My Mum was 42 when she had me (I’m a post war baby as my Dad spent several WW11 years in the RAF in India) so not surprisingly I’m now an orphan.

That’s my Mum on the left.
Amy Ashworth, born in Rochdale, 17th October 1907.

She had 3 sisters and 2 brothers but one, the eldest Bertram, died of TB. She left school aged 13 unwillingly, she was very clever, but her mother was having a baby, my Auntie Joan, the youngest on the photo and needed help. That didn’t stop my mother though, she got work, took herself off to night school, became  a super-speed shorthand typist and before she married was PA to the boss at Turner’s Asbestos.

She probably made the dress she’s wearing on the photo above, herself. She must have been working for almost 2 years but she looks so young. Her mum was a skilled dressmaker. I never met my maternal grandmother as she died just before I was born but she supposedly never made any dresses for my Mum, so she must have had hand-me-downs from her  elder sister or later on made her own and she continued to do so for a good part of her life. She made wedding dresses (and bridesmaid’s dresses) for both my elder sisters and taught me so well that I made my own…. twice

This is my Mum on the bike

She taught me honesty and I hope kindness and to love learning and reading and writing and she taught me to  touch type and to knit and to embroider but had to give me a teach yourself leaflet for crochet as I’m left handed and she was right and she admited defeat trying to demonstrate.
And she taught me to cook (I won the Victoria sandwich class at the church when I was 10)  and sent me for singing lessons when I was 9 so I sang my way through my childhood …. and if you happen to pass my house when I’m working in the garage you will probably hear that I’m singing still.

Think I was 9 here, in the cardigan with the different coloured grey cuffs, she must have run out of the rust wool

Even more than all these lessons she taught me I could be what I wanted to be and do what I wanted to do and I did.

I wish my mother was here now so I could show her the glass I make.

I know she would love it and I would fill her house with pretty suncatchers to thank her for everything she taught me.  I make new pieces sometimes and hang them in the window for her to see if she likes it… I know she does.
She was always so proud of me, my singing, my crafting, my university education (the first in the family) and my super IT job ,which she didn’t understand but was happy that it was a good one.

She would have been so pleased to see me still making after all the things she taught me to make.

Thank you Mum xxx I miss you.

Joysofglass
My name is Joy Salt and I am a Glass Artist aka JOYSOFGLASS.I live in rural Staffordshire and spend quite a lot of time glassing in my studio at the bottom of the garden.   I've been making and selling my glass since 2008 and now it occupies really rather a lot of my time. Glass is my passion and it is rare for me to spend a day at home not doing something or other with glass.  My fingers start to twitch if my glass cutter is too far away.I mainly make Stained Glass suncatchers using the Tiffany, Copper Foil technique which is very labour intensive and every step of the process is very much hands-on which means that all my pieces are entirely handmade.  I also have a  little kiln and in that I fuse together small pieces, dishes, bowls, trivets etc. These are all one-offs as my kiln is too small for any bulk production. The kiln is also useful as I often incorporate fused nuggets in my stained glass pieces so I make my own to suit whatever I need.I have built up a wide range of designs over the years as I often have an inspiration which makes me reach for my pen and paper (sometimes while  nodding off to sleep in bed at night) to draft a pattern ready for a trial cut the next day. I have A Lot of glass in my boxes so can always offer a wide selection of colours and shades. Some people buy shoes. I buy sheets of glass.When I'm not making glass you might find me in the garden tending my bird and bee very friendly garden and I will generally have my Panasonic Lumix bridge camera slung round my neck as I never go far without it. I use it every day to photograph my glass work but I also love to capture the garden and its wildlife.When I'm not at home then I am either visiting my lovely family or I am travelling in our motorhome, Tandy, with husband Bob and our scooter, Kisbee. We've visited most of Europe and beyond and had some fantastic trips and I  always come home with lots of ideas for new designs. Also with lots (and lots) of photos as there is no better place to sit to photograph the fantastic scenery than in the front passenger seat of a motorhome.I hope you enjoy my glass as it is such a pleasure to make it. I cannot express quite how much it means to me when someone tells me they love my work and when a customer returns for more. 

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