Member Interrogations - Becky Fairclough

A welcome this week to Becky Fairclough of Chameleons Designs, who talks about her inspirations, perfectionism, and lampworked lungs! You'll have to read on to find out more...



1 - Your name: Becky Fairclough

2 - Your shop name and address:  I have two Etsy shops, Chameleons Designs where I sell transfers for use in lampwork and Becky Fairclough which has some of my fused glass pieces in it. I also have my website http://www.chameleondesigns.co.uk/

3 - Describe your artistic style in three words: Contemporary, delicate, pretty

4 - When did you first start working with glass and how did you get started?

I have always loved glass but my first proper experience of working with it was during my art foundation course and I went from there to a glass degree course and was completely smitten.

5 - What do you love most about your craft?

Most of all I love working with glass in a molten state, there is something magical about being able to manipulate it and then it freezing in a position.

6 - If you could take a class with any artist (in your field or otherwise) who would you choose and why?
There are a number of Lampworkers I would love to take a class with, well actually more of a very long list, mainly in that ever increasing thirst for new techniques, but if I had to choose just one then it would be Annie Cattrell as she was my first (albeit at the time unknown) introduction to lampwork when she gave a lecture called Art, Science and Transparency when I was doing my foundation course. Im still in awe of her piece "Capacity" (Lampworked lungs - can be seen here - http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1637_outoftheordinary/artists_detail.php?artistTag=cattrell) to this day.


7 - Do you have a favourite piece of your work that you can share with us?

At the moment it is my blue flower necklace, which I love and wear most days.

8 - Where do you find your inspiration?

Usually from things I see around me, my work will quite often change when I have been on holiday and seen different things and I come home and play with incorporating them into my work.

9 - What’s your favourite technique within your medium?

Im not sure I can pick only one ! I love to make sculptural work although I am still very much a beginner at it, and then to combine it with surface decoration such as transfers, lustres or sandblast

10 - Where do you create your work?

I work in my studio at home. I have slowly taken over more and more space until the point where we had the garage converted into a studio for me.

11 - Do you have a favourite colour scheme or range when you’re creating pieces?

I love transparent glass and have about 10 colours that I use a lot of the time with only occasional forays into other colours, I think if I had to choose just a couple of favourites it would be sky blue (052) and Reichenbach Antique Crystal as both of them go beautifully with Silver.

12 - Can you give us a quotation/lyric/piece of advice that sums up your approach to life and your craft?

I would love to say something really fun here or light hearted but the mantra that I tend to repeat most often is "If you are going to do something do it properly" and that does sum up my work as I tend to get wholeheartedly involved in what im doing and do it to the best of my ability..it has been know for me to be a touch of a perfectionist about things ..


13 - The most serious question of all: if you could meet any fictional character, from TV film or literature, who would it be and why?

I think it would have to be Claire from Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, I was given the first book as a teenager and loved it, I have kept up with the series as new books have come out and frequently re read the whole series and get totally absorbed in it. I think Claire is partly responsible for my interest in medical plants and poisons and I think with all her experiences she would be a totally fascinating person to talk to.

14 - Finally, what are your plans or hopes for your work in the future?

Im currently working with fused glass and patterns as the opportunity has come up and Im really enjoying it.
My future plans revolve around concentrating more on sculptural lampwork, and I hope to work on bigger projects. I have several different threads of work in progress at the moment and I'm hoping that I can bring them all together but I need to improve my skills to match my ideas first !

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Thank you Becky for sharing your enthusiasm and philosophies with our readers!