Tom Petit : Glass

“Like many artists before me I found Glass through Pottery. In my case pottery was my saviour from the cricket field.  As it turned out I fell in love with pottery and actually took it up as a subject rather than just an evasion.  I had every intention of becoming a potter by trade.

Before dedicating my life to pots I was strongly encouraged to try other crafts before deciding which path to take.  One such weekend course was glassblowing with Norman Stuart Clarke in a Cornish village called Praze-an-beeble.   Pottery was all but forgotten, glass was the new path.

Despite a bumpy start with an apprenticeship not coming to fruition I managed to fill the time with two short term glass related jobs before starting what was to be five years of Higher Education.

 I went straight into employment from college at the London Glassblowing Workshop, owned by Peter Layton. After five years I traveled to New Zealand to work at Mahy Glass in Whangarei. While there I got to exhibit all over New Zealand with one-off’s in Sydney, Australia, Canada and an outlet called “Das Neuseeland Haus” in Germany.

Missing family and friends I traveled slowly through   Australia and Seattle, USA to get back to the UK. A job was secured with Anthony Wassell & Paul Barcroft at Hothouse, nr Matlock , Derbyshire.

Unfortunately Hothouse closed in February 2002 but thanks to Paul Barcroft I was able to go with him to a small studio at the Denby Pottery Co. Ltd.”

We currently stock 5 designs by Tom, “Moors” – an abstract depiction of a landscape, “Lanzarote”  - inspired by the amazing volcanic scapes of the region and the startling azure blue skies,   “Silk Float”   , “Mottled Amber” & "Mottled Green"