Helen works with kiln formed glass and glass powders in her studio in the north west corner of the Wirral peninsula, creating textural, tactile glass artworks which are strongly influenced by her coastal location.
“I am an ‘accidental’ glass artist; having returned to university to study applied arts after a career in IT, I expected to specialise in ceramics (or maybe metalwork…) but there was something about glass that kept drawing me back.
My work is a response to the interplay of light and surface in the landscape and natural world around me. I am fascinated by textural surfaces and the way they change with the light; by the ever changing surfaces and light of the tidal landscape; by the contrast between the inner and outer surface of, say, a shell, or a piece of bark….”
Helen is very involved in her local arts community and is an active member of the small team which coordinates the popular annual Wirral Open Studio Tour. She is also a member of the Contemporary Glass Society, helping to coordinate the CGS Northern Hub occasional get togethers.
Selected Exhibitions & Events
| 2020 Open Culture Winter Arts Market @ Liverpool Cathedral ‘Material Matters’ group exhibition with the ReMix group at Castle Park Arts Centre, Frodsham, Cheshire ‘WOST 2020 @ Staacks’ group exhibition by artists from the Wirral Open Studio Tour at Staacks Gallery, West Kirby, Wirral ‘The Politics of Sameness’ Contemporary Glass Society online exhibition Williamson Open Exhibition (online) at the Williamson Art Gallery, Oxton, Birkenhead ‘Walking the Shore’ solo exhibition of glass powder landscape work at Staacks Gallery, West Kirby, Wirral |
| 2019 Open Culture Winter Arts Market @ Liverpool Cathedral Oxton Art Fair guest artist at the Williamson Art Gallery, Oxton, Birkenhead ‘Glorious Glass’ group exhibition with the Contemporary Glass Society at World of Glass, St Helens ‘Collaboration’ group exhibition with the ReMix group at Castle Park Arts Centre, Frodsham, Cheshire Liverpool Art Fair Wirral Open Studio Tour Williamson Open Exhibition at the Williamson Art Gallery, Oxton, Birkenhead |
| 2018 Open Culture Winter Arts Market @ Liverpool Cathedral ‘Changes’ group exhibition with the ReMix group at Castle Park Arts Centre, Frodsham, Cheshire Wirral Open Studio Tour |
| 2017 Open Culture Winter Arts Market Annual group exhibition at Castle Park Arts Centre, Frodsham, Cheshire Wirral Open Studio Tour |
| 2016 Open Culture Winter Arts Market Annual group exhibition at Castle Park Arts Centre, Frodsham, Cheshire Wirral Open Studio Tour |
| 2015 Open Culture Winter Arts Market Annual group exhibition at Castle Park Arts Centre, Frodsham, Cheshire |
| 2014 Open Culture Winter Arts Market Annual group exhibition at Castle Park Arts Centre, Frodsham, Cheshire Designer Crafts at the Mall with the Society of Designer Craftsmen at the Mall Galleries, London SW1 |
| 2013 Open Culture Winter Arts Market Contemporary Craft Open Exhibition at Unit Twelve Gallery, Stafford Annual group exhibition at Castle Park Arts Centre, Frodsham, Cheshire New Designers at the Business Design Centre, London N1 De-Junk, Re-Junk an exhibition by Merseyside artists using recycled materials at the Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead |
Education & Qualifications
| 2016 – 2019 Masterclasses with various international glass artists including Richard Parrish, Paul Messink, Marina Hanser, Claire Hall. |
| 2010 – 2013 BA (Hons) Design: Applied Arts (specialism: glass) Glyndwr University, Wrexham |
| 2009 – 2010 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design Wirral Metropolitan College, Birkenhead |
| 2001 – 2005 City & Guilds Diploma Creative Embroidery Parts I & II Cajobah Gallery, Birkenhead |