Meet the Wolverhampton glass artist who loves her "completely and utterly addictive" craft

She fell in love with the craft while studying at the University of Wolverhampton and now specialises in creating fused and leaded glass art and gifts.

Nadia also undertakes stained glass repair and restoration projects as well as designing and making new stained glass for windows and entrance doors for customers.

Before starting her training, Nadia, who was born in Maidstone, Kent and grew up in the small village of Plaxtol, enrolled on an art foundation course at the Kent Institute of Art & Design.

In 2002, she moved to Wolverhampton to study 3D Art & Design at the city’s university and started honing her skills in a broad range of techniques including glass blowing.

“This is where I started doing what I love – working with glass,” says Nadia, who lives in Penn, Wolverhampton.

Nadia was also awarded a scholarship to Pilchuck Glass School, an international centre for glass art education, in Washington USA .

Since 2012, she has been based at a studio at Halfpenny Green Vineyards in Bobbington, near the Staffordshire-Shropshire border.

Visitors are able to not just browse her gallery shop but also see Nadia at work bringing her glass creations to life.

“People just love to watch, there’s aren’t many places where you get a workshop and a shop in the same place.

“It’s always nice to see how things are made,” she explains. Fused glass is an artistic technique where layers of clear and coloured glass are bonded together in a kiln heated between 780c and 820c.

Layers of glass are built up to create the finished design which may be fired two or three times.

Patience is key when working with fused glass, says Nadia.

Also important is understanding that the material can often be unpredictable.

“Even after 23 years, I’m still learning. I can still open the kiln and find out something has gone wrong and I have no idea why,” explains Nadia.

She is often commissioned to create glass pictures for special occasions and says making bespoke pieces is very rewarding.

“It’s a nice feeling when they’re really pleased with it,” explains Nadia. Working with stained glass is another enjoyable aspect of her work, especially when she uses her skills to bring an old window back to life.

“Taking something that is broken and putting it back together again is just lovely. It’s nice to be able to fix things for people,” she says.

When starting a window from scratch, first she will draw out the design, which might be one of her own or provided by the customers, and creates a template.

“Everything is done by hand,” says Nadia, who will cut out the different coloured and clear pieces of glass needed for the pattern using a specialist tool.

Each one is numbered to make it easier to slot them together in their correct positions in the design.

Nadia uses lead to hold all of the pieces in place and solders the joints to keep it all secure.

Finally, a linseed oil-based putty is then applied to make the glass waterproof and to polish the surface.

In her gallery shop, visitors can also find an array of fused glass pictures, such as lighthouse scenes, and animals including cats, puffins, foxes and penguins.

She also loves making sculptural pieces such as the ferris wheel and large deck chair, which are both on show at her studio

“I like making stuff out of glass that shouldn’t be made out of glass!,” says Nadia.

Her work is also stocked at Himley Hall, Glazed Art in Stoke-on-Trent and Red Lobster Gallery in Norfolk.

For more information, see www.nadialammas.co.uk or email nadialammas@hotmail.co.uk