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I struglled with this one if I'm honest, i never work in charcoal any more so it took some getting used to!

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Who says money doesn't grow on trees!

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"3 ft in inches"

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Draw a 3 panel narrative of your greatest fear

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Draw a 3 panel narrative of your greatest fear

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This really happened !!
scarred for life

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messed up the mouth but hey ho

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'Every-day man'
a HERO just for waking up!

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Shoes that make you walk like the intro to the film 'Saturday night fever' 24/7!!
here's a link if for some miraculous reason you've never seen it..
https://youtu.be/XfwQ_7xqO7Y

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Draw a still life with your non dominant hand 

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Draw a still life with your non dominant hand 

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hope you can tell its a lamp

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Draw a self portrait with your eyes closed

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Draw a self portrait with your eyes closed

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vaguely resembles a human

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Honestly had so much fun drawing this! my design for a machine to build a happy life (please read the labels)

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This is a map of Birmingham the way i see it (by pubs!)

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The 'Cat-Bat-Hat'
(many cats, bats, and indeed hats were harmed in the making of this product)

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I managed to do two!

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Commissioned to be installed in their new Manchester office
Instagram @trottersjewellers

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appreciation post!

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Custom crown wall piece for client unnamed

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London office mural commission (yet to be completed)
wedbsite lspersonalshopper.co.uk/

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Home mural commission for client unnamed
(unfinished)

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i have several other commission projects on the go as well, inlcuding..
- memorial commission
- tattoo design/concept
- set of fashion flats
- home mafia style mural
- (and talk of more incoming)

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`I wanted to look at how angels have been portrayed in traditional works of stained glass, focussing specifically on colour palette and wing structure to understand how to achieve adequate detail without becoming overly complex.

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For my initial experimentation i thought that using impossible shapes as the basis for my first practical introduction to stained glass would be simplistic but still visually effective .

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work station at work

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cant lie i'm rocking the headgear

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I really enjoyed my first experience with fully leaded stained glass, as expected i cam across a few challenges and think i learned a lot! Working with the glass itself was very tricky, i feel like it's a medium that you have to really understand to use properly. considering this, the design i used was fairly simple (specifically equilateral) so as not to overcomplicate the assembly. and soldering process

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Due to covid, access to university facilities has been difficult or altogether impossible. So instead I decided to go back to Birmingham where I will luckily have the space to create a makeshift workshop and do as much as I can with the tools already in the house. Preparation included...
-making a makeshift glass grinder by attaching a diamond drill bit to an old pillar drill (not particularly safe but hey ho)
- building custom leading and glass assembly station surface (from scrap wood)
- sourcing pliers, glass cutter, breaker tools, safety goggles, ear muffs
- Purchasing any necessary extra equipment/materials such as, leading (8mm, 11mm, & 14mm), various coloured/textured glass, solder, soldering iron.

(if im honest, covid has really messed with my plans for third year but i feel like I've managed to adapt sufficiently!)

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Assembly was a tricky process. In order to solder all of the edges correctly the connecting shape and angle of lead ends have to fit together perfectly (resulting in countless re-cuts). The soldering wasn't too difficult, you just have ot remember beforehand to properly clean all lead involved and to apply a bonding agent by applying a coat of tallow or a chemical flux solution (water combined with either hydrochloric acid, zinc chloride or rosin) to the lead. To secure the glass and give the lead its signature dark stain you must first mix white putty (linseed oil & calcium carbonate) with a black staining agent. This mix is then then scrubbed into every crevice of the piece simultaneously staining the lead. Finally rub sawdust into the piece to clean off the glass and leave to dry overnight.

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An interesting technique but i don't think its appropriate for what i have in mind. Definitely one for the future though!

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For my second practical glass experiment i wanted to increase the complexity but didn't want to overcomplicate things too quickly. i decided to continue running with the impossible shape theme in the form of an equilateral octagon.

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As expected the making of this was much more complex, but again taught me a huge amount. the processes are beginning to feel more natural and less foreign. I feel like i can start planning the big one..
(ominous i know)

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With stained glass as my medium and handmade craft as my inspiration I thought it was appropriate to run with the religious theme with which it is often associated, reinvented as a homage to the world of craft itself.
(I am particularly interested in the portrayal of angels in stain glass)

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For my third and largest glass project i wanted to combine symbolism associated with craftsmanship and traditionally 'holy' body language (spread arms, raised head etc)

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"quality isn't expensive, it's priceless" Frank Massey

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permanent marker is drawn over to signify the thickness of the leading. This will help when cutting the glass to judge how the piece will fit together.

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I decided to isolate the cutting and assembly of the wings because they are the most complex part of the piece (easier assembled separately)

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To do this i built a custom 'buffer' to build the wings into.

