Archives: Artists

Celebrating 30 years making glass in Rosedale 2025

My name is Rebecca Mansbridge and I love to explore new techniques and challenge the limits of what can be done with fused glass. I embrace glass as an artform, more than ‘just craft’. Designing with colour, texture and structure. I draw my inspiration from the beauty of glass itself – its fluidity, transparency, vibrancy and touch. I hope that the resulting glass pieces speak the language of not just the long, long history of glass craftsmanship, but also the beauty and emotion of art.

My aim is to create statements that will hopefully take you beyond the conventional idea of what is fused glass and take you on a journey where you delight in the joy of rich colours, the wonders of light and the simple pleasure of touch.

I love working with glass. Its always a visual delight and because each piece is handmade and shaped by the heat of the kiln in a way that I can never fully control, every piece I make is genuinely unique and individual.

Kiln formed glass; slumping; casting; mould making; teaches basic glass fusing techniques;

GRADUATE SHOW – terroir…

Meaningful castings, tracing the landscape of ancient and undisturbed woodland, capturing the metaphysical experience of being nurtured in nature.

Familiar forms and textures, recorded in ancient Sussex woodland, crafted in new and unexpected ways to create a collection of curiously compelling sculptural glass objects.

Developing a collection of sculptural pieces inspired by the natural and industrial textures of Isle of Harris, featuring textures of the world famous Harris Tweed, geology and coast. Annual collaboration exhibition with landscape photographer at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Hampshire.

My Monday and Tuesday weekly sessions for people wanting to develop their skills and language in glass continues to go from strength to strength, resulting in another gropu on Wednesday night.

I continue to teach Introduction to Fusing as well as Artistic Glass Fusing at the National Glass Centre and Sunderland University, as well as continuing work with Cultural Spring. My outreach work has taken me to schools as part of enrichment projects as well as workshops set up by Cultural Spring in Sunderland and Hebburn and Creative Age in Washington.

Fused glass is an ancient art form. My pieces are a result of the merging of shapes and colours, the interplay of light and shadow and the use of extreme temperatures within the kiln. In recent times I have been enjoying working with making vessels.

My work is mainly intaglio engraving on either clear glass or coloured layered glass. I am fascinated by nature themes and by fantasy art. I do occasional large projects such as church windows and domestic glazed panels. I also enjoy intricate geometric designs on optical crystal pieces because of the reflections these produce.