Name: Catherine Hough

All my work is based on free blown forms using a mass of glass which is then transformed through the use of cold techniques such as carving, cutting and texturing with diamond and carborandum wheels, grinding and polishing, and sandblasting and brushing. My interest in these techniques arose from a desire to further develop the blown form, rather than for surface decoration as they had traditionally been used.

Ideas and their development have evolved through this continuous making process, but there are a few themes that emerged fairly early that I still draw on.

Pebbles, geological strata, land formations and plants are a constant source of inspiration. My black lined pieces were based originally on the lines of quartz in pebbles. Other pieces on these themes include “Nucleus” a one-off pebble form now in the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, and a three part "Pebble" structure in the V & A Museum in London. Birds and fish have inspired numerous designs such as the large-scale one-off winged forms.