Julia Linstead sandblasts her designs onto hand-blown crystal bowls and vases. Julia’s own words, below, give an insight into the labour-intensive nature of the process.

‘‘My crystal bowls are hand blown by first blowing a bubble of pure, concentrated coloured crystal. This is dipped in layers of clear crystal and coloured glass chippings and hand shaped to the form you see. Once cooled, I cover one surface with a resist and draw my design directly onto the surface. Using a scalpel, I peel off sections of the resist to reveal the glass beneath. The glass is then carefully sandblasted removing the layer of colour to produce the desired shade.

I then replace the piece of resist and peel off an adjacent piece, carrying on around the piece until the design is produced. When I have decorated one side of the glass, I start on the other side. Pieces take from a few hours for a tiny bowl to three months for the Koi carp bowl which will form part of my exhibition at Broughton Gallery.’’

Julia produces her work in her workshop in Berwickshire.