Glass has been produced for over 6000 years and today this ancient craft enjoys as much care and originality as ever and uses skills and materials that differ little from those of 13th Century Venice or 3rd Century Rome. The craftsmen are trained to `feel' and `control' the material with which they work, and produce shapes and forms of the highest quality.
Founded in 1973 by International designer & glassmaker Michael Harris, Isle of Wight Studio Glass is readily recognised for the highly imaginative and original approach used in developing this magical material. Oustanding skill in design, in exploring new techniques and manufacturing has enabled the studio to become the leader in this field.
The studio was converted from ancient farm buildings, just below the famed and beautiful
St.Lawrence Undercliff. The magnificent coastline and landscape surrounding the studio has
inspired the development of the highly successful Seascape, Nightscape and Undercliff collections. Many of the richly coloured designs have won major awards and some are produced using 22ct Gold and Sterling silver leaf.
Today the company continues to prosper under the direction of the Harris family. In addition
to the standard collections, Limited Editions and `one-off' pieces are produced, many using
techniques such as `Graal' & multi-layered `casing' which demand tremendous artistic and
technical skill. Isle of Wight Studio Glass is exported worldwide and can be found in many
private and public collections.
The studio is open all year round where you can watch this magical craft performed with dazzling skill and witness truly unique glassware being created. |
