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This article is extracted from a feature
appearing in the June issue of Collect It! magazine -
on sale from 13th May 2004. For further details contact www.collectit.info |
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| A Passion for Glass |
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| Tucked away on the banks of the River Severn, in the
midst of Ironbridge Gorge, is Jonathan Harris’s studio. Jonathan
is without a doubt one of Britain’s most talented contemporary
glass designers and the techniques and skills he uses to decorate
glass are unique. |
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| Early Days |
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| Jonathan’s passion for glass has been with him
since he was eight years old when, helped by his father, he created
a small glass bird. (His father, Michael Harris, was a master glassmaker
who established Mdina Glass in Malta before setting up Isle of Wight
Glass). Jonathan went on to study art and design, specialising in
glass, at Stourbridge College of Art and here he first became interested
in cold carving and decorating techniques. |
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| During the 12 years or so Jonathan was at Isle of Wight
Glass he learnt many facets of running a very successful art glass
company – from organising production, gaining hands on experience
of making pieces for sale as well as learning the administrative and
business side of the operation and by 1992 he had been appointed managing
director. Although grateful for this experience and training Jonathan
increasingly found that there was very little time for him to actually
design glass or to experiment and exploit the potential of surface
decoration and so with great reluctance he left to set up his own
studio in Shropshire close to the Black Country - one of the most
traditional glass making areas of Britain. His brother, Tim, and mother,
Elizabeth, continue to run the family business. |
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| The Jonathan Harris Glass Studio |
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| While searching for a location Jonathan and Alison
fell in love with the picturesque and tranquil Ironbridge Gorge. They
were thrilled to be given permission to establish the studio within
the Coalport China Museum complex at this unique World Heritage Site.
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| Within Jonathan’s studio, hand skills and artistry
are paramount, but there is a small amount of technology and this
is highly advanced and very efficient. For example, the gas-fuelled
furnaces are computer controlled to maintain optimum temperatures.
Hot air from the furnace is recycled to minimise pollution and improve
efficiency while the raw glass forming the core of every design is
recycled lead crystal purchased from several different British manufacturers.
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| Jonathan’s ambition in setting up the studio
was to work with very highly skilled craftsmen and glass makers, thus
giving him creative freedom to develop ever more complex and intricate
glass decorating techniques, combining different skills and approaches
and constantly challenging established boundaries in glass design
and manufacture. |
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| Inspiration and Making Techniques |
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| Jonathan’s passion and inordinate skill becomes
clear when he talks about his designs and how he has created them.
He is inspired by many sources, by the great glass designers and master
makers such as Gallé, Tiffany and Frederick Carder, but also
by the natural world and the landscapes of Shropshire, as well as
by historical art styles of art nouveau, art deco and gothic. |
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| Studio Collection |
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 Even
the simplest of studio designs involve several coloured layers of
glass, which are picked up and fused into the body of a vessel during
the making and blowing process. When I visited the glass making team,
they made this process look exceptionally easy, but a great deal of
skill is required in keeping the molten lump of glass fluid, yet stable,
whilst rolling and twisting it into specially prepared coloured powders
and glass chips and reheating in the furnace or glory hole and repeating
this process adding further colours and textures until the piece is
ready to be blown into the required shape. One of the last layers
to be added is precious metal – 24 carat gold or sterling silver
- and then much care needs to be taken to ensure the metal does not
burn away in the glory hole. |
| All glass blowing is done entirely without moulds –
callipers are used to ensure standard sizes and dimensions but consistency
is possible because of the glass makers’ skill. The free blowing
and hand making techniques result in individual pieces every single
time. |
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| After making pieces ‘relax’ in an annealing
oven at 440° centigrade so that all the stresses and strains are
taken out of the glass and the temperatures within each piece can
equalise before slowly cooling down to room temperature. This process
is vital to avoid thermal shock and the piece cracking. |
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| The base of each piece is now smoothed and hollowed
out and Jonathan personally engraves the company name and adds his
signature to the base of every single piece. |
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| Most studio designs are not limited and examples are
generally available to purchase from the Jonathan Harris Collectors
Club, retailers or direct from the studio. Because of the manufacturing
process every piece is unique although they conform to a general pattern.
'Watergarden' and 'Wilderness' are two successful collections, but
'Blue Horizon', inspired by the Shropshire landscape surrounding the
Ironbridge Gorge, is the most popular design and has been in production
ever since the studio opened in 2000. 'Eventide' is a new collection
being produced this year. |
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| Prices for studio designs start at £34.50 for
an 'Everglade' paperweight. Whilst some of the limited edition Cameo
and Graal pieces may cost well over £1,000, Jonathan is keen
to ensure there is something for every collector – the versatility
of glass as a material means that a huge variety of designs ranging
in complexity and, therefore, in price can be produced. |
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| Cameo and Reheat Cameo |
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| Whilst studying at Stourbridge Jonathan was introduced
to the historic cold glass decorating techniques of Cameo carving
and Graal. He has developed both processes and has combined the methods
resulting in innovative and fabulous surface decorations. |
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| For this process the glass makers creates the shape
of a vessel according to Jonathan’s design. They work in several
layers of enamel colour – the use of 10 or 12 layers is not
uncommon – as well as incorporating trails and loops of colours
that will create undulations such as the distant hills and valleys
on the 'Summer Landscape Vase' and the lake on the 'Winter Landscape
Vase'. Finally layers of gold or silver are added. Once the piece
is cold Jonathan carves through the layers to build up the designs
and images so that a three-dimensional relief or cameo design is obtained.
