She uses enamel paints that fuse when fired in a kiln. They behave in a similar way to acrylic paints, are water based and mixable, and it is Jane’s unique understanding of the way they respond to firing that makes her work distinctive. Her 20 years of working and developing this technique has earned her a loyal following.
‘The glass itself is the palette – the nature of the sea, the way the colours seem to be contained within the waves, suspended in that moment just before or after the wave has fallen – it just seems to work beautifully in glass, the water’s reflections perfectly captured in glass. After all, glass is created, in part, with grains of sand (silica) and so there is a poetic alchemy involved I think… glass made from one beach, recreated in another…’
Jane works from her studio in Bristol and has a particular love of the Cornish coast, where the clear quality of the light, the energy captured where the sea meets the land and the refreshing spirit of the landscape define the content of her work.
‘I watch as people stop to look at the sea. They may take a snap. They walk on. And the waves continue to land themselves, unwatched. It is as if there is an independent force operating. A something bigger than me. It is beyond control and so we are less than it. We respect it. We journey to see it. We play in it and on it. Or we just watch it.
When I go to the sea, it reminds me of my humanity. Painting it allows me to be caught up in a bigger thing and encourages me to look hard for beauty and the elusive quality that is life itself. And it is very beautiful.
‘The colours I see in a falling wave are the colours that describe freedom, freedom from the stuff of life that sometimes crowds in and saps energy. As a city dweller seeking that sense of freedom, they provide a momentary but lasting space to breathe deeply and be refreshed. Whether they are gentle harbour waves or huge crashing beach breakers, they represent the colour and sound of a ‘free’ sea.’
Exhibitions
Click here to see a list of exhibitions of Jane’s work.