Glass Art for interiors by Claudia Wiegand

If you’re in Royal Tunbridge Wells, I always love discovering local makers like GLASS by Claudia—her glass pieces have this beautiful way of catching the light and feeling completely unique. For Small Business Saturday, she’s a lovely example of the creativity we have locally, so it’s well worth checking out GLASS by Claudia and supporting a small business.

Tell us about your journey from the business idea to launching the business. 

I was quite arty as a child but coming from a generation who believed that ‘studying art doesn’t give you a job for life’, I took a very different educational path and ended up working in the telecoms industry for over ten years. Fast forward to when my daughter started pre-school, I had the chance to embark on a creative journey, and realising I was more a maker than a painter, I signed up to all sorts of creative hands-on workshops, became a mosaicist, then discovered glass fusing when a group of friends treated me to a beginner’s weekend workshop for my 40th birthday.  I literally fell in forever love with this fascinating medium, wanted to learn more, explore, experiment and then decided that creating fused glass art was going to be my business. 

What's been your biggest achievement since starting your business?

Shortly after starting from my garage, I was selected by a buyer from the National Trust and became a supplier to their shops all over the country for a year, selling a range of glass jewellery, which allowed me to expand and create larger work, and open a studio-gallery near Worcester, where I lived at the time. Moving to Tunbridge Wells in 2017 was the best decision ever and opening my shop GLASS on Monson Road, just as COVID started, was a crazy challenge.  I made it a real success until five years later, I decided to rethink my business model and am now starting a new glass adventure. My biggest achievement is always to see the smiles on my customers’ faces when they select my work or discover the bespoke piece they have commissioned. There is a pure flow of joy and energy that is simply indescribable and it keeps fuelling my passion for glass.

What inspired you to start the business? Deep down, I’ve always wanted to turn some sort of creative practice into my main occupation, so it was first a matter of finding which one. Having a sales career in a large telecoms company for 10+ years gave me so many different business skills that I knew becoming a professional artist-maker was not just a fancy dream but an actual possible reality.  I did make mistakes along the way of course, but learned so much from them, and I’m still learning twenty years later.

What does the future look like? I recently moved to a large working studio in Frant and I’m super excited to be launching a series of beginner friendly glass fusing workshops. I really love teaching and sharing my passion for this fabulous medium and giving people the joy of achieving something new they never imagined they could create.  I’m also working on a range of splash backs and larger functional art centre pieces like huge bowls for kitchen islands, and I’m further experimenting with glass fusing techniques to create new and unique artwork collections. I’m super excited to take part in South East Open Studios this June (I’m studio 22). It’s the 30th anniversary of this major event celebrating artists and makers in the South East and you can find out more on www.seos-art.org / @seopenstudios.

What message would you like to send to our community of small business owners? Take calculated risks and follow your passion with faith and determination, but always keep your mind open to alternative paths if you realise it’s time to change directions and make new plans. Be okay with re-inventing yourself. There’s no such thing as failure and you’re always on the right path!

Follow them here: @glassbyclaudia