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Carole Rolfe - Artists Statement
I have always been involved in art. I spent most of my life as
a painter of portraits and landscapes but as a mature art student
at college I also discovered the joys and fascination of slumping
and fusing glass in a kiln.
My qualifications are
- National Diploma in General Art and Design, 1994 and
- HND in Ceramics and Glass, 1997.
Both are from Plymouth College of Art and Design.
I worked with tutors Jonathon Anderson, who specialises in
electroplating glass techniques, and Penny Carter, a designer of
pate de verre pieces, who were established in the their own
disciplines and inspiring and encouraging to others.
My own inspiration came from seeing a small blown vase in the
Victoria and Albert Museum glass gallery, which captivated my
imagination. I have spent the last few years developing my own
original designs using the kiln-forming technique.
I am a member of the Contemporary Glass Society, and
in August 2004 I had the marvellous opportunity to take part in an
intensive course led by Professor Zoltan Bohus, a world renowned
Czech glass designer. This was in conjunction with the
International Glass Festival, an awe-inspiring exhibition of
exciting British glass in Stourbridge.
I combine my painters passion with that of glass forming to
create glass with painterly qualities. I am constantly inspired by the potential of the materials I use
and by all the elements, land, sea and the deeper mysteries of
space. I create expressive, intuitive glass that contains moods and
overtones of drama, movement and the natural harmonies found in
nature. There are visual links to Art Nouveau as glass lends itself
to sensual, organic forms. My intention is to display glass and its
purity of colour at its best.
When working with a transparent material you are working with the
extra dimension of light and we all know light plays tricks. When a
sudden shaft of light falls in a certain way, highlighting the
surface reflections, or shines through it creating fantastic
jewelled flashes and stops you in your tracks, then all is
revealed. You see the wonderful attraction of working with elusive,
mysterious and unpredictable glass. In every piece there is the WOW
factor.
I have exhibited in many venues nationally.
Pieces have been presented to local celebrities, and my work
has been displayed in the Regional Development offices in
Exeter. I exhibited in the Plymouth Arts Centre Christmas show,
and I was one of the artists in the Three Artists show at the
Walker Gallery, Honiton, in March 2003.
I have work in private collections in Germany and the USA.
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