When we started Sorazora in the UK at the beginning of 2009, we were delighted to showcase the glass work of Masaya Kuribayashi. Based in Shibuya, Tokyo, Masaya sells his work in person throughout many festivals and events under the name Green Glass Tokyo. His work is also available in a shop called Sakae (link in Japanese only!) in the coastal city Kamakura.
Sorazora is providing, not only a showcase for his work in the UK, but also the first outside of Japan. We had a great response from customers concerning Masaya's glass pendants and have just recieved a new batch which I will craft onto macrame cords and slowly uploaded in the run up to Christmas. To view his previous work in our online store, please follow this link.
There are four different techniques used in our new batch and I shall try my hardest to explain the differences. First there is the classic "Inside Out" technique, where coloured glass is applied to a clear glass tube before being inverted to leave the coloured detail set within the pendant. This technique has been used in three different sized pendants.
Inside Out, Large
Inside Out, Medium
Inside Out, Small
Umi
Umi means sea in Japanese and with this style, each pendant has captured the powerful beauty of ocean waves. This is my personal favourite of his different techniques.
Uchu
Uchu means cosmos and is the name of his technique that creates three dimensional visions of space and its deep expanse. You will see that I have already started to string the pendants using a combination of undyed hemp and rayon. I will also be using naturally dyed hemp, flax and even nettle for some of the pendants.
Neutral
This technique focuses on layering the glass at the back of the pendant to form a blend of pastel shades in a organic pattern.
From Sorazora, we'd like to thank our good friend for providing us with a further selection of his work and also congratulate him on his upcoming marriage in November. Depending on our work schedule here in the UK, we are not sure if it will be one or both of us that will get to join him on his special day. If I know him well, it will definitely be a great party held in the mountains of Chichibu in Saitama prefecture.