STUDIO: Sabine Little

 

 

 

When people come to my studio, they comment on two things. First, the view – we are right on top of a hill, above two reservoirs, and on a clear day you can see all the way to Sheffield in the distance. We moved here in 2005, and I still feel lucky every day to be able to live here. Secondly, it’s the surprise of the studio itself – the village is very small, no shops, just a church and the pub, so on days when my studio is open to the public, the sentence I hear most often from locals is ‘I never knew this was here’. Bolsterstone had quite famous glassworks several hundred years ago, and I feel, in a small way, I’m carrying on with tradition.

 

 

The studio wasn’t always what it is now, like many, I had to find space for a new hobby wherever I could – in my case, in the garage, with water dripping into my torch, and either the lawn mower or the garden furniture threatening to fall on top of me. After a couple of years, when I started to think about teaching glass bead making, I realised that I needed a ‘proper’ space.

 

 

Thanks to a very understanding husband, I was able to claim the entire garage, and convert it into a studio where I am happily creating, and which is fully equipped to accommodate up to four students. The additional torch spaces convert into selling surfaces when I have open studio days.

 

 

The back of the studio is set up for cold working glass, with a grinder and sandblaster, and for silversmithing, so I can make my own jewellery out of my beads.

 

 

Being a garage, and a place where hot glass regularly pings around, walls and floors can look a bit bare, but the glass itself provides colour – and endless inspiration.

 

 

No matter how many hours I spend behind the torch, it never gets boring, and I’m constantly reminded how lucky I am to be able to do a job I love with all my heart!