Bethany Wood

The founder of Blowfish Glass Bethany Wood graduated from De Montfort University with a Design degree and specialism in glass making and has since worked with many renowned glass makers around England. She’s been making glass for 6 years and produces her own range of glassware that sells in galleries.

If I was not an artist, I would have been a performer. I chose glass, which I do believe is a performance of art; both disciplines create the same energy. There is rhythm and adrenaline in glass making, within a routine that is planned very carefully.

Molten Landscapes

As a multidisciplinary artist, I have begun to merge my two artistic passions, painting, and Glassmaking. I like to express myself with the fluidity of the material. The directional arrangement of a color palette can form the depth of an abstract Landscape. I use my own paintings as a reference whilst making in the hot shop. Each individual artwork from my series has been inspired by a specific place.

Serendipity of abstraction has always been an inspiration for me; the coincidental elements which catch the eye of the viewer. The palette, composition, and depth I have attained are taken from nature, with a bold but elegant swipe of my own personal, expressionist style.

Molten Landscapes has been a labour of love in glass, developed over the past three years, with the skills and techniques leading to the artist’s well-known signature style. Wood initially responded to her intense appreciation of the natural world by producing works in oils, which she then transformed to painting with glass. 

Molten Landscapes for East West Fine Art

The latest iteration within Molten Landscapes for East West Fine Art captures the way Bethany
reanimates the composition of landscapes through new expressionistic techniques to provide interior spaces with a showcase of sensual texture and enchanting colour blends.

Glassmaking reflects an artist’s personality, with Bethany reflecting that this series has taught about the tension within closely controlling the techniques used for her desired effect. She has learnt to relinquish control at the precise moment to provide those ‘happy accidents’ in her glasswork.

As landscapes and the studying of landscape evolved, Bethany has also changed the micro hints of colour she pays attention to and magnifies in her works. This new range debuts a newly unique colour palette, which sets it apart from previous works from the series. 

The challenge of being able to tame the lion that is glass is trying to control everything you need by timing, thickness, temperature, and heating. There are so many techniques to achieve these landscapes of texture. The idea is ever-changing, just like the very nature of the landscape.