The edges of the design can clearly be felt and the surface is dry
and matt in appearance. |
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 Some
cameo designs are returned to the furnace and reheated to 800-900°
centigrade to soften the edges and to achieve a translucent undulating
effect to the whole design. The finished result is shiny and glassy
and the surface is smooth to the touch. The risk involved in returning
a piece to the furnace once Jonathan has spent hours and hours carving
through the layers is enormous and disasters can occur resulting in
the vase ending up in several hundreds of pieces. Jonathan closely
supervises the stressful reheating process, watching and directing
the glass maker as he undertakes this daring and innovative technique.
Many glass makers and designers would not perform this potentially
foolhardy step, but Jonathan is content to undertake the challenge
because “this is the nature of experimental work and only by
going into the unknown can new areas be established”. |
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| Graal |
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| Graal is similar to cameo in that cold carving through
layers is part of the process, but the essential difference is that
the shape of the final piece is not established prior to carving.
Instead the team makes a small thick cup shape combining several layers
of colour and gilding with multiple layers of gold or silver leaf. |
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 As
with all cameo and Graal designs Jonathan carves the design into the
cup shape over several hours using tools such as fine diamond burrs
and high pressure jets of air mixed with sand to engrave and cut through
the coloured layers to reveal a complex relief scene. The cup is slowly
reheated to around 500° centigrade. Using another blowing iron
a disc of glass – of the same diameter as the cup - is gently
fused to the open end of the cup forming a lid so that a bubble of
air is captured inside. The two pieces are gradually heated in the
glory hole to around 1000° centigrade. During the heating process
the relief nature of the carving disappears as the edges and layers
slowly fuse together and the image gently softens and distorts. The
piece is then carefully blown to the required shape, such as a goblet
or vase, and this twists and stretches the image further creating
a very soft and fluid pattern. Jonathan carefully directs the reheating
process because as the pattern develops he often decides to alter
the finished shape. |
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| Finished Graal items have a smooth surface –
all the sharp edges have gone - and it can either be shiny, or more
commonly, a matt iridised finish obtained by spraying with a solution
of tin. |
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| The Graal technique originated in Sweden at the beginning
of the 20th century as a method of capturing layers of colour between
clear glass, but Jonathan has taken it to new levels and is the first
designer to have incorporated multiple layers of colours, silver and
gold into the designs. |
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| Cameo and Graal collections are all issued in low numbered
limited editions, typically of 25 or 50 but every piece is unique.
Typically there is a waiting time of 12 to 18 months to supply one
of the Cameo or Graal vases. |
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| The Future |
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| Jonathan has many ideas to explore and develop but
in the short term he wants to refine and consolidate his cameo and
Graal techniques. “I want to ensure both technical and artistic
excellence in all that I do, I am passionate about craftsmanship and
technology and so I am always looking for ways to combine and exploit
these two assets so that I can create outstanding glass designs.”
Both he and Alison are very aware of the length of time collectors
have to wait to receive a reserved vase and they want to reduce this
delay if at all possible without compromising standards. |
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| Whatever Jonathan ends up doing, it is certain to be
technically breathtaking as he strives to take glass making to its
ultimate limit while the designs will be artistically brilliant and
unlike anything that has been created before. |
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| Open Day (Saturday 4th September 2004 –
Weston Park) |
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| This year’s open day will be held at Weston Park
gallery – as it is only about 15 minutes from their existing
studio. Collectors will be able to visit both sites on the day –
but Alison hopes the increased space at the Park will allow more collectors
to attend the day and most importantly enjoy the spacious and beautiful
surroundings. All the regular and favourite open day activities will
take place with lectures, video demonstrations of glass making techniques,
sales of trials and one off pieces, as well as an auction. Previews
of a new book about Jonathan's glass, written by Christopher Woodall
Perry, should also be available. For more information visit www.jhstudioglass.com. |
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| How to Find Glass Made by Jonathan Harris Glass |
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| Visit Jonathan’s Website for full details about
how to get to Jonathan’s studio. www.jhstudioglass.com
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| National Glass Collectors Fair |
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| Jonathan Harris is a regular exhibitor at the National
Glass Collectors and you can usually find plenty of examples of his work featured in our Preview
Gallery. |
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| About the Author |
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| Val Baynton is a former curator of Royal Doulton and
is now a freelance writer specialising in ceramics and glass. |
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| Contact: valbaynton@proweb.co.uk |
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| Copyright |
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| Please note that the content of this article is the
sole intellectual property of the author. No reproduction or reference
to the text of this article may be made without the express permission
of the author. |
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