Red Flower Glass
Flameworking and Scientific Glass Blowing
Contact
Colchester
Essex
England
CO3 0SJ
About
Elena Fleury-Rojo is a British flameworker and glass blower. In 2008 she graduated from Buckinghamshire University in England with a BA (hons) in glass blowing. During her degree she apprenticed under Colin Reid and learnt the skills of kiln formed glass. At one of Elena’s graduation shows, “New Designers” (where 2,500 graduates exhibited their work) Elena was hand picked for the New Designers SELECTION, which showcase the country’s finest students.
After graduating she worked at the Wanganui Glass School in New Zealand as a Hot Glass Tutorial Assistant. Once her contract was completed she received offers to work in several glass blowing studios around New Zealand such as Lava Glass, (where she worked with Lynden Over and Chris Jones) John Penman Glass and Garry Nash Studio.
Whilst in New Zealand Elena discovered the art of flameworking and this was a game changer for Elena artistic career. In 2011, she returned back to England and constructed a purpose built studio for flameworking and set up her own business called Red Flower Glass. Her first year trading under Red Flower Glass she entered her first glass competition and won first prize for the GBUK Glass Bead Competition.
In 2013 her journey brought her to London, to assistant at London Glassblowing. Here Elena worked under master’s glass blowers Bruce Marks, Layne Rowe and Louis Thompson. Following this experience Layne Rowe commissioned Elena to make the glass daisies for his Hardware Series, which was exhibited at The Saatchi Gallery, London.
In order to develop her practice, in 2014 Elena was accepted to do an internship with James Lethbridge RCA in Antwerp, Belgium. Elena gained the skills in borosilicate glass making organic chandeliers. This was a vital part of her creative practice development and she has continued to up-skill in this area ever since.
After the internship Elena has been continuing to create her own collections, which she has sold internationally. Elena has worked continuously to hone her abilities. Alongside her practice, she has been delivering workshops, courses and demonstrations in glass at various venues, which have been a great success.
Reef Formations Volume 1 has been featured in five high profile publications and one of her pieces from the Reef Formations has been selected to be in the contemporary glass collection at the Glass Museum in Stourbridge, to represent flameworking skills in the UK.
Elena was successfully awarded the Arts Council England DYCP grant in 2022. This has enabled her to expand her studio and to learn scientific glass blowing techniques from Brian Jones MBE at the National Glass Centre, Sunderland, UK. From this opportunity she has developed a new collection called “Message in a Bottle”.
In 2024 Elena was accepted into the Society of Designer Craftsmen as a Full Member. The Society of Designer Craftsmen is one of the oldest and most highly regarded arts and crafts societies in the UK.
Elena has created three limited edition pieces to expand her current collection entitled "Message in a Bottle". This marks Elena's first ever glass collaboration with the highly acclaimed Berlin-based glass artist, Jason Hitchcock.
Simone Crestani who is a world renowned flameworker, hand picked Elena to attend his first ever Masterclass of five students selected worldwide, which was held at his studio in Italy. This enabled Elena to develop and hone her skills further.
Mini craft gallery
