Annette Blair is a glass-maker based near Canberra, working from her home studio in Burra NSW and the Canberra Glassworks. With a practice spanning 25 years, she is known for her refined technical skill and thoughtfully crafted objects that explore materiality, memory, and passing time. After graduating from the glass workshop, ANU School of Art in 2004, she went on to undertake the hot-glass associate program at JamFactory in Adelaide before returning to Canberra in 2008.
In addition to her solo work, Annette is widely respected for her collaborative skills as a gaffer, fabricating glass works for prominent Australian artists including Patricia Piccinini, Nell, Mel Douglas, and Jenni Kemarre-Martiniello. Her expertise has taken her to studios in Seattle and Pittsburgh, and she is regularly invited to teach and demonstrate both glassblowing and glass painting across Australia and internationally.
Annette’s work has been recognised through numerous awards and her work is held in private and public collections, most recently completing a major commissioned installation for the Australian War Memorial. Quiet skies – As the sun rises and Quiet skies – As the sun sets features nearly 1,800 handmade glass leaves, marking a profound moment in her evolving practice.
Weathered reflects on the quiet poetry of time-worn objects and the human narratives they carry—familiar, functional forms that may have been passed down, set aside, or forgotten. These modest objects are honoured here for their quiet utility and the imagined histories embedded in their surfaces. They serve as vessels of memory, shaped by presence, absence, function, and neglect.
Each work explores the residue of use and the slow transformation of materials over time. Glass—both malleable and permanent—enables me to reimagine these objects while preserving their essence. I apply layers of enamel paint inspired by physical landscapes and lived experiences; these surfaces echo rust, erosion, and the marks of time—quiet topographies that suggest memory and decay. Embedded metal filings are left to oxidise, letting rust evolve unpredictably, continuing the work’s transformation beyond the studio.
Through years of working with glass, I’ve developed an intuitive relationship with the material. My practice draws from traditional techniques, expanded through contemporary craft and experimentation. Each work in Weathered is the result of thoughtful engagement with heat, time, and material knowledge—an exploration of both process and poetics.
Annette Blair, 2025
