ANU PENTTINEN
DESIGNER / ARTIST / GLASSMAKER
The glass material swept me off my feet in 1996, when I first had a go at glass blowing. This was at the University of Art and Design Helsinki - now Aalto University - where I had just started my ceramic and glass art studies. I found
hot glass such an immediate and exciting medium to work with, its challenging nature was something completely opposite to clay and ceramics which I had studied previously.
Something that has followed me since the beginning, and also served as one of the key factors in choosing a material for life, are the vibrant colours that the glass has brought to me. I was first drawn to the opalescent, non-see-through colours and matt surfaces and now, 28 years later, I'm in love with the shiny, vibrant colours of translucent, solid glass.