ARTIST STATEMENT "I've chosen glass as my medium because it is so dynamic. The finished art is always changing. Daylight through a window transforms translucent red into gold; intensifies blues and reveals the complexity of browns. Clear bevels fracture a sunbeam into a rainbow. At night, room light bounces off an opaque sculpture; the patterns on transparent bowls are mirrored on the table. In my designs, by choosing glass of varying intensity, colour and texture; and by manipulating the glass at molten temperatures, I try to replicate the movement and chameleon nature of the world around me. "
BIOGRAPHY Eleanor Brownridge began designing and making stained glass windows as a hobby. But once bitten by the glass bug, she started taking advanced courses – first in stained glass, then in fusion glass. She has studied glass construction, architectural fusion glass and kiln casting under master artists in Toronto, New York and Washington states. Initially, her customers discovered her through word-of-mouth and studio tours, and then, in 2004, various galleries and gift shops across Canada started selling her serving dishes and sculptural pieces.
Her stained glass windows are in Bradgate Arms Retirement Home in Toronto, St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Mississauga, and numerous private homes throughout Ontario. For more than four years her work has been a popular Studio North feature at Toronto’s Interior Design Show.
Having outgrown her garage in Mississauga, Ontario, Eleanor relocated to the Pretty River Valley, just south of Collingwood, to open her TurtleCreek Art Glass studio in 2007. There, her style has been inspired by the trees and nature in the surrounding Niagara Escarpment.
Eleanor often incorporates “combed glass” into her designs. This is created by heating mixtures of coloured glass pieces until molten (about 1700F). Then, protected by a welder’s mask and asbestos gloves she opens the kiln and stirs the glass with a poker while it is red hot. She can’t see the finished design until the glass cools, guaranteeing that no two pieces will be alike.
Eleanor is an active member of the Crafts Council of Ontario, the Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts and the Purple Hills Arts and Heritage Society. She is also a volunteer member of the Town of Collingwood’s Arts and Culture Committee and the Clearview Culture and Recreational Advisory Committee.
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