Colette Halstead Glass

Glass artist Colette Halstead is based in Lancashire, England. Using traditional techniques of kiln fused glass and leaded glass she produces wall panels, vessels, and jewellery which can be found in galleries throughout the UK. Colette discovered the potential of glass in 2004 after graduating with a BA (hons.) in Fine Art Printmaking and has taught kiln fused and stained glass since 2007.

Inspired by British skylines, in particular Lancashire, Colette Halstead uses kiln fused techniques to produce her leaf & landscape series in glass. Also a fine art printmaker, Colette translates etching aesthetic processes, texture and surface into the glass, capturing the mood and atmosphere of each leaf and landscape. Colette uses actual leaves from the landscapes and introduces them into each of her pieces using making methods developed by herself over a long period of time. Organic anise, hawthorn, ivy, rose, astilbe, grasses and others mark their organic shadowy silhouettes in the kiln glass, capturing permanent memories of their once leafy existence. Leaves are gathered from different locations in the picturesque county Lancashire, from the lanes Over Wyre to the edge of Tolkien's Bowland. Where the river Brock cuts its way through the landscape a local beauty spot known as Brock Bottom provides a wonderful array of leaves growing along the rivers edge. Each piece is as unique as the leaves captured within it: no two pieces can ever be the same. Her landscapes take the form of wall art pieces, vessels, coasters sets and curved freestanding sculptures.

Colette's leaf design jewellery range captures fragments of leaves, harnessing them permanent between several layers of glass to produce beautifully unique cabochons for pendants, earrings and brooches.

Colette's uses recycled and reclaimed window glass to produce her kiln fused glass,

“Recycled waste glass, whilst temperamental and sometimes unstable has a particular magic of it's own. Glass which has had a previous life and existed in another form adds another layer of history and uniqueness to each piece. It's fascinating that old window glass once used to view landscapes through now holds another landscape between its layers”