Biography
September 1993 to June 1994
Stained glass construction course, Lambeth College, London, U.K.
September 1992 to July 1993
Foundation Year, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, U.K.
June 1997
BA (Hons) Public Art and Design, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, U.K.
July 1997
Fire Horse Glass established.
July 2005
Edenbridge Project. Glass workshops for young mothers. Surrey, U.K.
August 2005
Community art project between Christian and Muslim teenagers, Island House, London E14, U.K.
October 2005
Mosaic project at St. Edmund's School, London E14, U.K.
Nov 2006-June 2008
Spent time in Japan
July 2009
Mosaic, St. Mary's School, Evesham, Worcester, U.K.
I was born in Scotland and came to live in London aged 9. Until the age of 25 I was following a sensible career route, studying French and German at university. But then I did a GCSE in Art and Design and changed direction. I became interested in stained glass when a local character showed me some of his work, but admitted that he hadn't got the patience to train others in this craft. I loved the way that the light made colours and feelings sing, so enrolled on a stained glass course.
A couple of successful commissions persuaded me to start trading as Fire Horse Glass. In the meantime I'd gained a BA (Hons) in Public Art and Design. I've always enjoyed the immediacy of making work for someone's home and seeing it installed, so concentrated my efforts on domestic commissions. I also run the occasional stained glass and mosaic workshops. Projects completed include a coloured glass window at a Christian/Muslim community group and a mosaic in a primary school. In the near future I'd like to carry on with my glass art and painting, bringing together elements of both into more cohesive artworks.
Statement
A circle is the default shape of the universe. Electrons revolve around neutrons as stars spin around star systems. Life could also be described as circular - we often come back to the same points times and time again, hopefully with more knowledge and experience, but alas not always. Although not religious, I find Buddhist belief in reincarnation an interesting idea, one which I found inspiring when visiting Koyasan, a major centre of Buddhist practice and belief near Osaka in Japan.
More recent work involves artificial lights and how they represent the presence of human beings. When I was a child I llived in Scotland in a small seaside town some twenty-five miles from Edinburgh. North Berwick was a dormitory town, but also a popular vacation spot because of its interesting beaches and nearby rock islands. One of them, the Bass Rock, had a manned island and each night I would sit and watch lamp come on. I was always aware that the lamp out at sea meant another human being was there. And it was the same feeling I had whenever I gazed across the sea to Fife on the opposite coast, seeing the yellow and orange lights that hid homes, streets and cars. It was very comforting to know that other lives were going on across the water, even if I knew nothing about the people living them.
