AOTM February 2007 - Lesley Jane Nixon

[Isabelle]

The Featured Artist for February is:

LESLEY JANE NIXON

I first got interested in lampworking during the summer of 2005, whilst off from my job as a women's counsellor and project worker.

I wasn't very good at doing nothing, so I needed to find a hobby to take my mind off the stresses of life.

I started out by making a few pieces of jewellery... first of all with those awful cheap imported Chinese beads.. Until I discovered the beautiful contemporary lamp worked beads on the market today....

That was what made me want to do it .... I was hooked !!



What has always enthralled me is the relationship between glass and fire .... I am always amazed at how the makeup of the flame can alter the colours in the finished bead.... Chemistry rocks !!



I didn't get to take my first class untill October 2006... I got the amazing opportunity to go over to Bluemoon Glassworks in Austin, Texas to take two, 2 day classes with Larry Scott .... I came away totally amazed at the guy's talent... and with lots of new skills too !!
I have always been amazed by the precision of Larry Scott.... And I am totally blown away by the freeform talents of both Jennifer Geldard and Andrea Guarino... Oh and Michael Barley..... Kim Neely... I could go on for a very, very long time .. LOL





I'm never sure that I actually have a signature style ?? Maybe my style is more ecclectic than anything else




I plan to learn stained glass techniques this year... and I would like to build on the small line of lampworking tools and equipment that I have started selling.

I am going back over to Texas later this year to take a 2 day class with Andrea Guarino..... Excited just doesn't begin to describe how I feel about glasswork right now... I am the luckiest woman ever !!!! I get to spend my days doing what I love... with the support of the most amazing bunch of contempories too !!

I sell my beads through my website http://www.madcatglass.co.uk/ and on etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/madcatglass