping and polishing.

Recently our larger boulder-like pieces are starting to incorporate dichroic glass and optically clear glass. We investigate and develop the technical side of the glass processing from the raw materials through to the innovative development of new techniques. I have developed my own 30” blade diamond saw which is designed to be a very flexible system to cut odd shaped large pieces of glass. The blade is designed so that once the cut is finished it can be slid on its own trolley into the cut, enabling much larger pieces of glass to be used, increasingthe scale of work.

Biography pdf

Brian Blanthorn filler

Selected Biography

EDUCATION
1980 - 1983: MA Glass & Ceramics, Royal College of Art, London.
1976 - 1979: BA Glass & Ceramics, Stourbridge College of Art.

AWARDS
1985: Coburg Second Glass Prize, Commendation.
1983: Mathiledehoe Prize, Rosenthal, Germany.

COMMISSIONS
2007: Rochdale Online Awards.
2000: 16 enamel painted glass panels with glass appliqué designed from images supplied by the children Dover Park Primary School Isle Of Wight.
1999: Chandelier for private French client.

EXHIBITIONS
2007: London Art Fair 2006 - Adrian Sassoon with Clare Beck, Business Design Centre.
2006: The International Art & Design Fair, Adrian Sassoons / Clair Beck, New York.
2006: British Glass Biennale 2006 Stourbridge England.

COLLECTIONS
2003: Pebble, Nature in Art Museum & Art Gallery – Gloucester, UK purchased by National Art Collection Fund, V&A and Nature in Art.
2001: Laminated Pebble Form, Cowdy Gallery - Newent.
1996: Bowl, Victoria and Albert Museum - London.

PUBLICATIONS
2006: British Glass Biennale, Catalogue.
2002: In Studio Glass 1960 - 2000 by Graham McLaren.
1997: In Techniques of Kiln Formed Glass (updated from 1986) by Keith Cummings.