The Glass Blower
Watching the movement of molten glass as it wavered into delicate, transparent, beautiful forms, Katie Brown knew she’d found her artistic medium. “The combination of talent, heat and technique was what inspired me,” she says. Graduating from New Zealand’s only glass-blowing school in Wanganui in 1999, Brown set off for the United States, where she worked for three years with renowned glass artist Josh Simpson. Next stop was England, where she worked with environmental glass artist Neil Wilkin. And just four years ago she returned to New Zealand to set up her studio with Lyndsey Patterson. Diversifying from classical glass forms, Brown creates shell-like glass lights and chandeliers, and works on one-off lighting commissions for clients here and overseas, including one 72-piece installation for a Manhattan apartment. Her long, slender, undulating Whisper Lights are stocked through Essenze in Auckland, and Brown says she loves to push herself to create new forms. “I often say yes to projects, even though I have no idea how I’m going to do them,” she says. Travelling from one coast of the country to the other gives Brown time to meditate on new ideas for her work, but her greatest pleasure comes from the physicality of the work. “I get to play with molten glass and create shapes and forms and push my boundaries within this medium. It can be very rewarding when you come up with a design that people love and you enjoy making.”
