Shakspeare Glass

06/09/2026

I went to see the great David Byrne (Talking Heads lead man) the other night. What an honour and privilege to listen to the man himself singing Psychokiller, Burning Down The House etc. He is 74 and an inspiration. His voice might not be all it was but he was still out there. He seemed and, of course, the audience agreed that he was at his best singing the classics, supported by his amazing band.
It made me wonder whether I might be better looking back a bit, honing and treasuring the skills that I have rather than trying to make new things.
It seemed listening to Mr Byrne, that both his body and mind relaxed into singing the songs that he knew inside out. We enjoyed them – and so could he, and they were brilliant.

Maybe, you get to a point that you need to accept what you can do and do it well. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t experiment and try new things, just don’t rip up the old sketchbooks, but be more discerning. Keep the baby but get rid of the bathwater!
I’m just trying to say that you should remember what got you here and what you are good at.

30/08/2026

I went to see an old friend of mine the other week, probably the grandfather of studio glass in this country, a very wise, clever old bu**er. We ended up discussing all sorts, trips to Guatemala, drunken recuperator measurements, and jugs!!!! Aways a talking point for glassblowers! My point was that trying to make a hand-made glass jug that doesn’t drip is like herding cats. Well nigh impossible. I always think of those awful metal teapots at motorway service stations – guaranteed to cause issues.

To start with, to make a jug that doesn’t drip, you need to know which liquid you are going to pour– there is a huge difference in consistency between water and custard – well there should be!

Just glance at the internet and you will see a vast amount written about this issue - generally called the “Teapot Effect”
You can even get into complex theories of Fluid Mechanics and start using words that I have never heard of.

Simply put:
Adhesion, liquid sticking to the surface of the jug
Cohesion, liquid sticking to itself – surface tension
Speed of Pour. Obvious
Angle of Spout. Again obvious

Get any wrong = dribbling

How is a glassmaker supposed to deal with all that whilst juggling molten glass on the end of an iron
The problem is I still like jugs as a form, and love making them! Especially the clutch jugs without a handle.

They really are more decorative than practical though.

You just cant win.

22/08/2026

I actually got into work early the other day, so ahead of myself, I made myself a nice coffee and sat on our decking, it was bloody lovely. I had forgotten what a nice place it is to relax. There were a few paddleboarders and a little reed warbler seemed surprised to find me there, but apart from that……….

It reminded me how important it can be to take five. Lots of people are coming in our gallery and just looking around, having a coffee on the deck, just enjoying a time out.
We don’t have background music on, we don’t try a hard sell, just a quiet belief in the quality of what we have and what we do.

Just a shout out to my wife. I am amazed looking after the gallery what a fantastic selection of cards we have. We stock cards from many different designers, and try to only buy British. Every day I look after the gallery, there are at least 2 people who tell me that we have the best card selection in the area. I agree. It does however cause me problems when I have to get Kate a card…….

21/08/2026

SATURDAY ASSISTANT NEEDED
FOR SHAKSPEARE GLASS

An opportunity has arisen to assist in our Gallery and Coffee Shop on Saturdays. The role will require a confident and professional person who is able to interact with the general public, take money and record sales and serve in the coffee shop.

Hours of Work 10.00am to 3.30pm

Please apply in person with a CV at the shop
Email [email protected]

17/08/2026

Why Glass blowing is tricky.

I always seem to get myself in a mess when I am talking to people about glassblowing.
It is a difficult craft to learn and to even blow a simple glass vessel adequately is a matter of practice, lots of it!

Most people can drive a car, get from A – B. Some people can get there quicker than others, or more economically, or smoother. A few people choose different routes, some more scenic than others, people drive different cars, listen or not to different music, etc. But they all get from a to b. Most people can chat reasonably coherently when doing this. But nearly all those people had to concentrate when they first got in a car, changing gear, steering, indicating, looking in the mirror at all times, checking all the signs, avoiding jaywalkers (optional) With practice a lot of these things became second nature and some even became optional (depending on the car you drive)

Glass blowing is a bit like this, obviously there is less jeopardy, but still there are lots of things to remember and do just to keep the piece on the iron. You have to keep the glass on centre by turning the iron, and not just turning it aimlessly, but making incremental adjustments to do so. You have to keep the iron at the right angle, hold the glass pointing too far down and it will fall off, and too high it will creep back up the iron. You have to blow, not too hard or softly depending on the heat of your parison but keeping a seal around the iron with your lips to maintain pressure – oh and that’s while doing all the turning stuff as well. And of course the glass is cooling down as you are working. Cooling from the outside in as opposed to being all hot. You will have to heat it up (from the outside in now) and that is another set of issues, some of the glass will be at a different temperature than the rest and will move differently. If you lose concentration you can easily forget where you were. And so on and so forth. This just the basics, we have not got around to the extra hassle colours bring to the game or the fact that it is hot, very hot.

