A Box of Glass Experiments

One of the things I love most about being a maker is seeing how other artists approach materials and ideas.

Earlier this year, I packed up a box of glass experiments from my studio and sent them to Inna from JamInc Jewellery. The box contained all sorts of fragments, test pieces and curious objects that had accumulated on my workbench over time. Some were experiments that hadn't found a home, while others were simply pieces that felt too interesting to throw away.

Once the box left my studio, I had no idea what would happen, but a few months later, photos of the finished work arrived.

It was fascinating to see familiar pieces of glass transformed into something completely new through Inna's playful and imaginative approach to jewellery. Fragments I recognised from my torchwork had been combined with resin and reinterpreted in ways I could never have anticipated.

What I found particularly interesting was that, although we work independently and in very different materials, the finished pieces shared a connection to the shoreline. The resin, glass and organic forms felt reminiscent of treasures collected along the water's edge; fragments shaped by time, tide and chance. It was a connection that emerged naturally through the process rather than being planned from the beginning.

The collaboration reminded me that materials can have many lives. Something that begins as a studio experiment can become the starting point for an entirely new body of work when viewed through someone else's eyes.

As makers, we often spend so much time refining our own ideas that it's easy to forget how exciting it can be to let go of control. Sending that box away felt a little like releasing a message in a bottle and waiting to see where it would wash ashore.

The resulting pieces are not for sale, but I wanted to share them because they represent something I value deeply: curiosity, experimentation and the unexpected possibilities that emerge when artists collaborate.

I hope you enjoy seeing the results as much as I enjoyed discovering them.