What have you been doing today?
I took my assistant James out for the day to visit Cresswell Crags. We went there to video one of the completed CHWA awards as well as to celebrate finishing them in good time.
Is that a typical day for you?
Not really. My time this year has been spent on creating an edgelit illuminated mirror commission of a wintery tree scene, plus making a bespoke frame for it from rotted, but treated wood.
When did you start working with CHWA?
In January of this year, I saw a tender on the social media to submit a design to create and make awards for the Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance. I put a design proposal forward and then received an email couple of weeks later saying that my design had been chosen.
What was the last project that you came across that inspired you?
My last project was a golden opportunity to showcase my life's work as a glass artist at the Erewash Museum in Ilkeston last September. I spent 6 months designing and making some brand-new sculptures for the 6 week exhibition, and made them completely out of scraps of unusable offcuts of glass. My intention was to make an exhibition like nobody had ever seen before, and judging by the feedback that the museum received, I'm happy that I succeeded.
Ric Raithby - the Illumin Artist, has been a glass artist for over 40 years. For the past decade, his main body of work has been to create the most unusual sculptures from offcuts of unusable and throwaway glass. He mostly shapes the pieces by hand, keeping his use of machinery - and his carbon footprint - to a minimum. You can see more of Ric's work if you visit his website: www.theilluminartist.uk and his social media page: https://www.facebook.com/theilluminartist