Artist Series- John Fenn from Liverpool Bay Hotshop

International artists select Kilns & Furnaces to provide them with quality equipment for their studios. In this artist series, we’ll be sharing profiles of some of our artists, so that you can see how they use our kilns to create unique work.

John Fenn set up Liverpool Bay Hotshop in 2020. He specialises in creating bespoke glass-blown pieces. John creates vibrant pieces, as he loves colour, and glass that is kind to the environment.

We caught up with John from Liverpool Bay Hotshop to find out more about his creations.

John’s background…

John has been passionate about glass since 1972. He graduated with a BA Honours degree in Glass from Stourbridge College of Art in 1982. He also completed a glass course, at The Glass Centre in Brierley Hill in 1983. He was taught glassmaking techniques by Anthony Wassell and George Elliott, two of Britain’s foremost studio glassmakers. Unfortunately, after being poisoned by the glass-making process, John was forced to distance himself from his love. 40 years later, John started Liverpool Bay Hotshop and rediscovered his passion. Re-teaching himself the traditional techniques of glass blowing.

More about Liverpool Bay Hotshop…

Liverpool Bay Hotshop sits in Northern Lights. Which is a creative space located in the popular Baltic Triangle close to Liverpool city centre.

Each bespoke piece, created at Liverpool Bay Hotshop, is vibrantly coloured. John loves creating pieces that people enjoy, including vases, and tealights. Anything which refracts colours into the environment. He explained to us ‘glass blowing incorporates all of the elements, fire, earth, air, and water and brings them together to create pieces that people can see, hold and keep.’

All of John’s pieces are created using Cristalica clear glass. Bright opalescent colours are then wrapped around the bubble, giving beautiful swirling effects. After melting the glass, and blowing, pieces are placed into the kiln for annealing.

The Kiln at Liverpool Bay Hotshop…

The GARB 12/5 Glass Annealing Kiln has plenty of space for John’s creations. Its internal chamber provides flexibility and it also has 5 moveable support trays, which allows for taller pieces to be annealed with ease. Measuring 1m by 1.22m, the kiln sits in John’s spacious studio perfectly. The easy programming means John can safely anneal his bespoke pieces, cooling them correctly to ensure they remain intact. This kiln uses electricity and is economical to run.

Setting up his studio has been an exciting 9-month process, using cutting-edge technology ensuring as little impact on the environment as possible. He is currently working 3, 10-hour days, melting on average 17kg of glass a day, to build up stock ready for when his website is live. Soon, Liverpool Bay Hotshop will be offering courses, where people can learn the skills and techniques of glass blowing. John is excited about the future of Liverpool Bay Hotshop.

Liverpool Bay Hotshop and OMI Glass were at the LightNight Festival in Liverpool, where they demonstrated glassblowing techniques.

To find out more about our Kilns and finding the right one for your workspace, get in touch at sales @kilns.co.uk