Gail Turbutt

Gail Turbot

Having gained a BAhons in 3D design in Glass at Wolverhampton University, I embarked on a number of ventures, all looking to advance mould making and glass casting using Machine processes in Wolverhampton and Oxfordshire, until I joined forces with Amanda Brisbane at her glass studio in Ludlow in 2003, just 30 miles down the road from where I grew up in Herefordshire. In this partnership my love of problem solving was used to the full. The resulting process of sandcasting glass was pushed to its very limits, with Amanda Brisbane Glass Ltd duly becoming a worldwide name.

The years of working with glass across the globe; improving my abilities with moulds – creating textures and formers for mark making – ultimately enabled me to continue on to launch my own business. Leaving the hot glass studio industry and Amanda Brisbane Glass Ltd in 2016, I did so to bring long-term stability back to my studio environment and to my career. The Hot glass studio environment that I had known for 15years was changing, from access to batch glass on a small scale to furnace maintenance, it was a fast changing environment in those last few years that made our unique process more challenging every day.

Fully commiting to this change in direction, I bought a Kiln and went about the task of teaching myself to create glass, and rediscover my art style in the process. Immediately I was struck with the vast amount of waste and complexity of materials used.