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Okra glass is one of the longest established glass studios working in Britain today. Twenty six years ago Richard Golding and his partner Nicola Osborne completed the unique one year course at The International Glass Centre in Brierley Hill, and after a short spell in Yorkshire they moved into the newly opened glass studio at Broadfield House Glass Museum where they were resident glass makers for the next five years. Since then they have made a number of moves, gone through various partnerships and remained one of the most successful studios in Stourbridge selling their pieces both nationally and internationally. One of the keys to their success is the constant exploration and striving for new effects and techniques by Richard Golding, one of the top British glassmakers and coloured glass technologists. One of these areas has been cameo glass. In 1980, Richard already fascinated by much of the Stourbridge cameo, produced a small collection of his own cameo pieces. The time consuming nature of this work and the lack of financial resources meant that for the time being further development was not a viable option. It was not until the mid nineties through Okra's partnership with the Moorcroft group that these cameo techniques could once again be explored and further developed. The new cameos consisted of up to seven layers and were carved as well as in some cases enamelled. Improved techniques consisted of the refinement of thinner casing layers, more precise forms of masking and the innovative concept whereby enamel paints were used to add detailed highlights.
2001 saw the arrival of Terri Colledge to the Okra team. Having previously worked as a highly skilled paintress at Bilston Enamels, her move to the Okra Studios has resulted in some outstandingly beautiful cameo pieces. Anyone who watches her at the Okra studio in Queen Street, Wordsley will testify that she is now a natural whose skill level has become more and more refined with each piece she works on. Cameo colours include gold ruby, royal blue, green and amber. These combine with the white which is melted as an opal colour, dense enough to give impact but translucent enough to carve. Black glass is also used as shading in much the same way that Thomas Webb & Sons used blue to shade under cameos in the late 19th century. If this level of cameo production is regarded as an important continuation of the Stourbridge cameo glass tradition, then Richard Golding's new foray into cameo glass is a first in the history of cameo glass. Okra's hallmark is iridescent glass and for many years Richard admits that he has wanted to incorporate it into his cameo.
Determined to devote time to this project, 2005 saw the achievement of the first successful pieces to emerge. Iridescence in cameo glass is not new, but in the past artists such as Tiffany and Carder produced pieces that had iridescence on the outermost layer. Richard has achieved the technically challenging task of including the iridescent layer between other layers. In the hot glass studio the aurene based glass is blown between other layers. This is then carved to reveal the aurene integrated in the design which when reheated and fumed allows the iridescence to flow through the piece. The 'Silhouette' design first produced in 2005 illustrates this technique. Meanwhile the secondary market for Okra pieces particularly prior to 1996 remains buoyant. However care must be taken of pieces unsigned or unfinished, some of which were stolen in the mid nineties, others because they were deemed to be seconds. Also pieces marked and sometimes circled with an S denoting them also as seconds. The Okra Guild launched in 1997 continues to flourish. Okra demonstration days, exclusive to members, offers the chance to view and purchase exclusive pieces as well as preview new designs. First hand feedback from our collectors is always of paramount importance which is highly treasured.
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