Anemone

This project was such a joy and saw me travel to Krakow and work with master craftsman Mr Heinrich Foller and his wonderful team.

The commission was from P&O Cruises who wanted a spectacular sculpture for the foyer on their cruise liner Ventura and my idea was to create a form which would evoke the vibrancy and colour of the ocean floor and the flora&fauna that abounds there beneath the feet of the passengers.

I had a simple sketch based on the idea of an anemone which my wife Ali developed into an array of colourful fronds and I worked with Heinrich to replicate this in hot glass featuring layers of sparkling coloured crystal with clouds of air bubbles.

The only limit to our imagination was the length of the fronds which happen to be governed by Heinrich’s heigh (or more specifically the distance between his shoulder and the floor) because to make the shapes he whirled the glass around and around on the end of his blowing iron which was incredible to watch.

I loved my time in Krakow and enjoyed some wonderful dinners with exceptionally gifted people, following which I flew down to Venice to install the sculpture on board with the help of my excellent friend Shane Pugh – all that creative work and energy needed to be fixed safe and secure so that it would never move whatever the high seas threw at the ship!!

Everything worked superbly on the project and prior to launch we made a series of commemorative vases and tealights based on sponges and urchins which have become much prized and I’m told quite collectible!