Perthshire glassblower to feature in exhibition after chance meeting with artist

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Perthshire glass cutter’s work is to be featured in an exhibition after a chance meeting with a top artist.Glenfarg glass cutter Gordon Taylor answered an online appeal from glass blower and acclaimed artist Jo Kenny to form a collaboration - with their unique pieces to be shown in Crieff at Strathearn Gallery.Gordon has spent many years perfecting his skills after he left school in 1978 for an apprenticeship at Perthshire Paperweights.He explained how long it took him to grasp the trade and the intricacy that is involved: “Crystal cutters will work on top of the wheel and they can see what they’re doing.“When I am working the wheel is spinning so when I’m cutting I can’t see what I’m doing.“I have to go with the feel of the wheel.“When I was learning I was told to ‘listen to the wheel sing’ and it’s true because if you’re doing it right it’ll make a clean sound.“It’s all done by just touch and it takes a long time to learn that.”While honing his skills Gordon would only take 10 minutes for his lunch break, using the rest of the time to practice.He explained that his concentration to do such tasks stems from his dyslexia which was only diagnosed in his 50s.Once Perthshire Paperweights closed, Gordon started working with Richmond Fellowship, a mental health charity, and said he realised that while he thinks differently to other people he has found more common ground with people in the art world.He said: “I’ve been speaking to a lot of other artists in different fields.“A lot of them are the same, they are dyslexic.

We figure out things differently and I now know I think about things differently to someone else.”Gordon and Jo came into contact after he responded to her Facebook post asking if anybody knew a cold [glass