Our Artists
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Featured Artist
Jon Lewis founded Orbic Glass, a creative glass design studio in 2005. The vision was to innovate modern glass design in architecture, lighting, blown glass and sculpture. Since his first introduction to glassmaking in 1989, Jon Lewis has become fluent in many glass disciplines. He has exhibited worldwide and has produced blown, cast, stained glass and numerous commissions, both architectural and sculptural.
Jon’s classes held at Parndon Mill
Jon Lewis and Yuki Kokai offer glass blowing tuition for beginners and intermediate glass blowers. In the fully equipped glass hot-shop the students will learn all about the ancient and magical craft of glass-making. First time glass blowers will be introduced to molten glass, workshop equipment and practice in a six hour session.
Our Resident Artists
Miranda Veda Jennings is a multidisciplinary artist and therapist from Essex/East London.
Ballet Folk
Ballet Folk was founded by Deborah Ward in 2019. The aim of the company is to explore the rich tradition of storytelling, combining contemporary ballet and folk music to create theatrical works for both indoor theatre and outdoor festivals/stages, whilst collaborating with artists from across the folk community. Making Ballet accessible for all audiences is central to the company's ethos and the folk ballets are created for all audiences and literally take folk to the ballet!
Artist and photographer Fiona Bennett art practice observes the changes and developments in our towns and cities. Although over the last decade we have witnessed massive changes in our communities Bennett focuses on our social history, architecture and forgotten stories.
Artist Bio: Toni Frostick
B.A. Art History, M.A. Arts Policy and Management
Working Class Artist and Academic
Artist Bio: Jordan Cook
Jordan Cook, alumnus of The Royal Drawing School, has recently had his debut solo exhibition ‘Re-Drawing Harlow’ at The Gibberd Gallery, and has exhibited in several group shows at Christie’s, The Royal Drawing School and ING Discerning Eye.
For Cook, the stripped back nature of charcoal onto paper is the most immediate way of responding to the world around him. With the charcoal feeling as an extension of his own hand, he draws with broad strokes and delicate detailing, creating stark contrast and a sense of movement that elicits emotion from any onlooker.
Jack Hamilton. Illustrator, Artist and Graphic Designer
Nicky produces remarkable portraits of dogs as well as paintings and dry-point prints.
Muna works in painted, stained and constructed glass.
Laura works with mark-making, mainly across drawing, printmaking and painting. Her work documents everyday scenes and gradual changes through the lens of landscape. Using mark-making, colour and tone to capture these familiar spaces.
Baby Photography has been at the heart of my business since I moved from my first little studio on the the top floor of Parndon Mill in 2004, to the first floor a few years later to establish my portrait studio.
Several years ago it seemed that blacksmithing was concerned only with reproducing traditional designs. Now it has become a creative craft offering an opportunity for artistic expression. As with ceramics, there is a sense of magic in using fire to turn raw materials of little beauty into objects which are useful and attractive.
After spending four years studying classical guitar making in London, David began his professional career in 1991 and moved to Parndon Mill in 2005.
Using the finest available tonewoods he makes bespoke classical and flamenco guitars of the highest quality.
His instruments are in the hands of discerning musicians in all corners of the world.
Growing up in Ireland, Margery has always been aware of the beauty seen in colour and light. Working in stained glass allows her the opportunity to work with these elements. Lettering is also important for her offering another form of communication. For this she works on paper or glass using a pen, brush or engraving tool. She has a particular interest in making stained glass sundials and calibrating them to the location they are designed for.
Gemma Smale is a UK-based ceramicist whose practice focuses on the creation of wood-fired ceramics, exploring the relationship between materials and traditional firing techniques. She holds a BA in Ceramic Design from Central Saint Martins, London, also working alongside makers including Michel Francois, Emma Lacey, and Akira Satake.
Ivan has been practicing as a fine artist and tutor for over 25 years.
As a fine artist he works predominantly in sculpture exploring the psychology and symbology of themes in world mythology. The materials and methods he uses are wood and stone carving, clay modelling, silicone rubber mold making and plaster casting, drawing and video. He has exhibited regionally and nationally and his work is held in private collections in the UK and abroad.
Billie is an artist working within many disciplines and has been a puppet, prop and set builder since 2006. Her specialty areas include model making, moulding and casting, foam and textile fabrication, wood carving, paper engineering and metal work.
After graduating with a BA Honours Degree in Fine Art from the University of Hertfordshire I completed my training as a Secondary School Teacher in Art at Middlesex University. I work part time at a local Hertfordshire school as Head of Art, run private classes at Parndon Mill and work on local outreach projects in Hertfordshire and Essex.
Within my work, I am carefully considering the influence of social cognitive network on the very individual ‘mind’. The choice of oil as a medium, which predominates in my practice, is conditional to its historical context, social expectation and the illusionary impossibility of challenging this. I use a combination of wet-on-wet and glazing techniques, which allow me to layer my memories and be in control of letting-in the viewer.
Farah Corrigan is a painter based in essex and has just joined the creative community at Parndon Mill. More info to follow…….
Simon Langsdale has had a lifelong interest in the arts, cultural heritage and the crafts but it wasn’t until 2006-07 when he completed a full-time course at Roehampton University in calligraphy and bookbinding that he seriously considered a career in these areas.
During 2008, he had an informal apprenticeship with the letter carver Tom Perkins, learning how to draw letters and cut them in stone. From 2008 -11 he studied at the University of Hertfordshire, gaining a BA with First Class Honours in History. At the same time, he continued developing his skills as a letter carver, visiting other craftsmen’s workshops and gaining his first commissions.
