Tea with Nancy

At a recent meeting in London, Victoria was told to check out the work of glass engraver, Nancy Sutcliffe.  As she is currently here in Dubai (where she spends half her time), last week I met the absolutely delightful Nancy, for tea at Kempinski’s Aspen lounge where I was privileged to see some of her fabulous work and get a glimpse into her wonderful world …

Shelley Pond: Do you have a creative background?

Nancy Sutcliffe: After four years at art school and a degree in Design, I worked as a Medical and technical  illustrator for various institutions including the Open University and a large London teaching hospital.  I then set out on my own and worked as a freelance illustrator for various clients, including the BBC and several educational  publishers, so my background is basically one of pernickety attention to detail, and a lifelong interest in drawing the human figure, inside and out!

SP: What drew you to glass-engraving?

NS: I arrived at engraving after becoming frustrated at the limitations of other techniques I was using.  After moving to the country, and starting a handmade greetings card business,  I progressed to painting on glass, and quickly moved onto sandblasting because I could alter the surface of the glass I was painting on to get a finer and more interesting result.  I pushed this technique as far as I could but needed to find a better way of expressing my ideas.  A chance meeting led to me taking a course in glass engraving, and it felt like a homecoming.  As soon as I picked up the drill it felt as comfortable as holding a pencil and I began to “draw” directly onto the glass.  It was a relief to finally find the technique that allowed me to translate my ideas exactly as I saw them in my imagination.  I think my engravings are now much more interesting and engaging than my drawings alone ever were.

SP: Can you describe the process you follow when designing a piece?

NS: Everything I do begins with drawing.  Wandering about, drinking tea, thinking, and then sketching directly onto the glass with a white crayon.  I often don’t really have a definite idea of the finished piece when I start.  Sometimes I prefer to keep things flexible and see how things look as I go along.  Other times I spend hours drawing figures in various poses, trying to get them to relate to each other.  I may be fascinated by the turn of a shoulder, or a wrist and want to work that into a piece.  I am constantly fascinated by the way the deep “intaglio” cutting captures the light within the image and produces it’s own reflections and shadows.

It is quite deliberate that my work does not have a complicated narrative, I hope the viewer is captivated by the magical realism of the figures and the detail of the technique.  I don’t feel the need to tell a specific story.

The actual engraving is done with a micro motor, a sort of hand held drill which carries diamond bits, small stones and rubber polishers, very similar to a dental drill.  I use a combination of these to reveal the various colours in the engraving, from black to white and all the grey tones in between.  The engraver has to become used to thinking in reverse, and in monochrome, and only experience will get you there.

SP: You often use a beautiful and unique female figure.  Does she play an important role in your work?

NS: It is simply a joy to carve a voluptuous curving  female shape, there’s a softness that I think chimes so well with the technique.  This figure marked a point of departure for me from traditional engraver’s subjects such as plants and animals, to my own very personal creative expression.  I have been asked if the figure is me, and I don’t think she is, but often her face looks like my daughter.  It’s unintentional, but probably an indication that she is always on my mind, and I miss her.  It’s not a sad image though.  I feel it is a joyful celebration of the female form.

SP: Do you have a signature style?

NS: Even though my background is in anatomical drawing, I prefer to draw from my imagination, and the resulting figures have become recognisable as my style.  It is more important to me to create an emotional response to the work than to produce a hyper realistic engraving with none of the warmth or humour my figures express.

SP: Where do you go in Dubai to be inspired?  Has being here influenced your work, or attitude to your work, in anyway?

NS: I am mindful that there are issues of cultural sensitivity about my work, and new work will take these into consideration.  I find this kind of issue can be a stimulus to new creative thinking, and I welcome it.  I’m inspired by the traditional dress of the women here, the concealing and revealing, the liberal use of gold, and the architecture.  This is a country with a deep understanding of the balance between light and shade and buildings are designed with this very much in mind.  As a glass engraver, I also need to consider the play of light and shade both on, and within, the glass.  I see a direct connection here and have found the wonderful use of glass in modern architecture here in the Emirates to be hugely stimulating.

SP: How do you balance your work/life between the UK and Dubai?

NS: I spend most of my time in Dubai but go back to the UK when our daughter is home from University.  It can feel a little fractured, and I have a woeful carbon footprint, but I find the chopping and changing quite stimulating if I surrender to it.  I always return here with a lot of creative energy and a suitcase full of glass to work on.

SP: What has been your greatest professional challenge? … and your greatest achievement?

The next commission is always the greatest challenge, I learn so much with each piece I make that I am constantly raising my own bar each time I pick up my drill.  On a more practical level, it is difficult to get supplies here and I have yet to find a “hot shop” where I can get glass blown  to my design.  There is always a way round things though, and my next project will be a large piece of art made up of many small pieces of flat glass assembled together on a wall, all brought over as cabin baggage!

Greatest achievement … hard to say for a shy person … check out the Biography on my website!!

SP: What five words would you use to describe your work?

NS: Magical, emotional, graceful, detailed, warm.

SP: Are you currently working on any new ideas/projects?

NS: I have traditionally worked on vessels, but a collaboration this spring with a glass artist in the UK introduced me to some beautiful flat white glass, which I have been engraving and gilding with 24ct gold.  The resulting pieces will be framed to be mounted as a group.  It will be a new departure for me, and interesting to see if my work can make the transition from “functional” (I believe it’s sometimes hard to separate the art from the vase/plate) to “work of art”.  The engraving itself seems to take on a completely different feel, much more like a 3D drawing onto crisp white paper.  I will be experimenting more with colour as well, and I think the results will be fresh, contemporary and highly individual.  The aim is to take me from the gallery plinth, and onto the gallery wall.  I will be able to work on a much larger scale too.  Watch this space!

During our interview Nancy asked me what five words I would use to describe her work.  Without hesitation I will say that Nancy creates exquisite, beautiful, dreamy, tender, and moving “works of art”.

I most definitely will be watching this space and I can’t wait to see what Nancy does next.

You can see more of Nancy’s work on her website www.nancysutcliffe.co.uk and she currently has work for sale in:

Majlis Gallery, Dubai, UAE

Corning Museum of Glass shop, New York, USA

Exhibit A Gallery, New York, USA

Eisch Gallery, Frauenau, Germany

Fortnum & Mason, Piccadilly, London, UK

The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK

The Red House Glass Cone, Stourbridge, UK