Helen Smith is a glass artist working in kiln-formed or ‘warm’ glass in her studio in the north-west corner of the Wirral peninsula, creating glass wall panels and sculptural forms full of light, colour and texture.

“Inspiration very much comes from a sense of place.  Living so close to the Dee estuary my regular walk is along the strandline – it is pebbly and uneven so usually I am looking down, paying attention to where I put my feet so I don’t turn my ankle. The ground here changes with every tide; sometimes there is golden sand, at other times the sand has been scoured away exposing the red clay beneath. But everywhere there are stones; pebbles; half a house brick smoothed into a rounded shape by the tumbling action of the waves; broken shells like so many pale crescent moons half buried in the sand and mud. These are the impressions that I take back to my studio and which find their way into my glass.”

Each glass piece is initially worked flat, layering up glass powder, glass frit (small chunks) and sheet glass before firing it in the kiln. Once the glass has been fired and sandblasted to clean the surface another layer is added. Typically, Helen’s work will go through this process several times. In the final stage the piece is sandblasted to give the glass its tactile matt surface before being returned to the kiln one last time to be fired again at a lower temperature, either flat or over a former to create a sculptural form.

After an early career in IT, Helen studied Applied Arts at Glyndwr University where she specialised in glass, and has been working with glass ever since. She regularly exhibits both locally and further afield.

Away from the studio Helen is a co-founder of the LAKE gallery in West Kirby, an active member of the small team which coordinates the popular annual Wirral Open Studio Tour, and a member of the Contemporary Glass Society.

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A set of 3 panels loosely inspired by sailing (I u

Remember these colourful little gems? Pretty, but

Delighted to announce that I'll have my own work o

After months, this piece is finally finished and r

The moment of truth... I fire my work face down in

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