About Flow Glass

Over the years, I was involved in buying and selling products for Aurora Jewellery, which is run by my husband Steven Cooper. Working with such talented artists, producing great products inspired me. Customers often asked if products were made here in Orkney.

 

 

Our first taster of fused glass was a session at the Laldie Haans craft festival held in Orkney in 2016. It was great fun and sparked our interest. I’ve always liked crafts and have tried knitting, sewing, pottery and needle felting over the years and enjoyed creating.

Myself and Steven took a weekend course in the basics of fusing glass in 2017 which gave us an understanding of the processes involved. We went on to purchase a kiln which is the main piece of equipment required to make fused glass and started experimenting. Since then, we have been on other courses to learn new techniques that we’ve incorporated into our designs.

Our studio was completed in March 2019. Whilst its a family affair, I am the main worker but  am joined by Steven who cuts glass, makes the oak bases for tea lights and works in the development of our ranges. Our daughter Daisy has been learning about fused glass also and she works in the business. She was responsible for the design of the Ring of Brodgar range and helps with the rainbow collection. She developed the Daisy range which has been very well received.

I am inspired by the natural environment here in Orkney especially the sea and beaches. After  experimenting with fusing sand in some of our pieces we now have several ranges incorporating sand from Scapa Beach here in Orkney. The rich colours of the land and the many blues and greens of the sea and sky are incorporated in our pieces. 

 

The Rainbow range came from loving the way light shines through the glass and casts colourful shadows and rainbow colours really work well for that. As the business have developed we’ve introduced more shapes moving from flat pictures and hangings to three dimensional waves and curves.

A recent project was a large splash back for our own sink in the spare bathroom which I really enjoyed making. I hope to develop this area in the future.