Meet the artist entrepreneur behind the oldest hot glass studio in the UK.
Seventy-eight-year-old “master of glass” Peter Layton has a word in the ear of his apprentice, who is sweating under the weight of a hot punting iron – the long pole that separates man from molten glass. “I like my curves Barbara Hepworth-esque,” he says.
The man gently smooths away an unwanted bulge in the hot sculpture and Layton looks on as the piece is placed into a cooling – or “annealing” – oven, where it will remain for 36 hours.
“That’s the thing about glass,” he says, sadly. “It’s so immediate when you’re working with it but then you can’t see the finished piece for days.”
Layton is one of the most respected artists in the glass-blowing world. He is also the founder of London Glass-blowing, which at 40 years old is the oldest hot glass studio in the UK.
He started London Glassblowing in Rotherhithe in 1976, before moving to Leathermarket and finally Bermondsey, where the workshop and gallery has been for six years.
Fans of Layton’s work include pop star Sir Elton John and Princess Michael of Kent, but with pieces starting at less than £100 for a tea light or blown glass bauble, Layton has attracted a broad church of art fans.
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