Jess is a Bristol artist and maker who has become one of my closest friends and also helps me organise our local BS4 Arts Trail. She engraves beautiful glass frames with her illustrations of leaves, flowers, plants and pollinators in her beautiful garden studio. She also makes personalised engraved glassware and larger bespoke pieces.
Even though I know her well, there is so much you never really ask the people you know and love, and it was so lovely to learn more about where she feels most at home and what really inspires her. I hope you enjoy finding out more about Jess and her unique craft.
1. What’s your favourite plant or flower?
This was such a hard question as my favourites change with the season but I think sunflowers are always what pops into my head when I think of flowers I love, I had them as my wedding flowers and they always make me smile.
2. What’s your favourite tree?
My favourite species of tree would be birch, their ghostlike whiteness is always to striking and something that I love to draw and paint. My favourite tree is the blossom tree at the top of the hill in Arnos Court Park, Bristol (in this photo). It’s such a well placed tree with a beautiful shape. It has become an event to watch the blossom arrive at the start of Spring and marvel at another year passing and my children growing, I love how trees can be way-markers in our lives.
3. Coast, woods, mountains or meadows — where do you feel most at home in nature?
I grew up in South Devon and so the coast is very special to me but I would have to offer Dartmoor as the space that truly makes me feel most at home in nature with the sweeping views from the top of a tor. The nature here is as hard and ancient as the granite outcrops that form the footing. The vastness of the moors gives you a sense of wonder of nature that is hard to find elsewhere. It lends itself to imagination and storytelling as a way to understand the landscape and our place in it.
4. What’s your favourite thing to draw, and what drew you to it?
Feathers have been a motif in my work for as long as I have been drawing and engraving, they are an anchor point that I can return to when I feel stuck for inspiration. I started drawing feathers because of their fragile beauty. I believe they hold the memory of flight which is what gives them their childlike magic. When I started to engrave them on glass people connected with them being reminders of passed loved ones and bought them as tokens of remembrance. I love it when my work tells stories for people when words can be hard to find.
5. What made you start making?
After my fine art degree, I was exploring experimental drawing techniques and starting seeing what I could do with a Dremel drill. Once I found glass engraving I was hooked, the possibilities feel endless. I have since upgraded to a micro motor tool but the technique is still the same. Point engraving is where you use a diamond or stone burr to scratch the glass. I love the way my drawings translate into something more sculptural when I engrave the glass, they play with light and shadow which give the drawings depth and movement.
6. What does a perfect making day look like for you?
Cups of tea punctuate a day of getting ideas out of my head. The radio is on, usually radio four for company. I work in my garden studio so I can pop out and sit by the pond at lunchtime when my cat joins me (she’s not allowed in my studio for safety reasons but usually not far away). I usually have a few projects on the go at once, so I can move between them, I like the variety of making things on different scales. Most of my work I make to order, so no two weeks look the same. A perfect day would see me finish work for a lovely customer in the morning before working on new ideas in the afternoon.
7. What’s the last thing in nature that stopped you in your tracks?
I have been totally obsessed with light and shadows through trees recently. The Japanese word komorebi describes the feeling of being in the dappled shade of a tree. The other week, the wind was up but the sun was shining. The shadows from the tree being blown in the wind looked like they were dancing. I literally stopped in my tracks and tried to photograph the scene on the path in front of me.
8. Which season shows up most in your work, and why?
Autumn is my season, I love the transition between summer and winter. But I love noticing the season we are in and try to have work that suits the mood and needs of the time of year. Right now as its the height of summer, I’m enjoying engraving the detailed wings of butterflies or trying to capture the fleeting beauty of the flowers that fill my garden.
9. What do you hope people feel when they buy your designs?
A feeling of connection and storytelling that is personal to them and their reason for buying it. Whether its a token of sympathy for a grieving friend or a joyful birthday gift, the feeling of noticing and finding meaning is the same.
10. What are you working on right now, or what’s coming next?
Birth flowers. Each month has its own flower to represent it, engraving these personal emblems will hopefully make sweet little gifts. I’ve always enjoyed the language of flowers as a way to add meaning to gifting opportunities and it’s something I am planning on adding to my designs.
You can browse all of Jess’s beautiful engraved glass frames in the online shop, with more coming soon.
