Glass artists out to capture coastal light

Dec 14 2007 by Iain Laing, The Journal

A PAIR of glass artists have won an unusual commission to capture the dramatic light off the North-East coast.

Jessamy Kelly and Joanne Mitchell have been asked to create sculptures by taking casts from the sand on the beaches at North Berwick and Whitley Bay, before returning to their studio at Sunderland’s National Glass Centre to hand-craft the finished wall mounted panels for local galleries.

Jessamy said: “The designs come directly from nature inspired by the play of light and shadow on a coastal landscape, subtly seen through the interplay of light & dark shadows.”

She and Joanne launched Juo in early 2006, after they had won the University of Sunderland’s Blueprint Business Planning Award. Together they offer a varied selection of high-quality fused art glass products including giftware, wall panels, signage and corporate awards.

The business has recently been accepted onto the generate stage of Designing Demand, the national Design Council initiative to help SMEs make more effective use of design.

The programme, which is being delivered regionally by the North-East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC) and Entrust, and funded by One NorthEast and the European Regional Development Fund, is already under way in several regions throughout the UK.

Jessamy said: “We hope that the Generate phase will allow us to develop a wider perspective on our business expansion possibilities.”

Following the successful delivery of workshops across the region, Designing Demand’s Generate stage will allow businesses the opportunity to undertake strategic projects with support from the Design Council.

Willie Herdman, special projects manager at the North-East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC), says: “Many of the companies who have attended the workshops are greatly anticipating the beginning of Generate, as it is this phase which can allow SMEs to get up to five days’ free, expert one-to-one support from a Design Associate, who will help the business to identify and run the right project to move forward. We are delighted to have such a bright and innovative company as Juo on board for this exciting next stage.”