Gemma is driven to make beautiful glass objects with overlying themes of her love of nature and colour.
Using Hot and Blown Glass techniques Gemma explores the use of colour, contrasting colours and complimentary colours in her work to evoke a reminder of beautiful and colourful moments in nature.
Gemma’s work can be seen in high profile galleries in the North West of England
‘Colours of the wind’ has always been a piece that really hit my senses: the combination of the music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and the stunning and mysterious vistas created by the artists of Pocahontas have really stuck with me since I first saw them as a 10 year old.
I adore being out in the open and find wonder in natural ‘moments’: the dappling of light through the translucent tree leaves and blossom, butterflies dancing together, swirls of wind drawing up leaves and petals, the flight paths of bees, the stunning displays of flocks of starlings and the gorgeous and varied hues of colour that paint the sky at dusk. Sadly they are all too often fleeting and we don't always remember them all. Here in these pieces, I hope to have captured some of these ‘moments’ where the sky has been painted “with all the colours of the wind”.
Kiota (meaning nest), the Swahili title of Gemma’s pieces reference her interest in the weaver birds of Africa and their nests. Each nest is intricately woven often with a bulky main body leading up to a tapered connection to the tree. These forms have influenced Gemma’s work most.
2016 | Associateship in Glass, Dudley College |
2014 | Masterclasses with Malcolm Andrews, Red House Glass Cone, Stourbridge |
2008 | BA(Hons) Three Dimensional Design, Manchester School of Art |
2017 | Vessel @ Vessel, Vessel Gallery, London Made for Sale, Waterside Arts Centre, Sale Celebrations, International Festival of Glass, Stourbridge Be Our Guest, Manchester Craft and Design Centre |
2016 | Exploring Wonderland, Manchester Craft and Design Centre |
2014-2016 | Sale Arts Trail, Sale, Manchester |
2015 | Manchester Makers Collective, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester Sale Arts Trail, Selected, Craft Shop at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester |
2013 | Made, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield Hot Glass - New Work from the Furnace, Contemporary Applied Arts Gallery, London |
2012 | Glass Afloat, International Festival of Glass, Bodenham Arboretum, Wolverley, West Midlands |
2011 | On the Wire, Solo Exhibition, Manchester Craft and Design Centre |
2010 | Navigation, The New School House Gallery, York |
2009 | Gemma Truman, Solo Exhibition, The Sunbury Embroidery Gallery, Sunbury-on-Thames |
Northern Power Women Awards 2016-2018
Spirit of Manchester Awards 2017
Northern Design Awards 2011-2017
WISE Awards 2016
2016 | Devereux and Huskie , Glassblowing Internship, Wiltshire, UK |
2015 | Forsthaus Glas Artelier, Glassblowing Assistant, Bavaria, Germany |
2008-2014 | Notarianni Glass, Glass Studio Assistant, Glassblower, Coldworker, UK |
2012/10 | British Glass Biennale, Assistant Curator, Stourbridge, West Midlands, UK |
2008 | International Festival of Glass, Internship, Stourbridge, UK |
2017 | Frederick Stuart Memorial Bursary Award, Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers |
2016 | The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/women-in-leadership/2016/apr/22/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-female-glass-blower |
2011 | Northern Homes Magazine |
2009 | Craft and Design Magazine |