The following article has been written by GSoI member Catherine Keenan. Catherine Keenan is a glass artist based on the lovely north coast of Ireland, in Portstewart.
Finding a glassblowing studio whose hiring rates are reasonably
priced, with a skilled assistant on hand, if desired, and the studio is always
up and running and available has proven difficult to find over the years. Since 2009 I had travelled to Sunderland to
hire at the National Glass Centre, but with their major renovations last summer
I was forced to find a new venue. So I
took a chance on the ‘Stourbridge Glassblowing Studio’, at the Ruskin Glass
Centre. It is part run by my ‘old’
teacher from the International Glass Centre, Stephen Foster who shares it with
Peter Fricker and brothers Ian and Vic Bamforth.
A major draw for me to hire their studio is the fact that Ian
Bamforth assists me, therefore he knows all the workings of the space and as a
skilled maker can offer helpful advice.
He’s also easy going and a good laugh...that always helps when under
pressure due to the expense and time restraints of hiring!
Although you will need to bring your own hand tools, with a some
prior communication, the studio has everything else you would need. I would suggest to other irish makers who are
flying over to order your glass colour so it is delivered directly to the
studio.
There is an introductory offer for your first day of hiring; £135
and subsequent days are
£170 each. It’s
£80 per day for an assistant.
If you can spare some time to see the area there are several museums
and quite a few studios to visit. The
Ruskin Glass Centre, which hosts the British Glass Festival and Biennale, has
many glass artists based there and also the recently opened Webb Corbett
Visitor Centre. I was fortunate enough
to be personally shown around the museum by former factory master glassblower
Malcolm Andrews. He also happened to
teach at the International Glass Centre, Brierley Hill (before my time) and had
very fond memories of a young Paedar Lamb!
Not far up the road (it’s called the ‘Crystal Mile’) is the Red
House Glass Cone, which is the only fully intact example of the18th century red
brick glass cones that used to be dotted all over the area. There’s a museum display and glassblowing
studio with live demos. Then, just a bit
further still, is Broadfield House Glass Museum which has a huge glass
collection ranging from the 17th century to the present day. You can also watch skilled glassblower
Allister Malcolm at work.
If you like real ale I can’t imagine there’s a better place in
England to sample a wide variety of great beer in real pubs...that’s another
reason to enlist Ian as an assistant as he’s a wealth of knowledge on decent
pubs!
It’s easy enough to get to Stourbridge from Birmingham airport,
there is a train station at the terminal (connected by a monorail), you get the
train to Birmingham New Street, then walk to Moore Street Station (5 mins) and
get the train to Stourbridge Junction, and finally get a connecting train to
Stourbridge Town. You can get a taxi
from there, or ask at the bus station for a stop by the Ruby Cantonese Chinese
Restaurant which is beside the Ruskin Glass Centre.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me via email:
catherinekeenan126@gmail.com
by Catherine Kennan
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