“Designs by Inez” is run by Inez Jenkins and is a small, home-based company in the village of Coupar Angus near Blairgowrie, in the rolling hills north of Perth, Scotland.
I make glass jewellery and art work using fused glass, and am inspired by many different things, not least the effect that colour can have on us all. My jewellery can be muted or vibrant, understated or bold, it is never boring! I just love finishing off an outfit with matching jewellery; it makes me feel ready for the world!
But what is Dichroic Glass?
Dichroic glass is glass that displays two different colours depending on the angle of view, reflecting and refracting light to create changing effects. Modern dichroic glass is available as a result of research carried out by NASA, but there is history of glass changing colour since the 4th century AD!
Dichroic can come as glass, paint, paper, marble and crystal but I use sheet glass in my jewellery making. A plate of dichroic glass can be fused with other glass in multiple firings, with individual results never being able to be accurately predicted, making each piece unique.
As working with dichroic glass is potentially an act of faith, I have learned to work with the glass that emerges from the kiln after first firing. I tend to mix a few dichroic glass variants together with either clear or tinted glass to vary the effects. I then cut the resulting pendants from the outcome of that first firing, letting the patterns and colours dictate the shape and size of each piece. Some will be small and some not so! Some are cut into specific shapes and some are left freeform. It is my obsession to have matching earrings with each set but I know not everyone agrees!
After mixing, fusing, cutting, matching, fusing again, and then finishing, I end up with boxed pendant sets!
Having made many different fused glass projects over the years, from plates and bowls to wall hangings and table tops, I find myself drawn more to designing and making dichroic glass jewellery.