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To build the wings i actually used the different textures of clear glass to give the illusion of different types of feathers. These are comprised of  a regular muffle (central wing linings), tight stipple (wrist and leading edge of the wing), and lined texture (the primary and secondary feathers)

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honestly one of the biggest challenges is constantly reapplying plasters to my continually shredded fingers. I have to be very meticulous with this as by handling lead with open cuts i risk getting lead poisoning (not good).

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I actually built three different head designs that used different techniques and different facial structures. I put out an instagram poll to see which was the public favourite, middle was victorious!

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I ended up using a special technique for the facial features. Instead of dividing the head shape into separate pieces i built it from one piece of glass, which was then overlaid with thin strips of lead that I custom cut.

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My overall method for the construction of this piece has been to isolate individual areas of concern (head, wings, arms, etc) and put them together after. turns out the assembly is the hardest part

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I haven't taken any photos for a long time so this must seem like a bit of a leap. the assembly of the body an wings went fairly smoothly, but the surrounding colour is turning out to be far more complex than i anticipated. #slowandsteadywinstherace

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i had an idea of how to include my stain glass piece in a 'final installation' of sorts. I'd like to build a mock alter to the craft world to showcase the glass, lighting candles, presenting tools as religious relics, and backlighting the glass itself (giving the feel of a church). At the very least it should provide for an interesting photoshoot!

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I produced three illustrated variation of the piece, combining handmade and digital processes.

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By visiting the Watts Chapel & Cemetery website I able to see and learn about the chapel by means of a virtual tour. This taught me a great deal about symbolism and hierarchy within religious artwork of the era, techniques I hope to employ in future work. The chapel actually features a depiction of an angel of each of its four walls, surrounded by symbols representing essential human virtues. The chapel seems to me to be an incredibly introspective comment on the artists personal views on religious harmony.

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Fallen Angel

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Its the depiction of angels that I'm really interested in though. Carved in an almost Celtic meet Pre-Raphaelite fashion and painted in brilliant reds, gold, and green. The end result is really quite striking and to me doesn't usher a feeling of purity but something almost slightly malevolent.

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Lead came features as a pre made structure for stained glass. It is used to encase each piece of glass and fix them to each other and is the most traditional method of assembling stain glass. Came comes as either 8mm, 11mm, & 14mm for the inside of the piece, and a special thicker came to encase the whole thing.

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Louis Tiffany was best known for his work in the art nouveau movement and stained glass lamp designs, but I am more interested in influence he had on the world of traditional stained glass. Tiffany was responsible for inventing and popularising a new stained glass technique called 'Copper Foiling' this allows artists to take the complexity of their pieces to another level and even able to render three dimensional shapes.
Although i have experimented with copper foiling previously i felt that for my work at the moment using lead would be most appropriate due to its traditional influences, but I look forward to exploring it in the future.

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Copper foiling (as previously mentioned) was invented by Louis Tiffany in the 1890's, allowing for more complex and even three dimensional designs. this is different to the came lead technique, instead you apply a sticky copper foil to the edges you want to join together. You then brush on a flux mix (to aid in bonding) and solder over all of the copper.

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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Kelmscott manor was the summer home of William Morris and stands as a testament to the British Arts and Crafts Movement. I can really identify with the ethos of the A&C movement, I feel like sometimes I'm fighting a bit of an uphill battle against new technology and processes. After the pandemic has died down I'd love to visit Kelmscott and see it for myself!

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“The poor man’s bible” Symbolism in Stained Glass

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“The poor man’s bible” Symbolism in Stained Glass

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Traditionally the church has used the depiction of Biblical events in stained glass as a way to teach those who could not read about the events and lessons in the Bible, making symbolism an essential part of the design process. Hierarchy is typically shown through the size and elevation of the figure (e.g. a saint would be shown as both larger than a clergyman, but an angel would be depicted as larger than both). Halo's are also used to convey spirituality.

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Colour is also very important in religious glasswork and have meanings such as...
Red: Not surprisingly represents the blood of Christ or the martyrdom of saints.
Blue: symbolises heaven, hope, sincerity, and piety like the Virgin Mary
Green: Is the colour of grass and nature and therefore represents growth and rebirth, life over death.
Violet: A bold colour symbolising love, truth, passion, and suffering.
White: Is a representation of chastity, innocence, and purity is often associated with God.
Black: A very rarely seen colour in stained glass on churches it has connotations of both death and regeneration.
Yellow: Symbolises divinity, power, and glory.
Purple: It is thought that Christ wore purple before His crucifixion the colour often symbolises suffering and endurance. Purple is also used to depict royalty.
Grey: This colour or hue is a symbol of humility and mourning and can also be seen representing the immortality of the spirit.