10/08/2026

As is my wont, I was talking to a customer the other day who asked when glass was discovered/invented etc . And we had a long discussion, the earliest glass would have been a very different material to the optically perfect, flawless material we are now accustomed to.
Evidence would suggest that “glass” was invented in around 3500 BCE in Syria, Mesopotamia or Egypt. Nobody quite knows how “glass” was first invented but it is likely that it was accidental. There was certainly an early form of glass called faience and it does not take much imagination to see early glass as a byproduct of this process.
Early glass was opaque and it was probably not till the 15th Century that there were reliable recipes for a truly clear glass.
But I am no expert and there is loads of different dates and stories all over the internet.
It was interesting however, to compare our knowledge of metal production and invention alongside glass. We generally lump all glass together whether it is soda, lead, borosilicate etc. whereas with metal we tend to call them by their names, the differences are more visual and “wider” Bronze and Aluminium look and act very differently. But we all know that you can pour boiling water into your “pyrex” jug – borosilicate, but best not with your finest cut crystal – lead! It would be a bit like calling lions lions and tigers tigers but just thinking of all the different dogs just as dogs. Odd

ROMAN + GLASS cant find a free download of a cage cup or anything!

03/08/2026

As I think I have already ranted about, the other week in a slightly too loud stage whisper a non customer said “you can buy 5 hand-made tumblers in IKEA for a tenner” Well whether you can nor not and whether they are actually made by hand or not are all other questions for other times. But the other day a customer said – are these tumblers hand-made or mould blown? Now I, thinking that the normal conversation would follow, girded my proverbial loins. But he then said they are good, and repeatedly questioned how I could make tumblers that almost matched. Well after I had picked myself up off the floor – made a fuss of his dog etc. He bought them, fantastic, in fact he bought some, his friend bought some and his friends daughter bought one. Result. And yes I suppose I am quite proud that they almost look machine made……..but with soul!

The answer though is of course practice. Lots of practice. Tumblers make a great present, so much that we have extended the range to Hi-Balls and Shot glasses. These are not quite so matched – need more practice, but they are getting there. All these are available in the same colourways, so if you are so inclined you can match them up.
https://shakspeareglass.co.uk › collections › drinking-glasses

I also have been asked in the last week where can I buy the tumbler you were drinking out of in your previous post? The short answer is you can’t!! I made it years ago as a trial – it worked great and has now become my go to glass, red w**e, b**r, c***r, Pimms…..even water. However it was just a happy accident and a complete one-off.

27/07/2026

Fabulous flag flying for Langport and Huish Episcopi Youth!

Look out for these twisted vines as you go flag spotting throughout the town. We're delighted to be able to sponsor this one 👌

These 'Twisted Vines' are scaling the old bank building on Cheapside. 🌱🌿🎋

Well done to Madi, another of our talented flag artists.

What do you think of this one? The more we look at it, the more it grows on us... 😂🤣

Thank you to Shakspeare Glass for your sponsorship 🍸😍

27/07/2026

I have always reckoned that b**r tastes better out of a good glass or to be more pedantic it tastes worse out of a bad glass,
I know this isn’t really true, but to be even more pedantic, the experience of drinking anything can be completely spoilt or lost by a poor choice of receptacle!
It occurred to me last night as I was sipping(!!!) a rather fine pint of Otter Bright that we are blessed at the moment in this country with an incredibly high quality of almost anything. Crystal clear Real Ale that tasted like nectar from an optically perfect, flawless, mass produced, thin pint glass. Not a bubble, cord, seed or mould line in sight. And cheap as chips, in fact I found myself wondering how many glasses I could buy for the price of a single pint! ( just to be clear I think a good pint is worth way more
than any glass and after a brief look it would seem about 10)
So here I am, sitting in a lovely pub garden, at ye olde rustic picnic table, and I’m having to check where to put my pint down because tall glasses are not made for uneven tables.
Maybe a more solid tankard that isn’t going to fall over would be a safer choice or even 1 of my own tumblers that I now seem to use for most drinks. Robust, practical and ( I think ) drink improving!

23/07/2026

Good news. Will is on the mend! And some even better news - he turned the furnace off right before the heatwave hit, therefore dodging a metaphorical bullet!

While he's been on R&R he's been doing stock takes like nobody ever before and he's found plenty of stock that's made it's way to the bargain section of the factory shop.

So get yourself down to the currently-coolest-place in the UK, the shaded gallery in Langport, with no burning furnace!

Alternatively shop all other glass on our website at www.shakspeareglass.co.uk