Racing Tabby
Linda AKA 'Racing Tabby' is a fused-glass artist, Linda makes handmade glassware and jewellery for everyday use... all to bring joy. Linda's range of products includes dishes, coasters, sun-catchers, tealight holders and vases, as well as beautiful decorative items (ideal for Christmas) and unique pieces of wearable art jewellery and semi-precious jewellery. Look out for quirky and modern designs and jelly-bright colours. Commissions are also available.
Website: www.racingtabby.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/graphenecat/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/racingtabbyglass/
Website: www.racingtabby.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/graphenecat/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/racingtabbyglass/
Interview With A Maker
Name/Business
My name is Linda Harris and my business is called Racing Tabby. When I started the business we had a very large tabby cat as the office support staff. The ‘racing’ part describes what happens when a tin of tuna is opened, in the kitchen. I now have a new, small, black and white trainee who is still working on her job description.
Describe your art/craft?
I work in kiln formed glass. I start off with flat sheets of glass, then I heat and mould them to create three dimensional works. I prefer to make useful items which can be used every day around the house.
How long have you been creating? How did you learn your craft or were you self-taught?
I have been creating for about three years. My kiln arrived a week before lockdown, so I had plenty of time to experiment. I was given a bursary in 2018 to try out a craft and did a one day introductory course. Having realised glass was the right medium for me, I enrolled in a masterclass course which gave me the in-depth understanding of working in hot glass I needed.
What are your favourite art/craft 'tools of the trade'?
If it can be called a tool, it is without doubt my kiln. I had it made to the dimensions I wanted, in the colour I wanted, in the UK, by a firm which mainly makes industrial kilns of all types. Since the whole business depends on what happens inside the kiln it made sense to get the best I could afford.
Where is your creative space?
My creative space is the rear half of the garage. I have a repurposed patio door in one side facing the garden to give the maximum amount of natural light and three lamps with daylight bulbs hanging from the rafters. Just about everything else (except the kiln) has been recycled or repurposed from elsewhere.
What do you watch or listen to when you're creating?
I listen to Radio 4 and whatever music takes my fancy on Spotify.
What's your best selling product?
Christmas trees. All year round. I ran out of them at a fair in August, so I knew they had become popular. I make them in many different colours and each is unique, some people have started collecting them.
Favourite thing you've ever created? Do you still have it, or did you sell/gift it?
My favourite creation is a very wavy freeform dish in transparent green with a group of large pink, white and cream coloured opaque pieces fused onto the surface in one corner to represent water lilies. It is called ‘Lily Pad Pond’, I still have it and use it as a fruit bowl.
Random fact about yourself?
I grow my own tomatoes and cucumbers.
What new craft would you love to try?
Willow weaving.
Where can customers buy your products?
Customers can buy my products online at www.racingtabby.uk I also sell at fairs, which I advertise on my email signature, on my website, on Instagram and in my Newsletters. I can be contacted via my Instagram feed www.instagram.com/racingtabbyglass/ by email [email protected] on my Facebook page www.facebook.com/racingtabby/ and my Linked-In page www.linkedin.com/in/linda-harris-83526613/ . But I love phone calls the best to 07568 054600.
Give a shout-out to a fellow artist or crafter you admire!
Shout out to Sarah Kay Waters. She is a ceramic artist who uses many small delicate shapes in fine porcelain to create three dimensional pictures. She must have the patience of a Goddess.
Name/Business
My name is Linda Harris and my business is called Racing Tabby. When I started the business we had a very large tabby cat as the office support staff. The ‘racing’ part describes what happens when a tin of tuna is opened, in the kitchen. I now have a new, small, black and white trainee who is still working on her job description.
Describe your art/craft?
I work in kiln formed glass. I start off with flat sheets of glass, then I heat and mould them to create three dimensional works. I prefer to make useful items which can be used every day around the house.
How long have you been creating? How did you learn your craft or were you self-taught?
I have been creating for about three years. My kiln arrived a week before lockdown, so I had plenty of time to experiment. I was given a bursary in 2018 to try out a craft and did a one day introductory course. Having realised glass was the right medium for me, I enrolled in a masterclass course which gave me the in-depth understanding of working in hot glass I needed.
What are your favourite art/craft 'tools of the trade'?
If it can be called a tool, it is without doubt my kiln. I had it made to the dimensions I wanted, in the colour I wanted, in the UK, by a firm which mainly makes industrial kilns of all types. Since the whole business depends on what happens inside the kiln it made sense to get the best I could afford.
Where is your creative space?
My creative space is the rear half of the garage. I have a repurposed patio door in one side facing the garden to give the maximum amount of natural light and three lamps with daylight bulbs hanging from the rafters. Just about everything else (except the kiln) has been recycled or repurposed from elsewhere.
What do you watch or listen to when you're creating?
I listen to Radio 4 and whatever music takes my fancy on Spotify.
What's your best selling product?
Christmas trees. All year round. I ran out of them at a fair in August, so I knew they had become popular. I make them in many different colours and each is unique, some people have started collecting them.
Favourite thing you've ever created? Do you still have it, or did you sell/gift it?
My favourite creation is a very wavy freeform dish in transparent green with a group of large pink, white and cream coloured opaque pieces fused onto the surface in one corner to represent water lilies. It is called ‘Lily Pad Pond’, I still have it and use it as a fruit bowl.
Random fact about yourself?
I grow my own tomatoes and cucumbers.
What new craft would you love to try?
Willow weaving.
Where can customers buy your products?
Customers can buy my products online at www.racingtabby.uk I also sell at fairs, which I advertise on my email signature, on my website, on Instagram and in my Newsletters. I can be contacted via my Instagram feed www.instagram.com/racingtabbyglass/ by email [email protected] on my Facebook page www.facebook.com/racingtabby/ and my Linked-In page www.linkedin.com/in/linda-harris-83526613/ . But I love phone calls the best to 07568 054600.
Give a shout-out to a fellow artist or crafter you admire!
Shout out to Sarah Kay Waters. She is a ceramic artist who uses many small delicate shapes in fine porcelain to create three dimensional pictures. She must have the patience of a Goddess.
