Featured Maker – Verity Pulford

Published 30/04/25

Featured Artist Member, May 2025

Our featured Artist Member for May 2025 is Verity Pulford.

Verity’s work is inspired by the structures within nature. She is fascinated by light, the magic it creates in the natural environment and the way it moves through glass, reflects, and creates shadows. She uses a variety of warm and architectural glass techniques to create work for galleries across the UK, architectural commissions and exhibition.

Verity is a qualified teacher and has worked as artist in residence in hospitals, schools and community groups. She also teaches workshops from her home studio.

Verity’s project ‘Gardens of the Mind’ investigates the visual and physical correlation between structures and micro-structures within plant and human biology. This has been funded by the Arts Council of Wales.

Above:  For the Love of Small Things by Verity Pulford (photography by Stephen Heaton)

What inspires your work?

I am interested in the complexity of plant life, the complicated structures and growth patterns. In my last project -Mutualism, I also looked at sea creatures and seashore plants. I am influenced by the way being in nature makes me feel. It is this blissful, expansive, and calm feeling which I am trying to communicate and share in my work.

Other inspirations are- light, the magical atmosphere it can create in the landscape but also the way it interacts with glass- shadows, reflections, the qualities of matt and shiny surfaces.

I am also interested and influenced by the cataloguing of nature- natural history artifacts, early cyanotypes, x-rays, microscopic images and botanical drawings.

Below: (left) Found objects from Castwell and Abergele (right) by Verity Pulford

Describe your workspace.

 I work in a studio and number of sheds which are in my garden. I live rurally in Denbighshire, North Wales and have a very isolated and old house high up on a mountain. My immediate environment influences me a lot, my garden and the surrounding countryside is full of ferns, lichens, mosses and wildflowers.

 

Below: (Left) Inside of Verity’s studio  (Right) Outside of Verity’s studio (photography by Stephen Heaton)

What is your favourite piece or design you have made?

I am always most excited about the work I am currently making. I am working on new wall pieces called ‘Glimmers’ at the moment. They are pate de verre pieces which are layered at different heights. I am really enjoying the mark making and creating new patterns inspired by seedheads, mushroom gills and algae. I also am really proud of ‘Sea Flower’ which is my first sculptural piece using my own pate de verre technique combined with cast glass elements.

 

Below: (Left and right) Dark Glimmers by Verity Pulford, (photography by Stephen Heaton)

Who has influenced & inspired you?

I love seeing makers who are fully obsessed with their material, who continue to develop, who are curious and authentic. I trained with Angela Thwaites and Fiaz Elson for my QEST scholarship and they have influenced me and taught me so much. Others artists include Effie Burn- glass, Junko Mori- metalwork, Anne Gibbs- ceramics, Huimin Zhang- metalwork/jewelry, Emma Witter- mixed media sculpture, Kaori Kurihara- ceramics

 

A collection of Verity’s work is available to purchase in the gallery and via our online store.