lou mathieson
Lou lives and works on the North Shore of Auckland, NZ, in a lovely village by the sea - Devonport, with the intention to move to Napier in 2025 to build a new studio and teach casting in the Hawkes Bay.
As the artist describes: "Glass is my passion, I’ve taught casting to adults and children through a community education glass programme at MAC (Mairangi Arts Centre) since 2010. I enjoy the casting process, particularly the beginning stage of carving the wax and making the marks that will define the end form in crystal glass. It is a long, unglamorous industrial process that works within the constraints of gravity and long held casting rules to make glass melt and flow, and the challenge is in the push to express ideas that transfer to glass and capture light and transmit it. I think it is the material itself that keeps me curious and drives me forward to learn more and to make beautiful glass." Lou's work is heavily carved with tools to make natural patterns such as flowers and leaves, mainly derived from her cottage garden in Napier. She draws on the wax positive and this is transferred through mould making to the glass surface. Lou highly polishes her surfaces by hand to enhance the patterns created and to achieve a satin finish. |
"It is the material itself that keeps me curious and drives me forward to learn more and to make beautiful glass" - Lou Mathieson |