Glass blowing and Oil Paintings Part 1

A day out in London yesterday with Graham. We went to an area of London to which I have never been – Bermondsey Street, SE1 to visit Peter Layton’s London Glassblowing workshop. A friend recommended a visit, and I’m very glad she did as it was fascinating and the work was breathtakingly beautiful.

At the back of the ‘shop’ is the actual glassblowing workshop where four men were working blowing and shaping the glass. There were two big kilns, into which they sometimes put glass for a few moments, and two smaller open kilns into which the glass on its long blowing pole could be inserted to make it molten and workable again. The men used what looked like a big fire proof ‘mitt’ to shape the glass with their right hand while rotating the pole in their left hand. A fire proof ‘sleeve’ protected their right forearm from the heat and sparks which frequently flew off the glass.

The front of the shop was taken up by beautiful displays of finished work. Here are a few pieces which caught my eye.

It is open from 11 – 6 Monday to Saturday and 11-5 on Sundays (with a late night opening on Thursdays until 8pm) until Christmas Eve. Do go if you get the chance!

After we left the glassblowing we made our way via Waterloo up to Charing Cross, and had a delicious lunch at Caffe Concerto in Northumberland Avenue (which always makes me think of the original Monopoly board . . . ) and then – see the next post! 🙂