It's only Rock'n'Roll but I like it...

Its taken a while but Ive finally managed to combine my two great passions: Music and Glass into one recognisable and tangible project which will come to fruition sometime mid-2016.

The idea was sparked by a visit to an amazing Picasso exhibition in New York at the Metropolitan a couple of years back. Guitar focused on Picasso’s output between 1912 and 1914, a period when he devoted himself to producing paintings, drawings and 3D cardboard sculptures inspired by traditional Spanish instruments.

The show inspired me to the point that I began to think about how I might channel my own love of guitars into something meaningful and creative and soon the concept for Axis crystallised.

I was fortunate enough to have a connection through the music business who could help me reach some of the UK’s most iconic players and before I knew it I was in London in the company of Donal Gallagher, brother of the late great Irish bluesman Rory Gallagher.

I spent the next two days at Donal’s house where he presented Rory’s iconic road-worn 61 Fender Stratocaster, a guitar that I knew well from numerous Rory album covers and posters. I have to say that the experience of handling such an iconic instrument was almost spiritual… to touch it, smell it, play it… overwhelming!

When I’d completed my work I found that I’d filled several sketchbooks with pencil drawings, rubbings, photographs… without realising how much work I’d done!

These research drawings were then taken back to my studio and formed the blueprints for the first stained glass guitar panel, dedicated to Rory. Since then I’ve managed to complete almost 10 panels in my quest to complete a series of 25 original stained glass pieces.

I will share more of these as the year progresses…