Meet stained glass artist Emma Fraser from Glass Lore
Emma Fraser is an art teacher who stepped back as head of department at the start of 2024 to follow a slower pace of life and focus on her own creativity. Having explored many different materials over the course of her career, she found stained glass was the one that spoke to her most, and so in June this year she started her own Folksy shop, Glass Lore. Here, Emma talks to fellow Folksy maker Lynn from Looney Spoons about her creative journey and her fascination with glass and the natural world.
Treat yourself to 10% off Glass Lore with the code ‘GLASSLORE10’ before the end of 2024
Hi Emma, can you introduce yourself?
Hi! I’m a (new!) stained glass artist living in Beverley in East Yorkshire with my husband, dog and cat. I make stained glass flora and fauna in every spare moment that I’m not in the garden or out walking.
I suppose I have an arty background. I’ve always made things. My first degree was in Ancient History but I found the creative bit just popped out anyway and I went back and did a second degree in Fine Art. I teach art at the oldest state school in the country and specialise in drawing, printmaking and wire work. I am now part time and balance teaching alongside my glass work.
How did you get started and how long have you been stained-glassing?
I’ve been an art teacher for the last 15 years and am proud to have helped so many students find their path to becoming painters, architects, graphic designers, blacksmiths, illustrators and much more. Still, I was never able to settle on one medium or style in my own work.
After an illness and finding out that I’m wildly neurospicy, I went on a one-day stained glass course as part of my therapy in January 2024. Making stained glass felt exciting and I just made more and more and increasingly ambitious things. Building a small stained glass business allows me to make as much as I like!
Why stained glass? (Actually I get that one, glass is an amazing medium, I know lots of people who work with hot glass because I used to make jewellery and I still have a stash of fabulous glass beads!)
You’re right, glass is such a beautiful medium – the colours and light are endlessly fascinating. I love the variety of processes that go into making pieces. You need to design, cut, grind, foil, solder and finish. Each stage has its own rules, skills and intricacies.
Around the same time I started, I also visited the Sagrada Familia and Palau de Música in Barcelona and it’s impossible not to fall in love with glass having seen such joyous buildings.
Talk us through your creative process. Do you start with an idea, make a drawing and then find the glass to fit it, or do you start with the glass and let the materials lead the process?
It starts in so many ways. Usually I’ve seen or photographed something that I want to try and interpret.
I usually go into drawing, maybe digitally, then pull the glass off the shelf to suit my ideas. I have to admit that browsing online glass catalogues is addictive.
I love the glass work of Neile Cooper and Cady Poorman and, at the moment, I’m interested in the illustration work of Jonathan Klassen and Charlie Harper. I find looking at the work of other makers, regardless of medium, hugely inspiring.
How long does it take to make, say, a butterfly?
I read somewhere that you can’t make anything in stained glass in under an hour and I think that’s quite accurate. Going flat out, I once managed 45 minutes for a small piece but there is no way you could keep that up. My most intricate piece was a 200-piece butterfly that took a full seven-day week to make in addition to design time.
I think to spend hundreds and thousands of hours on a craft, you have to love it.
What’s your workspace like? Is it messy or are you very tidy? Do you need peace and quiet to work or do you have music or the radio on?
It goes through phases. I go on a cutting blitz for a few hours, then take those pieces through all of the stages, then have a cathartic clean up as I store away the new work.
My glass room is in a bright, sunny spare room and, if I’m lucky, my little fluffy ginger cat or Fen the cockapoo come and sit with me.
I always have a podcast or audio book on to keep my little ADHD brain busy enough to focus. At the moment I’m listening to the eight book in Lucinda Riley’s Seven Sisters series and it’s utterly gripping.
You clearly get a lot of inspiration from nature. Do you spend lots of time outdoors? Are you a birdwatcher/entomologist/botanist? Do you have a favourite aspect of natural history?
I love walking, gardening and all things natural history. My final year degree project was a Darwin’s study installation about the study of entomology and natural history in art. There is really nothing more extraordinary than the creatures and plants around us and I can’t think of anything more suited to such a magical medium.
Is it dangerous to work with glass and metal? Do you need lots of tools and hot things? Massive safety goggles and gauntlets? How do you avoid getting lead exposure from the solder?
You do have to be quite safety conscious working with glass and lead. There aren’t many parts of the process that don’t have the potential to cause harm but, with the right precautions, it is safe. I use goggles and thumboni for grinding, an extractor and gloves for soldering. I always have a glass of water on hand in case of burns and a box of plasters for all the annoying little glass nicks! Perhaps I should be charging danger money?
Where do you see you and your glass going next?
Over the next few months I have lots of plans for bigger pieces. When I look at glass I see possibilities and making larger pieces gives you more chance to be creative. I want to keep developing my skills as I’m still quite new to the craft. I would love to try making a few lamps and maybe learning how to make actual windows too.
Over the next few years I’d like to build a garden studio space and see what opportunities that can bring.
What one piece of advice would you give someone just starting out with stained glass?
Try it! In fact, try as many different art techniques and processes as you can. Find the one that helps your ideas flow. I have seen so many times that moment when a material or idea gives someone what they need to express exactly what they want to and it is magical.
Thanks for such great questions, Lynn!
Treat yourself to 10% off Glass Lore with the code ‘GLASSLORE10’ before the end of 2024
Meet the interviewer
The maker asking the questions this time is Lynn from Looney Spoons who makes Cheeky and quirky handstamped spoons for all occasions.
Shop Looney Spoons on Folksy – https://folksy.com/shops/LooneySpoons
Read more about Lynn here – https://blog.folksy.com/2024/11/01/looney-spoons
