Clare Gaylard Glass 

Lampwork Glass, Jewellery and Wearable Art, created by me: Clare Gaylard in my Suffolk studio.

'There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion' Francis Bacon

I'm a British artist and I graduated from Loughborough College of Art and Design with a BA Hons in Silversmithing & Jewellery in 1989. I went on to work very happily as an art teacher and head of year at an East London secondary school before moving to live for more than a decade overseas in Kenya, Thailand and Singapore. During that time I worked for various NGO's, latterly as an art gallery curator - and had three children. 


In 2006 I took a workshop in glass at Hoglund Glass in New Zealand, taught by Micah Lamar. Having always created (in any media to hand) I found the 'the one', nothing is quite like hot glass. I went on to have solo exhibitions, home studios, I taught workshops, and was an artist in residence while living in Bangkok and Singapore.


Returning to Suffolk in 2010 (my art foundation was in Ipswich) I joined Suffolk Open Studios and became a selected member of The Suffolk Craft Society. In 2014 I moved from my home studio in Framlingham, to a re-purposed barn in nearby Earl Soham, where I create, teach, exhibit and sell my work.

                                                                   Flamework / Lampwork

The traditional, scaled-down version of glassblowing. Glass is melted in an intense flame, wrapped around a steel rod then worked and sculpted while molten.

Working with glass is a synthesis of powerful elements: colour, light, fire and a medium that moves rapidly between liquid and solid states. 

                                                              Practice

As an artist and designer-maker I'm engaged in approaching the universal through the particular. All work and ideas are my own, I do not copy or mass produce.


The glass and the processes I use are of a quality chosen to extend the lifespan  and beauty of my work. I kiln anneal and hand clean all my glass. Annealing soaks the glass at 960 degrees then cools it gradually over ten hours, to reduce the chance of stress fractures and strengthen the glass.

                                                                   Places

I am a selected member of The Suffolk Craft Society and participate in exhibitions.


Visits to my studio by appointment. I have work in progress, for sale and I work to commission.


You will find  a range of my glass at Great Walsingham Gallery

 

I take part in exhibitions throughout the year, details of upcoming exhibitions can be found here.