FEATURE
It is a fascinating work of art, and one
that thousands of visitors stand and
marvel at each year.
Working in searing heat at the Alum Bay Glass
studio, on the Needles Park site, Colin Green
(above) and his team produce magnificent,
eye-catching items that are now being snapped up
worldwide.
Alum Bay Glass was founded in 1972, and Colin,
45, has been working for the company since 1987,
following in a family tradition that was started by
five of his uncles who were all in the glass industry.
One of the uncles, Jack Green was a renowned
scientific glass maker, who later did more artistic
work, and some of his pieces can be seen on display
in the studio at Alum Bay. Colin said: “I am very
proud of what my uncles did, although I never got
any help from them.
“I was fascinated by what they did, and I
remember when I was about 10 years old my
uncle made a glass pig in a bottle, but it was very
unusual in as much it was a pig inside a pig, inside
a pig several times, in the bottle. He made it for
my dad, who was a butcher in Totland, and it
really fascinated me.”
Alum, Bay Glass founder Michael Rayner taught
Colin and the other members of staff the delicate
art of glass making, and when Michael handed
over the business to the Needles Park in 1997,
Colin was left to take up the reins, along with Rob
Adams, Steve Meakin, Dave Read and Luke Powell,
along with new recruit Tommie Ford.
“It is quite a long learning process. You start by
making paper weights and small animals, and then
after about eight months you start glass blowing,”
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