Helen Tiffany is a designer maker working with glass and enamel. She specialises in screen printed glassware and enamelled silver creating colourful pieces for interiors and to wear.
Biography
In 2007 Helen graduated with a degree in Design Crafts from DeMontfort University, Leicester. This was where she discovered her passion for working with glass. Making anything and everything from a young age, a craft degree exploring different materials was where she realised a life as a maker was possible. After much experimentation, it was kiln formed glass, enamelling and metalwork seemed to fit her precise and measured way of working.
On leaving university Helen set up as a designer maker in her home town of Manchester, developing a range of enamelled silver jewellery and selling through events and galleries.
In 2012 Helen began to incorporate larger scale glass making back into her practice, first creating kiln formed glassware from recycled sheet glass. These pieces often included precisely cut geometric designs with intricate coloured glass inlay.
She opened her own studio shop in 2013 at Manchester Craft and Design Centre as a base to both make and sell her glassware and jewellery direct to the public. Studio 10 is where she continues to work today.
Over the past 12 years working in the craft industry, Helens unique aesthetic, range of work and repertoire of glass making skills has evolved. The process of enamel screen printing is now the focus of her glass work, giving her complete creative freedom in terms of colour and design. The patterns and processes she first developed in her kiln formed glass are now translated into intricate geometric layered printed glass pieces.
Inspiration for her glassware and jewellery is found in the everyday. Helen is drawn to structure, pattern and colour but it is material qualities and techniques that lead her work. Above all she enjoys the making process and is driven by a desire to create the best quality pieces, made by hand from start to finish.
Helen takes a very considered approach to making and materials, and many designs have developed as a response to reducing waste. The jewellery collections include recycled silver elements wherever possible, and every last bit of glass is used to create a range of pieces. As a small business and as an individual she aims to be as eco friendly as possible, using recycled, recyclable or compostable packaging and presentation materials and using renewable energy to power her studio.
Helen has a passion for glass and loves sharing that with others, whether its creating handmade pieces for individuals and corporate clients or teaching glass making skills on one of her workshops.
