Christmas baubles: introducing the FT's limited-edition 'Pink 'un'

FT Baubles

Peter Layton's glassblowing workshop and gallery in south London has been offering day courses to the public for more than 20 years.

"We do courses for beginners and intermediate level," says Layton. "They get to learn a whole variety of techniques and, of course, can keep what they make, so it has always been a great success."

Layton is one of the key artists who brought the studio glassblowing movement to the UK - a movement characterised by the collaboration of smaller teams of artists, rather than large-scale production floors.

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Trained in ceramics, Layton learnt glassblowing by attending a summer workshop at the University of Iowa in the 1960s, where he was teaching pottery.

"It was a case of the blind leading the blind in the early days," he says, "with the teachers knowing little more than the students".

Today the London Glassblowing Studio and Gallery produces some of the finest glasswork in the country. Layton has recently designed deep-red glass poppies for Remembrance Day and vivid glass sculptures developed with the National Gallery to mimic the work of Van Gogh and Turner. Previous clients have included Elton John and the Duchess of Kent.

One of the most popular items people make at the workshops - especially at this time of year - are Christmas baubles. Undaunted by the prospect of blowing and shaping molten glass at temperatures of 1,000C, the FT's House & Home team took the opportunity to practise the ancient craft under the watchful eye of glass artist Bruce Marks.

Glass baubles crafted by artists at the London Glassblowing Studio and Gallery usually retail for between £45 and £250.

Slideshow photographs: Victoria Birkinshaw; Charlie Bibby

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