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A former science teacher who returned to university after early retirement has wowed judges with her glasswork at this year’s New Designers exhibition in London.  

Having hung up her lab coat after a 25-year career in education, Sally Scott decided to pursue her lifelong love of learning and crafts by enrolling on the Design Crafts course at 777ӰԺ (DMU) Leicester. 

Little did she know that she would go on to secure a coveted London Glassblowing Award for her Morphology collection, a series of seven glass sculptures inspired by her background in biology.  

“When I started out, I would have just been happy to pass my degree,” said Sally. “I wasn’t confident in my ability at all because it was all totally new to me. To end up winning this award is just incredible.” 

The New Designers exhibition, held at the Business Design Centre in Islington, is one of the UK’s largest exhibitions of student work. Each year, universities from across the country are invited to showcase their students’ work to industry experts, employers and potential buyers. 

Sally’s work conveys the unseen, complex biological reactions of living cells by allowing heat and gravity to transform hollow rings of glass into unique organic shapes.  

Sally said: “I really wanted to do something different, not just make vessels. I set myself the challenge of making sculptural forms that reflected the amazing complexity of life. 

“I had long, sausage-shaped pieces of glass, which I cooled, sliced up and took back to the hot shop to mould. I was letting the heat and gravity distort the glass, so as I was turning the iron, I got different shapes. 

“That’s where the idea of naming the collection morphology came from, by watching the heat and the gravity to change the shape.” 

If completing a degree in retirement wasn’t enough, Sally has secured a Graduate in Residence position at DMU, which will allow her to support current Design Crafts students, and act as an ambassador for the course, and also continue working with the DMU’s facilities and potentially develop products for sale. 

 

Sally added: “I don’t want to stop now,” she said. “This year has given me the confidence to see where this can go — and to keep learning, which I’ve always loved.” 

Sally wasn’t the only DMU graduate to taste success at New Designers this year, with fellow Design Craft students Amber Jones winning the Ruup & Form Emerging Ceramic Talent Award and Jemima Westmorland-Alexander scooping a Habitat Loves Award.  

Phoebe Piggin and Shaquana White secured placement opportunities at London Glassblowers and Devereux & Huskie, respectively.  

Liz Blyth’s collection of porcelain sculptures was recognised – or spotted – by the exhibition’s judges, which has led to discussions between the soon-to-be DMU graduate and a prestigous London gallery over showcasing her work.   

Her project, named Impermanence, was inspired by Buddhist reflections on life and its fragility and strength. Using porcelain paper clay, Liz was able to create an illusion of vulnerability. 

  

Liz said: “People weren’t quite sure what it was. I love that it invites people to come closer and really examine it. 

“Life and fragility are both encompassed in my porcelain work. My sculptures are incredibly thin and almost translucent, but they’re also very strong. That idea that life has both of those things woven through it really resonates with me.” 

 Like Sally, Liz has secured a Design Crafts residency at DMU from September, focussing on ceramics. Looking ahead, Liz hopes to showcase her work in high-end and international galleries and is keen to take part in artist residencies abroad, particularly in Japan.  

She said: “Japanese ceramics really inspire me. It would be wonderful to base myself in another country for a while and create new work in that context.”