Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Georgia Collins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Georgia, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
As a stained glass artist, I choose to take a lot of my inspiration from the natural world. Whenever I feel overwhelmed or in need of a break, I take time to walk around the woods outside my studio. There’s something very healing being surrounded by nature, and I love to incorporate flora and fauna as well as the local landscapes in my designs. I’ve always had houseplants and love to surround myself with beautiful plants and flowers, and have recently started gardening with my partner as we’ve recently moved out of a flat and into a house with a garden.
Taking time out to do other things like reading, especially fantasy worlds or biographies about inspirational artists, keeps my imagination flowing. For me it’s a form of escapism and let’s me ‘recharge’ my creative batteries by reading about exciting and inspiring stories.
I’m a serial crafter…I literally collect crafts. I love learning and trying new things, particularly new crafts and working with my hands. Over the year’s I’ve done candle and soap making, floral wreath building, knitting, crochet, sewing, embroidery, screen-printing, polymer clay, silver art clay, bead jewellery, silversmithing, painting, pottery, enamelling, felting, batik, mosaic, card making etc. All with varying results, some better than others! I just love the process of learning and workings with different materials, it takes me out my comfort zone and keeps me interested in the creative process.
Sometimes it can be transferable skills – like with painting or even screen printing – it’s things I can develop into my stained glass craft. But with a lot of the crafts, I just do it for fun – and to help with texture or colour theory. It helps to try out new combinations in a different way, that I may have never thought of trying before.
It’s made me more of a ‘mixed-media’ artist in a way, as I like to try new methods or new ways of working with traditional techniques in a different way, especially with such a traditional heritage art form as stained glass.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m a stained glass artist that works in both traditional lead as well as tiffany style copper foiling. I design and craft leaded panels, garden art, detailed copper foiled panels, suncatchers, plant art and even pet portraits. As well as glass fusing and dabbling in glass jewellery. Stained glass is my favourite craft, I’ve been a stained glass artist full time now since 2020 because I love it so much. I think it’s the ability to design something from my imagination, and then bring it into reality in glass that keeps me excited and always wanting to try new things.
My work is very influenced by local landscapes and nature, I’m lucky to live in a beautiful rural area that isn’t far from the sea either. We have the best of both worlds, and it has really influenced my colour palette and subject matter.
I grew up surrounded by glass, I guess it’s in my blood. My parents ran their own glass supply business and training studio, so I spent much of my formative years surrounded by artists and training workshops. As a teenager I learned the art of stained glass from my Dad and was introduced to glass fusing by my Mum. This allowed me to create unique glass designs for my Art submissions in Highschool.
Instead of studying glass after Highschool (much to everyone’s surprise) I ended up choosing to study Fashion Technology, in the Scottish Borders. I decided to try something different and I thought myself as quite a rebel, but still wanted to study design in the creative industry. I graduated from Heriot-Watt University then choose to stay on and study a Masters degree in business and design. After working in the Fashion industry down South, I chose to return to my glass roots and rekindled my love of stained glass in particular.
I’ve found that my design and fashion background actually gives me an edge, it makes me different, and I like to think it keeps my designs and style interesting.
I’ve recently gotten married (at the end of 2022), and to keep it personal to us, I created glass centrepieces, wedding favours as well as stained glass flowers in my wedding bouquet. This lead to a new collection that I created last February – ‘Forever Flowers’ – sustainable and enduring glass flowers that are designed and handcrafted in the Scottish Borders. Available as large individual stems, or as unique set arrangements set in wood, they make the perfect gift.
And after their debut last April at the annual 3 day art festival Art at Ancrum, I was approached by the Solo Gallery in Innerleithen in the Scottish Borders and now stock a large range of my stained glass flowers in the gallery. My first ever gallery experience.
I’m currently in the process of designing and creating a new collection of ‘Forever Flowers’ for Mother’s day this year and hope to have them available to buy from our website too.
One of my passions is creating traditional stained glass panels with a contemporary design flair, with the subject matter and colour palette. It’s been a rollercoaster over the past 3 years creating various designs and panels fitted into homes throughout the South of Scotland. But I love what I do, and feel very privileged to be able to create art that changes with the light source, and with the Seasons.
