Blair fused glass show is a class act
Exhibition of work from wellbeing initiative
An exhibition was held in Blairgowrie showcasing the work of a group of people who recently completed a six-week course in fused glass.
The course, which was funded by Perth and Kinross Council, was run by local artist Rachel Bower and organised by Wendy Robertson, a social care officer and part of the Wellbeing Support team in Blairgowrie.
Wendy explained: “We were invited to think about projects that might be beneficial for the local community and so I applied for funding to run a fused glass group for people who reside in Rattray and are socially isolated and disadvantaged in some way.
“The idea was that through taking part in the course, they would learn new skills, build positive relationships and their confidence and self-esteem would improve.
“The proposal we put together was for people in Rattray who would enjoy something like this.
“Working with individuals who use the services offered by the Number 5 Project and Blairgowrie Day Opportunities, six people ended up taking part in the project.
“The course, and the exhibition of the work the group created, was at the Nest studio in Reform Street.”
Artist Rachel Bower, who runs Nest with Tracie Dick from Tartan Ted, was delighted to be involved with the project.
She said: “We went through an introduction to fused glass, starting out with suncatchers and moving on to cutting glass and using colour.
“We built it up each week using all the techniques we’d learned to make a big piece.
“I was amazed with the wide variety of work that everyone produced, and they were all so enthusiastic and such a friendly group - a real pleasure to work with.”
Alison Keiro was one of those on the course.
She said: “I really enjoyed it taking part in this has been a big achievement for me.
“I liked making the suncatchers and other things for the house, and it was good to meet new people as well.”
Moira Fair, who was also on the course, said: “I worked references to the Number 5 project into the things that I made, and thought it was fantastic the way the glass could just change.
“Taking part in this project definitely helped to build my confidence as well.”
Wendy added that she hoped the project would become sustainable and was keen to work with Rachel on similar initiatives in the future, commenting: “There’s so much scope to do something different every week.”