My family is from Norway. My father was a fisherman. My grandfather was a fisherman. My other grandfather was a boat builder. Upon the death of my parents, I made a boat for their ashes and buried them at sea, something like a contemporary Viking funeral. I also made a boat for my best friend and former partner of 24 years, again burying them at sea. For me, the boat is meant to symbolize the voyage or journey, perhaps it is the voyage to the other side or the journey into the unknown. These deaths were extremely tragic. My best friend died of AIDS, my father committed suicide, my mother fell apart emotionally and physically and my former partner from alcoholism. What I am attempting to do is to take something that was tragic in my life and turn it into something beautiful.
Archives: Artists
New Artists and reviews
I am currently beginning a study of Ernst Haeckel’s ‘Art Forms in Nature’ (1904) in relation to cellular photographs of cancer cells. Acknowledging the glass art legacy of Haeckel’s illustrations and their influence on Dutch proponents of the Art Nouveau movement, I propose to complement my intuitive response in glass with reference to the leaded-glass work of Willem Bogtman, relief sculptural decoration by Michel de Klerk and the graphic design examples of Theo Nieuwenhuis, located in the Scheepvaarthuis, Amsterdam.
Rachael’s work draws inspiration from the intricate structural patterns found in nature which govern their growth and determine their final shape. Exploring the organic shapes and patterns found in microscopic plant cells, her work is formed intuitively, from many pieces of glass, repeating, expanding, to create a flowing form, reflecting the movement of organic growth. Fascinated by the complexity of working with glass, Rachael is currently exploring the alchemy of chemical reactions within the glass fusing process.
COMMISSIONING A STAINED GLASS ART WINDOW OR PANEL
THE PROCESS
Firstly I would arrange and make a site visit to discuss your requirements and to make preliminary measurements. A visit to her studio is also an option where you can see glass samples and discuss thoughts and ideas.
I use email to correspond and discuss design requirements if you are not local, which also works well. Contact by phone to help discuss ideas is also part of the process. You will not be charged for the initial visit or design consultation.
A ballpark quote may be given at this time however prices can vary according to the amount of work involved.
After the initial meeting, I will gather ideas together from different resources to start the design process. A quote will then be submitted at this time.
Once I have a few ideas to work with these will then be worked on to present to you in the form of small scale colour sketches. At this point, 30% of the total amount quoted will be required. Another site visit will be needed to check the measurements of where the stained glass panel is to be situated.
From the approved sketch a full-size drawing, known as a cartoon, will be made and amended if necessary at this point. Choosing the glass for the panel now takes place and before the glass cutting starts an agreement of which glass to be used is made.
This can be done by you visiting the studio or visiting you with glass samples or if you are at some distance they can be sent by post.
The glass cutting then begins, any glass painting is done and then fired in a kiln. Now the panel is ready to be leaded and then cemented. Please allow 3-6 months, depending on the complexity of this process to be completed.
Installation can be arranged if you are not fitting them yourselves, payment will need to organsied be between you and the fitter.
My work is informed by a daily connection with the cyclical rhythms of the natural world. From my workspace in rural SE Kent I observe and record the patterns of growth and decay that nature reveals in a continual loop. I am interested in what is hidden inside eg: pods, eggs, seeds, and how they reveal something completely different as they burst into life.
I am mainly an oil painter, but have fallen in love with glass. It’s all about the color:)
I recently (2022) completed a commissioned public artwork for Rush University Medical Center. It is a 4′ x 5′ fused and painted stained glass window installed in a main hallway window. Chicago, Illinois. USA
In 2020 I completed a commissioned 44′ tall glass and metal sculpture for Glenview Community Ice Center, Glenview, Illinois. USA
In 2018 I completed a commissioned 15′ tall metal and cast glass sculpture for Synnestvedt Arboretum in Glenview Illinois. USA
I have been creating glass art for my garden, making a hanging made from feathers inserted into a bicycle wheel, a bed of glass dahlias on iron stems and lately experimenting with multimedia mosaics.
I have recently been trying slumping and also freeze and fuse.