Vicky loves colour, the bolder, the brighter, the better. Glass is all about colour, made to be displayed in sunlight, made to be played with, she appreciates that you were always told never to play with glass and to be careful when around it but in the right environment it’s a fabulous, tactile material. Vicky has been playing with glass for about 10 years now and holding workshops for around half that time. She finds it most satisfying to have a group of complete beginners turn up in the morning all saying the same thing – I’m not artistic! – and releasing them into the wild 3 hours later, hearing them exclaiming – well I never knew I could do that! With glass art there are so many techniques that can be incorporated into achieving your picture, cutting into coloured glass sheets and layering it, screen printing, powder printing, colouring with frit (small chunks of glass) to name a few. Then there’s casting and embossing which uses clay modelling techniques, the possibilities are endless. As are the items that you can make, wall art, garden art, functional pieces, jewellery as well as windows. In the main Vicky concentrates on fused glass but when she wants to challenge herself she will take on copper foiling and leadwork and she does workshops in all three disciplines. The one area that she has seen a rise in is art therapy. She classes herself as having been very fortunate enough to do workshops at a local hospice and the calming nature of concentrating on a new skill or project is the overwhelming feedback from these sessions. She has also taken glass workshops to village art groups and WI’s which have been hugely entertaining – for both sides! Vicky is also currently on the committee of Craft in Action. She can also be found at her own premises, ‘Kingcot Craft Gallery’ in Flyford Flavell.