Taking her cue from her love of traveling, Ruth Shelley’s inspiration derives from her observation of colour, balance and tone of nature. Her gravity dropped vessels create an interplay of light, form and colour that is evocative of the natural world which surrounds us. The vessels take on their own personae and become artworks in their own right as glass sculptures. Ruth always observes how the colours and layers combine as a whole, and how light illuminates them. “My aim is to redirect attention back to the colours of nature in scenery and landscape”.
The vessels are kiln-formed glass made by the ‘drop out’ method. Ruth cuts strips of glass and arranges them in complex layers and patterns which are fused together into a fused sheet. It is then suspended in a kiln on an open mould, heat is applied and gravity fluidly stretches the suspended glass to the floor of the kiln, which is then ground, polished and sandblasted into the finished vessel. Due to the nature of the applications, Ruth’s vessels are one-offs. It is not possible to make two pieces identical.
2000-06 | Swansea Metropolitan University, Swansea |
2000 | Fusing glass - Ann Rosendahl |
2001 | Advanced Fusing - Detlef Tanz |
2002 | Sandblasting - Detlef Tanz |
2004 | Integration of glass, metal and ceramic - Detlef Tanz |
2006 | Glass bonding and cold working - Detlef Tanz |
2007 | Place and Identity: Silvia Levenson Master class, with Jeremy Lepisto & Dena Pengas, Alastair Pilkington Studios, North Lands Creative Glass, Lybster |
2009 | Colour & Texture: Kaffe Fassett & Steve Klein Master class, Alastair Pilkington Studios, North Lands Creative Glass, Lybster |
2012 | Colour Lab: Nathan Sandberg Master class, Bullseye Resource Centre, Portland, Oregon, USA |
2007 | Training Grant Award Arts Council of Wales |
2008 | Full Membership Society of Designer Craftsmen |
2009 | Training Grant Award Arts Council of Wales |
2011 | Project Grant Award Arts Council of Wales |
2012 | Winner of Best New Gift British Craft Trade Fair |
2013 | Training Grant Award Arts Council of Wales |
2015 | Winner Glass Sellers Award British Glass Biennale |
2013. MADE London: One Marylebone, London (25/10) Exhibition with Gail Brodholt: Cambridge Contemporary Art, Cambridge (01/11) | |
2014. Summer Show: Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Blythswood St, Glasgow (28/03) The Contemporary Craft Festival: Mill Marsh Park. Bovey Tracey, Devon (08/06) Summer Exhibition:The Biscuit Factory, Stoddart St, Shieldfield, Newcastle upon Tyne (07/6) Christmas Exhibition: Cambridge Contemporary Art, Cambridge (21/11) Christmas Exhibition: “Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Blythswood St, Glasgow (21/11) | |
2015. National Glass Centre: “Liberty Way, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear (12/3) Glass Biennale 2015: Ruskin Glass Centre & Arts Centre, Stourbridge, DY8 4HF (28/5) Focus on Glass:The Makers Guild in Wales, Craft in the Bay, Cardiff (18/7) Bircham Gallery: 14 Market Pl, Holt, Norfolk NR25 6BW (9/8) Essence 2015: London Glassblowing: 62-66 Bermondsey Street, London, SE1 3UD (7/8) Autumn Exhibition: The Biscuit Factory, Stoddart St, Shieldfield, Newcastle upon Tyne (05/9) Handmade at Kew: with The Byre Gallery, Kew Gardens, London (8/10) MADE London: One Marylebone, London (22/10) Baker’s Dozen: Roundhouse Gallery, Uttoxeter Road,Foston, Derbyshire, DE65 5DL Christmas Open House: London Glassblowing: 62-66 Bermondsey Street, London, SE1 3UD (19/11) | |
2016. Spring Showcase: The Strathearn Gallery, 32 West High street, Creiff, Perthshire,PH7 4DL,(11/4) Cywrain: Galeri Caernafon, Doc Voctoria, Caernarfon, Gwynedd LL55 1SQ (2/5) Ausstellung 76: Galerie Rosenhauer, Konrad-Adenauer-Str 34, 37075 Gottingen Germany,(22/5) |
Kiln Formed Glass: 2010 pg 26. ‘Droplets’ by Helga Watkins-Baker
Cohesion News: February 2010. p.4. ‘New Members Profile: Ruth Shelley’. City Of Sunderland, Chief Executive’s Department, Civic Centre, Sunderland
Crafts: Vol. 228. January/February 2011. p.66. ‘Crafts Guide: Wales: South Wales: Craft in the Bay’. Crafts Council Publication. London
Craft&design: January/February 2012. Issue 219. p.16-17. ‘BCTF 2012 Preview’. Margeret Bunn. PSB Design & Print Consultants Ltd. Driffield
Gift Focus Magazine: Issue 72. July/August 2012 P.24-25
Crafts: Vol. 242. May/June 2013. p.8. ‘Front: Turning Ten’. Crafts Council Publication. London
Homes and Antiques: Issue 259 June/July 2014 ‘The contemporary craft festival’
Bristish Glass Biennale: Catalouge 2015
Crafts Arts Ainternational: Issue 96 May 2016, Artist in Focus