Brodie Nairn – contemporary glass artist

Seeing a glass artist at work is like watching alchemy, and it was the material’s mesmerising qualities that first captured Brodie Nairn and his wife Nichola Burns, who launched their contemporary glass studio, Glasstorm, in Tain in 2005.

‘Our eyes were opened to this magical material,’ says Brodie, explaining that they both trained with some of the world’s most respected glass artists in the likes of Switzerland, Italy and Amsterdam. ‘This illusive material that is molten hot one minute, the next it’s stone cold; one minute it’s soft, the next it’s hard; one minute it’s sharp, the next it’s not. It’s addictive.’

Establishing themselves as top designers and creators of whisky bottles for the likes of Glenfiddich, one of their most exciting projects to date was launched in August this year – a collaboration with Aston Martin and Bowmore Distillery for the release of their exclusive Black Bowmore ‘DB5’ 1964 whisky. Brodie and his team crafted 25 bottles for the Bond-themed project using genuine pistons from DB5 engines. The bottles are now being sold for a hefty £50,000 each.

Separating commercial work from their craftwork range by launching a second entreprise, North Coast Glass, Brodie and Nichola are inspired by nature, creating ‘droplet vases’ or ‘rock bowls’, often finishing pieces with gold and silver – a tip they picked up in Italy. With both their children having blown glass bubbles by the age of four, we can expect plenty more creativity from this family in future.

The alchemist: Brodie finds working with glass completely addictive.

‘Brodie crafted 25 bottles using genuine pistons from DB5 engines’