Peter Layton: Maker in Focus

For the festive season, New Ashgate Gallery presents Peter Layton, a pioneering figure in British studio glass, as Maker in Focus.

Peter Layton is the best-known of British Studio Glass makers, producing consistently high-quality blown glass for most of his 90 years. Recently appearing on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, he has become a much-loved household name in the UK and not only amongst other glass makers. He founded London Glassblowing in 1976 and the Gallery with a glassblowing studio behind it has been showcasing his glassworks along with some of the world’s most beautiful glassworks for 50 years. Peter Layton is an absolutely tireless supporter of young talent and through his Gallery has put UK Studio Glass firmly on the collectors’ map.

When producing his own work, Peter approaches glass with a painter’s eye. Bands, ripples and pools of colour move across generous handblown forms, carrying echoes of landscape, water and changing light. Each vessel holds a fine balance between control and chance: carefully composed, yet never static. Turned in the hand or viewed from a new angle, the colours shift and unexpected details emerge.