Tag: fishing

Designer Desire: Martin John Fowler

Montage of Martin John Fowler paintings

Martin John Fowler is a fine artist working in the Yorkshire/Lincolnshire borders. He travels recording the wild coastal areas from the Scottish isles to the hidden coves of Cornwall. He was born and raised in the mining towns of South Yorkshire. He studied drawing and painting at Doncaster College of Art. He went on to study painting and printmaking at Sheffield College of Art, acquiring a BA (hons) in Fine Art.

We first noticed his work while walking past the window of  Oriel y Bont in Aberystwyth town centre. We really love his paintings; they’re forged using bright, primary colours and are full of movement. Most of the paintings we’ve chosen to include in our montage come from Fowler’s The Prevailing Sense of Change series:

Drawing and painting working on my ongoing project intensified by the prevailing sense of change in Coastal working ports from childhood memories to the present which record and reflect the constant change and adaptions of an entire way of life. Recording in sketches and paintings

Head to Martin John Fowler’s Instagram feed to view a huge selection of his portfolio.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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All images: Martin John Fowler ©

Creative Collections: Glass floats

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collection of vintage glass floats

We’ve chosen glass fishing floats for this week’s Creative Collections post – we love the subtle colour variations and irregularities in shape.

collection of vintage glass floats

Glass floats originated in Norway in about 1840. Christopher Faye, a Norwegian merchant, in collaboration with the Hadelands Glass Works, is credited with their invention. Early examples were hand blown, later the glass was injected into wooden moulds resulting in the faint seam line which can be seen on many examples. Modern replicas are also being produced.

collection of vintage glass floats

This is how they would have originally been used – encased with a twine netting holder. These would have then been attached to the large fishing nets & lines to keep mile after mile of them afloat in the sea. This is quite a basic form of holder, but the more elaborate antique examples crafted by the fishermen or their wives during long winter evenings can be a things of real beauty. Glass floats are no longer used having been replaced by plastic, aluminium or Styrofoam. However, thousands of the glass ones are still afloat, travelling along in the currents of the world’s oceans. They’re prized by beachcombers and used in interior decoration.

collection of vintage glass floats

They’re great for interior display – particularly the genuine older examples which have so much character. A collection looks great in a large bowl for example – and they look really fabulous on a window sill where the sun catches the glass and fills the room with coloured light and shadows.