glass bowl with semi-opaque abstract design of orange, white and green stripes against background of greenish-yellow speckles, by Pauline Solven, 1981
Pauline Solven was one of the pioneers of the studio glass movement in the 1960s/70s. Up until that point, most glass had been made in large workshops, involving groups of makers undertaking different processes, rather than one individual creating an entire piece from beginning to end. The mid twentieth century saw a move towards artists working on their own in small workshops to produce one-off artefacts.
Pauline Solven worked in blown glass for forty years. Her vessels, like this vase, were made by sandwiching drawn glass threads, and coloured glass powders, in between layers of clear glass. She has always been most inspired by the colours and light of the natural landscape around her studio on May Hill, Newent, on the Herefordshire border. More recently, her work has changed direction, and she now creates kiln-cast pieces.
