REVIEWEXPERIENCE
L
ooking for a gift?
Forget the race day
vouchers or the
grow-your-own
purple carrot kits as
there’s a new experience to
behold. Glassblowing. I say
new, it’s been around since the
1st Century, which makes me
wonder why I’ve never picked
up the blowpipe sooner.
glassblowing he was hooked, I
was led to the molten glass. A
surprisingly unworried
Anthony allowed me to gather
my own ball of glass which is a
little like taking honey from a
jar, albeit a 150kg jar with
honey that if dropped on your
foot would start to eat away
very quickly at you. Once
removed we dipped into glass
crystals of festive greens, blues
N e s t l e d i n t h e c e n t r e o f and whites before returning to
London, a short walk from the heat to spin the colours
London Bridge, is the Peter together.
Layton London Glassblowing
Studio. The first half of the Now blended it was time to
studio is an art gallery of blown blow the glass into, ahem, a
shapes and colours. Some perfect round bauble. Working
resembling birds or fruits, with one of the galleries most
some with atomic precision precision glass cutting artists I
cutting and sculpturing and knew it was here I had to
some with such layered detail impress. Let’s just say it was
you’d think the glass had been good to have an expert on
threaded afterwards.
hand!
Behind the brilliantly white art
studio you can see the real men
and women at work. It’s a
pleasure to see the grit behind
the beauty, as if a production of
Swan Lake was taking place in
the engine room of the Titanic.
CREDIT: TheGayUK
It seems just walking through
the door makes you part of the
family as Peter and his team of
permanent and visiting gaffers
delight in showing you around
their works. Of course it wasn’t
long before it was my turn to
pick up the pipe and blow
myself some art. On today’s
programme, Christmas
baubles.
Gloved up and goggles on I was
ready for the 1100 oC furnace.
Guided by Anthony Scala, who
tells me how after winning a
competition, aged 14, to try
Once shaped and clipped it’s
then sent to cure for a couple of
days.
My bauble arrived in the post
and without being bias I would
say it’s certainly a studio
worthy piece. The fact it had air
bubbles, a slight dint in the
base and looks more lemon
shape than sphere, only adds to
it’s value and charm. Ok, I don’t
think it’ll quite pass Peter’s
keen eye for only displaying the
studio’s finest works, but it’s
certainly a piece and experience
I’ll treasure forever.
Peter Layton
London Glassblowing
62-66 Bermondsey Street,
London, SE1 3UD
0207 403 2800
Mon-Sat 10am - 6pm
THEGAYUK | ISSUE 17 | DEC 2015 33