I am a designer/maker working in the exciting and very malleable mediums of Glass and Metal.

I have a BA (Hons) 2:1 in Architectural Stained Glass achieved at Swansea Institute of Higher Education. I also completed a National Certificate in Blacksmithing and Metalwork at Holme Lacy Rural Crafts Centre in Hereford.

I produce a range of works from contemporary stained glass panels to large garden sculptures incorporating both glass and metal.

I am very happy to design glass art, metal art or a combination of both. The design can be a congruent part of a building, or be a free hanging or standing sculpture either for internal or external environments. When designing I try to use the surrounding site or the architectural setting as a design tool making the finished design cohesive to its environment. It is a prerequisite that my works increase the amount of light and energy in the space where they will be sited.

I would like the viewer to take from my work whatever they want, so I am reluctant to make statements about it which would direct the viewer's thoughts too much. I feel I am very fortunate to be working in the exciting mediums of glass and metal. I am passionate about their qualities, textures and the way they respond to light by creating shadows and beams of colour. I am also enthusiastic about their many uses from architectural buildings, to art objects, to sculptural structures.

Designing with glass and metal presents opportunities to combine art with the architectural environment for which it is intended, creating an art that visually enhances the space it occupies. In my own designs I consider how glass on the flat can be given a 3D perspective and movement adding extra surfaces to the glass, but I am also interested in the processes of manipulating glass and how this contributes texturally to the design, adding tactile dimensions. At the same time I look at how metal can be used to give a supporting or framing strength to the design ensuring that its use is an amalgamated part of the overall design.

It is also important to me that if I am working on a design for a specific setting that I create a design appropriate to the site without holding any preconceived ideas of the type of processes to be used to realise it. The finished design dictates the processes used. Depending upon the scale of design and techniques required to realise it I act either as designer/maker or as designer/overseer.

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© Jackie Richardson, Glass Design 2004