Artist's smashing glasswork

Nervously waiting for her colourful pieces to come out of the fiery furnace, Terri-Louise Colledge admits that every day for her feels like Christmas.

The 50-year-old, who lives in Coseley, is one of the last remaining traditional cameo artists in the country.

Her work is so close to that of the 19th century glassworkers, such as Thomas Webb, that she has been commissioned by a museum to create a piece to add to their collection.

Broadfield House Glass Museum in Kingswinford has a cameo room, which originally inspired Terri-Louise to go into that type of glass design. Terri-Louise, who lives in Upper Ettingshall Road, Hurst Hill, is now in talks with the museum to discuss the type of piece that would fit in to their collection. "It can take a couple of months to make a cameo piece as they are so intricate," says Terri-Louise.

"To make a cameo I get the piece of glass when it is all white and then draw a design on sticky-backed plastic. "I put the plastic onto the vase and sandblast it down to the colour underneath using a dentist's drill.

"Cameos show the different layers of coloured glass and they do look beautiful."

Terri-Louise, who is married to husband Michael, has two children, Delyse, aged 25, and Jordan, 21, as well as a grandson, Tyler, aged 6. "I loved art at school and the teachers never picked me out as being anything special, but I knew I wanted to be a painter," said the former High Arcal School pupil. "I never thought I was anything exceptional but now when people see my work they are amazed." Terri-Louise is now based at Wordsley-based Okra Glass, where she works as a freelance decorating the items it produces.

Established in 1979, the fir is one of the most successful glass studios in Britain and specialises in creating gifts and limited edition pieces including perfume bottles, vases and paperweights.

She said: "People ask if the beautiful glass items become boring to us after so long, but I have to admit that waiting for the furnace to open in the morning, to see how each piece has turned out, makes you feel like a child on Christmas day."