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- Glass Grinder
- Lead Knife
- Soldering Iron
- Glass cutter
- Tallow/flux
- Glass Pliers
- Rubber cap hammer
- Wood pegs
- Wire Brush
- Base Plate
- Screwdriver
- Straight edge guide

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Glass paint (often called enamel) is comprised of a mix of metallic oxide pigments, flux, and ground glass. This is painted on to the glass and then fired to bond them together permanently. Glass painting is renowned for being very difficult and takes a lot of experience. This is mainly because most glass paints will actually change colour in the kiln so the artist has to really trust their colour theory and knowledge of the product. Although this is something I would love to try unfortunately its not possible at the moment due to covid and lac of access to a kiln.

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The Charleston festival is an annual celebration of figures such as Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, Virginia Woolf and other artists, writers and thinkers of the Bloomsbury group. The Bloomsbury group were a group of artists, poets, and philosophers that wanted the freedom to develop their own ideas and lifestyles. They were politically liberal. They also had liberal ideas about sex, which meant there were often complicated relationships and affairs between all of the members. (honestly its actually mad how much of the naughty naughty this lot were doing). The ethos of the the festival is one of personal creative freedom that places a great amount of value in individual craftsmen and practitioners.

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I have drawn a lot of inspiration from John Pipers work, I love his rule breaking approach to the world of stain glass; the severe linear divides, imperfect proportion, and Picasso reminiscent figures. This is the direction I'd like to continue my glass work journey in!

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Angel inspired by the Greek Orthodox faith

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Angel printing block

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I was contacted by my cousin who studies interior design in Bournemouth who had heard about my recent interest in glasswork. She sent me the dimensions and gave me a run down of her plans so i thought id give it a go!

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I can really imagine how still and pallid life must feel for those kept in isolation wards, so my idea was to try and really instil the idea of the continued movement of the world and eventual renewal of life, allowing them to enjoy each season every day.

The quote is courtesy of Yoko Ono

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For this exercise i thought I would try to explore stained glass in a far more modern contemporary context, used simply as an abstract vessel of colour rather than trying to represent anything figurative. The whole concept of this design was to bring some colour into what i see as an incredibly achromatic building. I left the central panels clear so the colours cast by the stained glass didn't completely dominate the room.
(pictured below, a photoshop rendering of my concept)

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This just goes to show that guitar music can make anyone look a little bit cool! Couldn't attach vid directly but this link should work.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/TnNeYz9919DXMfjY7

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It took me a long time to get into this project, even longer to start enjoying it, but once I had started, I didn’t want to stop. In retrospect I know that I could have helped alleviate a lot of stress just by starting to think about everything earlier on. My original plan was to almost canonize and deify the world of craft and the craftsmen involved, but as the project progressed, I found myself considering this less and less in my creative process and it became more of a second priority. Instead I decided it would be more important to immerse myself in the learning of the craft, treating it more as a physical exploration than a project with specific meaning. I’ve gained a massive amount of knowledge about the stained glass world (thanks to the internet and help from family) but have still only just scratched the surface. As you can expect Covid has had a huge impact on my life and this project, unfortunately I was quarantined for a month straight due to various outbreaks in my flat (including me) and was then greeted by another fun month of national lockdown. This meant I was only able to get into uni once or twice since the start of the year, making the heavy duty work I’m interested in virtually impossible in Bristol. In the end I wound up going back to Birmingham where my family were supportive enough to help facilitate my work. After that life was a lot easier and in turn, I became far more productive in my practice. I still encountered challenges every day but had the space and facility to be able to work through them. I think the best thing about this project for me has really been the learning process, by immersing myself in the glass world I have realized that it’s so much more expansive than just church restorations. The world of contemporary and abstract glasswork is a broad and varied discipline, and one I hope to continue to explore throughout the remainder of my studies (both personally and possibly through work experience or an internship). Another unexpected surprise came to me in the form of commission work, I’ve taken on little jobs here and there over the years but nothing huge. Throughout the Christmas period they kept rolling through! Doing work for these clients has been a really interesting and fun experience as the majority of it has been requested in styles completely new to me! It was a bit nerve wracking at first (judging the value of my work etc.) but I think I’m learning bit by bit. Just need to remember to reinvest that money in my art! I’m considering things like buying my own glass grinder or even a portable kiln so as to start experimenting with glass painting as I feel these could be hugely beneficial to my practice. Bring on extended study!!!!!

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I wasnt able to paint the quote i had planned on to the glass because of time constraints. So instead i made a quick photoshop version of what it would have looked like.

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mural for custom Pc offices

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i wanted to keep my website very simplistic and monochromatic aside from a gallery featuring examples of my work