About Anna

Having spent 20 years working in the textile field of the creative arts, I decided to explore new craft forms. I returned to full time education and, in 2000, graduated from De Montfort University with a first class honours degree, specialising in kiln formed glass.

I design and hand craft all the pieces in my Nottingham studio. My current collections include lifestyle pieces of semi-functional glassware – bowls, dishes and platters – in limited editions. Decorative pieces include framed panels, tiles and free-standing forms. My recent expansion into dichroic glass jewellery has proved so popular, I’ve now developed my exclusive Zellij Collection available online.

My inspirations are not always easy to pin down but include the many references I have built up from endless hours spent at the Victoria and Albert Museum , and my own photography of ancient and contemporary architecture. I am also influenced by the paintings of Paul Klee and Georges Braque.

The process I go through when creating a design is very organic and instinctive. Having first decided on a colour scheme, and then rhythmically build a design in layers, one colour at a time, deciding on the shapes of colour as I lay them down. Each decision is a bold one; there is no rubbing out as I go along, or touching up and tweaking at the end.

Unlike most craft disciplines, I have to decide on and realise the decorative expression of colour and texture on fused glass before the form is made. Although I work decisively and swiftly, the firing process means that, depending on the size and shape, a piece can take two days to create.