Glass

Some might say that I'm a little obsessed with glass.

If the truth be told, I suppose I am. Mostly with wine and liqueur glasses, both modern and antique, and in particular by the famous Murano glass maker Salviati pre - 1900. But if it catches my eye in some way I will want it, from a 10p piece at a car boot sale, to several hundred pounds for a particular piece from a dealer. They are all not just kept in cabinets though, we use them all at various times for what they are designed for.

Amanda collects antique tea cups, and so the glass ones are an interesting cross over between the two collections, particularly as the two above are by Salviati.

I love it's look and feel, and the various way's in which it can be fashioned.

Bimini

Great skill and technique is employed by master glassblowers to achieve such beauty.

I have always been fascinated at the ease at which glass blowers appear to employ their skills, and have wanted to 'dip my feet in' as they say, a desire that was recently fulfilled by my youngest daughter Rebecca by way of a Fathers Day gift.

So it was that on a gloriously warm and sunny day the three of us trotted down to Weymouth, and Stuart Wiltshire Glass, where a treat was in store.

Various things to make were on offer, and we both chose to make whisky tumblers, with a swirling coloured pattern of our choice. Stuart was very skilled, and after initially and quickly running us through the entire procedure by way of a dry run, we took it in turns to actually make our pieces.

It was fiercely hot in front of the furnaces, but the whole process was absolutely consuming, from the initial glass gather, to gently cooling the tumbler base before it went into it's final place to slowly cool.

Still slightly glowing and very hot indeed, the colours don't really show properly yet, but when cool they will be basically clear, with a swirl of colour throughout. I went for an amber/gold, and Rebecca one blue and the other pink.

Do I want to take it up for real?........Yep!