My name is Iwona and I am a Polish stained glass maker based in Leith, Edinburgh. Here I have a small home studio where I design and make all of my stained glass work. My journey with stained glass began in 2016, after spending time studying philosophy and working in the social care sector. At this time I was recovering from a long-term illness and was searching for creative ways to occupy myself.
What drew me to stained glass was its simplicity as a rough material and the sheer variety of colours and textures. Depending on the weather, location or season, the movement of light through stained glass changes the way we can interpret it from one moment to the next. Working with these materials gives me a great freedom to express myself. I love the originality of the process in which I can translate my thoughts, feelings and creative images into my work. I am continuously surprised by the end results. Also using my hands to create, powered by my intellectual vision of the piece, takes me to a very peaceful place but also enables me to treat every single piece with enormous amount of attention and love.
I am inspired by simple yet beautiful shapes and colours that I interpret through the places I visit, particularly marine and nautical landscapes of Scotland. My work includes window panels and suncatchers, hanging and standing pieces, and smaller pieces like jewellery and planters. Much of my work incorporates driftwood and sea glass found on Scottish shores.
The main technique I use in my work is copper foil technique, also known as Tiffany. The name originates from work of Louis Comfort Tiffany, an American artist who popularised this method at the turn of the century. This technique involves wrapping separate pieces of glass in copper foil before joining them together with solder.
I love this method as it gives me lots of flexibility by allowing me to create designs that are both big and small, simple and more intricate. I am also currently studying the leaded stained glass technique which will enable me to work with stained glass projects on larger scale.
Please contact me via email if you would like to discuss a custom order iwonakoziel78@gmail.com