On graduating in 2011, he set up his own business as a self-employed letter carver. From 2011-15, he worked on cataloguing the archive of the craftsman Michael Renton for the Edward Johnston Foundation and also became the librarian and archivist for the Society of Scribes and Illuminators.
In 2018, he completed an MA by research in History at the University of Hertfordshire. In October 2017, he became a fellow of Digswell Arts Trust and had studio at The Forge in Digswell, Hertfordshire until July 2020, when he moved to Parndon Mill, Harlow. He mainly works to commission, creating pieces of public art, memorial stones, birdbaths, benches, plaques and stones for the garden. He also teaches and lectures on calligraphy and letter carving, running workshops and short courses. In the spring of 2018, he ran letter carving workshops at Highfield School Letchworth.
Yuki graduated from Tokyo Glass Art Institute with a master degree in Glass Art in 1997. She then moved to the UK and studied metalwork and jewellery at The Surrey Institute of Art & design University College (UCA Farnham). After graduating, Yuki has worked for a number of internationally renowned glass studios. Since 2006 she has been concentrating mainly on her jewellery work, and she still blows glass too.
Yuki produces precious metal jewellery and Japanese Kimono accessories in designs inspired by nature and seasonal changes. Her work is endlessly tactile and playful, but also classically beautiful, harnessing shape and light to great effect. With her traditional work, she brings a unique modern essence to an ancient art form.
Yuki has been exhibiting her work across the UK and in Japan in selected galleries.
Jon Lewis founded Orbic Glass, a creative glass design studio in 2005. The vision was to innovate modern glass design in architecture, lighting, blown glass and sculpture. Since his first introduction to glassmaking in 1989, Jon Lewis has become fluent in many glass disciplines. He has exhibited worldwide and has produced blown, cast, stained glass and numerous commissions, both architectural and sculptural.
Ewa Wawrzyniak was born in Poland and trained in ceramics and glass at Middlesex Polytechnic and Surrey Institute of Art and Design in the UK. She completed her Master of Arts at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, Ireland, where her research explored the technical and expressive possibilities of sand casting glass. Since 1999 she has been a Part Time Lecturer in Open Studies in Ceramics & Glass at University of Hertfordshire, UK, and since 2005 she is a regular Visiting Lecturer in Faculty of Art & Design (Glass) University College for the Creative Arts, Farnham, UK. Ewa has shown her work in numerous exhibitions in UK and abroad. Since 2005 she has occupied a studio at Parndon Mill.
Though born and educated in London, Angelika has spent most of her adult life in the Middle & Far East. The tropical beauty of Singapore and the cultural diversity of Hong Kong have had a profound influence on her work.
Returning to Hertfordshire she brings the flamboyant colour and rich expression of these cultures to her ceramic sculptures which she produces in her studio at Parndon Mill.
Angelika works in stoneware clay, and most of her pieces are suitable for exterior locations.
Liz Boast has had a studio at Parndon Mill since 1999. It is set up as a printmaking studio, but She also paints in here too.
My collection of "stuff" that I use for inspiration is also kept here: dolls, puppets, bric-a-brac, junk shop pieces, car boot finds, beach combing treasure, things brought back from travels. Also my sketchbooks, full of drawings, paintings, cuttings, photographs, life drawings, tales and memories all to be used one day.
Suman GujralI graduated in 2018 with an MA in Fine Art, with distinction, from the University of Hertfordshire. She has shown her work extensively at Parndon Mill, Flatford National Trust, Candid Arts, Vyner Street and Mall Galleries in London, St Albans and Welwyn amongst others. She has also been selected to show work with the prestigious Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair- last year and again this November. She has been invited to take part in an exhibition next year at the internationally renowned Whitworth Gallery in Manchester. Earlier this year, She was awarded a bursary, by AN Artists, for career development and Lewis Biggs, formerly director of Tate Liverpool and Liverpool Biennial and now of Folkestone Triennial, is mentoring her.
“The interplay of light and shadow in our lives fascinates me. Light creates shadows and shadows help us appreciate the light. This has been particularly sharp for me during lockdown where the beauty of the landscape has provided light in the darkness. Being outside, in my garden, the countryside and by the sea, has kept me sane! I often take my sketchbook along with me and the drawings lead to my original, hand-pulled prints., made in my studio in Hertfordshire, looking out onto my garden.”
Chris Seaber was born in London in 1947. He studied at Camberwell, Falmouth and The Royal College of Art and since leaving the RCA in 1971, and in parallel with his teaching, has continued to make paintings, drawings and associated works.
His work revolves around ideas that can be instigated by any event or encounter. The starting point for these investigations can be as varied as the work produced. Something seen, heard, read or remembered can spark the initial engagement. The resulting body of work has produced collections of drawings and paintings far abstracted from the original source of engagement — but each group of works is bound together by a consistent theme.
All Artists
John Farnham
John Farnham worked as assistant for Henry Moore until the sculptor’s death in 1986. John creates works in bronze, stainless steel and stone. He is particularly passionate about carving. It is the process of elimination and “listening” to the stone which excites him. Although he has a rough idea about what he wants to create, he lets himself be guided by the strata and colour of the stone. He mostly depicts human and animal forms and takes inspiration from foreign cultures, mythology and his imagination.
He has widely exhibited in this country and abroad and his sculptures can be found in major collections. His latest commission was a large bronze for Pembroke College in Cambridge.