Twenty years ago Deborah Timperley had a successful career in hotel and catering management. But as she puts it, “what suits you one decade may not do so the next – I loved my high-flying job in the city, but then it was time to move on.”
Deborah has moved on with great aplomb, and recently won The Warm Glass Prize, for which work is submitted from around the world. Furthermore, her pieces have appeared in prestigious exhibitions as far afield as Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Lithuania.
It was her mother that first inspired Deborah to work with glass by taking her to see stained glass windows in churches when she was at school, which she loved. Her pieces now range from jewellery and bowls to coasters and sculptures, and the texture of each piece is a wonder in itself, be it a simple tile or elaborate sculpture cast with 23.5 ct gold.
She has a garage that contains all the things that a normal garage does – old board games and various family memorabilia – but also three kilns in varying shapes and sizes, and a glass polisher. I remark that it is the perfect size and space, but Deborah says that in the near future she hopes to move to a proper workshop, so that she has the company of other artists. “It can be quite isolating working alone, as much as I love the work itself.”
And how did she learn her many techniques, and develop her own very unique style? “I was a mature student studying 3D Design in Glass and Ceramics at Middlesex University,” she says. “I left work and did a Foundation course in London, and then decided to specialise in glass from there. I applied to do a degree because that’s what everyone else around me was doing, really, but I honestly haven’t looked back since.”
It was her husband’s job as a geophysicist that first brought her to Sussex 14 years ago, and although she admits that she still likes to get her “London fix” every now and again, she is very much involved in the Sussex art scene. In fact she only recently stepped down as Chairman of Selection at the Sussex Guild, a position she held for eight years.
01403 265835; www.deborahtimperley.co.ukREAD ON
• Storrington artist Jennifer Rose Naylor - Not content with beautiful fine art watercolours that focus on “everything that’s all around us here in Sussex” (namely wildlife and farm animals), Jennifer Naylor also produces kitchenware ranges, children’s homeware and even handbags, all from her kitchen in Storrington.
