Meet a Maker: Edition 11

Meet Nina Perrott

1. What is your craft and how did you get into it?

My craft is stained glass. I got into it when my youngest son was six months old. I needed something that was just for me and was separate from being a mum of three. I went in and got a brochure for a local college. Out of all the different courses available, stained glass really popped out for me. Among the two teachers offering stained glass courses, I picked Keith Knickels, funnily because I really liked his surname. From there, I started this adult education course that was around two hours a week with Keith just as an activity for me and I loved it!

I worked with Keith for two years and then he started giving me jobs here and there. I started doing little projects for him until one day he said, “I’ve got a job for you, Nina. I’m giving up teaching and you’re taking over.” At that time I’d been doing stained glass work for about four years. I was super nervous, but Keith assured me that I would be fine. Keith is an awesome guy and is still a phone call away if I need to ask for help. I can ring him up asking how to do something and we’ll have a good hour long chat. It’s great because Keith is a pool of knowledge and we’ve ended up becoming really good mates.

2. What is one interesting fact about you?

An interesting fact about me is that on my father’s side of the family I am related to Percy Bysshe Shelley and on my mother’s side of the family my ancestors are Anne Whittle and her daughter Anne Redfern who were tried as witches in trials of the Pendle witches.

3. How long have you been making?

I’ve been doing stained glass work for 19 years. It’s been quite a gradual thing that went from a hobby where my family was fed up with receiving glass presents all the time, to now running it as a business. It is a one woman show, so I have to wear a lot of hats. I run workshops as well as do restoration work and commissions on an off grid smallholding. However, it was only until about three years ago that the business took more focus, as I had been doing other work alongside it. It is challenging working in crafts as a main living and stained glass is tricky because it is a luxury item. I’m a member of the Guild of Master Craftsmen, which helped me affirm my skills and feel confident in charging the prices I have on my work.

4. Who are your favourite makers in your craft?

Keith will always be someone I admire and reach out to for advice. When I started in stained glass I began learning at the same time as Keith’s son, Matt. Matt went down the restoration path for stained glass. He works for York Minster as well as on the Repair Shop. So those two guys are amazing and they’re always on the end of the phone for me. In regards to other glass people in this country, I really like Tamsin Abbott, Ellen Van Dijk, and Flora Jameson. They do beautiful painting work and lots of detail, which I love.

There is also a lot of amazing glass work in America, where there seems to be less restriction from historical conservation rules and practices. The Judson Studios and Tim Carey Studios explores painting and fusing techniques and they do quite a lot of kiln work that’s amazing. I’m really all about detail; playing with lots of different techniques in my work. Other sources of inspiration for me include Alphonse Mucha and nature. I adore Alphonse Mucha! His work and the 1920s Art Nouveau style is definitely my thing. There are also quite a lot of nature based themes like animals or plants in my work.

5. What is the most challenging skill/technique you learned in your craft?

I would say painting is the most challenging because there’s so much to learn. I’m never going to stop learning as every single window I do brings something new. Each project could make my cutting or painting details a bit better. But painting on glass is completely different to painting anything else, because you’re working with light. You’re working with transmitted light, not reflected light. When you paint with reflected light, the light comes back off of the picture. However, you’re working with transmitted light when painting glass. It’s the light that comes through the image. Therefore, you end up working in the negative space. Where you put paint on or where the lead lines are will not be the highlight. It is actually where you haven’t put the paint on the glass that will pop the most.

In general, I just think there’s always going to be stuff to learn. I don’t think you can ever get to a point where you go, that’s it. I’m the best I can ever be with that. I think there’s always something to improve on in your skills, be it cutting, leading, soldering, designing, painting, let alone all the other different techniques that you can do.

6. What is your favourite part of your craft?
I am all about the details. I enjoy layering different techniques and adding fun elements like heated up copper to give it a steampunk vibe or sandblasting a section to give it more visual texture. It is exciting looking at art and seeing more and more detail unravel the longer you look at a section.

I also love to teach. I built my new workshop where I teach a 12 week course three times a year as well as some one day classes. I believe it is really important to pass this knowledge on. I teach mostly women of mixed ages and I can really see how art is a form of therapy. Once my students figure out the basics, they can relax around glass and make something really cool.

7. What project are you most proud of and why?

I am most proud of my recent triptych fireplace screen. It’s my own design, inspired by Alphonse Mucha.  My friend who is a professional belly dancer helped model for the figure. It was really fun to create a piece that was not based on a commission. I could let my creativity and personal taste run the project. Now I just need to sell it.

8. If someone who knows nothing about your craft could know one thing, what would it be?

It takes a long time to learn each technique within stained glass. Etching, painting, lead lining, silver staining, fusing, kiln works, and much more go into stained glass work beyond just cutting and fitting glass. I love all the details and layering the techniques in a project, but it has taken time to learn many of these important skills and there is still so much out there I hope to learn and improve upon.

Learn more about Nina