I also been lucky enough to have had experience with small restoration projects, as well as repairs of stained glass panels over the years.
My new direction for this year is to further develop my skills, over the past year I’ve been learning the art of traditional stained glass painting, and have been lucky enough to have experience days with a couple of master glass painters over the years. And I hope to apply to become a member of the British Society of Master Glass Painter’s eventually.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
1 – Knowledge of your craft – for me I was very lucky to have started young, I was a ‘sponge’ for knowledge and desperate to learn as much as I could. Spending time expanding your knowledge and practical skills in your chosen art form or craft will be detrimental to your success. For me, it’s about the quality of the piece. for stained glass I strive for the highest quality I can create. The panels I make may outlive me and last for many years, so it’s a lasting legacy to leave behind. Stained glass is a heritage craft, it’s a traditional art form that is unfortunately dying out as less people are given the opportunity to learn it, especially people choosing to learn it as a career. I feel like I’m a part of history creating items in glass, an art form that has changed very little since medieval times.
2 – Expanding on your knowledge of the art world at large – art history and visiting local art galleries and museums is a favourite of mine. You can’t help but be inspired when visiting these places, I also love Churches, to view stained glass through the ages. Some of my favourite windows to view are the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona (for it’s unique bold colours), York Minster (in’s just breath taking in scale and is currently being restored) and a beautiful kraken inspired stained glass ceiling in a hotel in Aberdour that was taken from a Australian ship). Taking the time to learn and study different artforms and artists really inspired my art, and drives me to develop my own style.
3 – There are no mistakes in art only lessons – there is always room for growth and development. It’s having the courage to try things, and even if they fail, learn from the failure to further create and develop. I love to try other crafts and artforms to develop and try new things, whether is trying new colour palettes, new textures or designs, or even to develop my hand skills further. I love to experiment, even if it doesn’t go to plan, the process is as much a beneficial learning experience, as the finished article itself. With it can come frustration, but trust the process.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
My family have been incredibly supportive. My Mum in particular has continued to teach me and help me to develop my knowledge of glass fusing, and is incredibly supportive of my work and designs. I’m lucky enough that she works part-time in the studio with me, taking much of the training workshops we offer, allowing me to focus on larger projects and designs.
Both of my parents have taught me not only the art of glass, but also many valuable life lessons over the years. My Dad is an engineer to trade, and is exceptionally ‘eagle-eyed’ when it comes to quality. If it is even a millimetre or two off, he would say “you can fit a bus through it”. He is not only a perfectionist, but also OCD when it comes to the process and manufacturing side of things. It’s given me the drive to do the best I can, and to never skimp on quality, to never cut corners or do things ‘the easy way’ instead of ‘the right way’.
My Mum is a born negotiator, her background is in employment law and she was a conciliator for years in the Civil Service. She has also taught me to always see the bigger picture and think outside the box, and to try to not get tunnel vision from projects I work on. It’s helped me so much in design, and the ability to learn from my ‘mistakes’ and treat them as lessons to learn from and improve on comes from her. It’s an infectious sort of optimism that teaches me to look at the silver linings of processes and projects that haven’t quite gone to plan. She has such a natural flair for trend forecasting and colour theory, I don’t think I’ll ever stop learning from and idolising her.
I’m also incredibly lucky that my partner has an interest in the glass world also. When we were 21, I taught him the basics of stained glass whilst we were still at University, for a while he thought about going back to study stained glass restoration fulltime, but has chosen to dabble in glass as a hobby instead. But he is so supportive, and understands the long hours, the homework I bring back to work on, the designing until the wee hours of the morning, and even helps me with some of the more challenging projects in terms of scale, with lifting and fitting the panels as well as the hours of cementing and polishing.
I can get very fixated and absorbed in my work, but my family always pull me back and help me to live a little, instead of living to work!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.harestanesglassstudio.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/harestanesglassstudio
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/harestanesglassstudio
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/harestanes-art-glass-craft-studio
