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Photo: Stephen Robinson I have been saddened to learn of the death in Whangarei of Keith Mahy, on Friday 14 June 2013. Keith was the first New Zealand born studio glass artist (I think only English Reg Kempton and American Tony Kuepfer predate him in New Zealand ). But Keith's involvement with glass began well before he set up his studio in that former cow shed at Otonga, between Hikurangi and Whakapara in Northland in 1976.   Keith was born in Whakatane in 1947 and studied sculpture and design at the Elam School of Fine Arts at Auckland University, graduating with a Diploma in Fine Arts in 1969. He won the New Zealand Manufacturers Association Student Design award in 1967, and on completing his studies worked in packaging design in Auckland. In 1970 he was appointed Design Director at Crown Crystal Glass in Christchurch. Keith designed many of the successful ranges of glassware produced by Crown Crystal Glass, including Anker which won a Designmark award in 1970 and Aragon, Des...

I have posted a couple of blogs about Avalon Glass, the pioneering and quite individual glassworks at Fox River on the South Island West Coast. Several partnerships, both personal and artistic developed and changed there over time.  This small jug (10cm high) is signed Braid '99 NZ One outcome after Avalon Glass itself had closed, or was nearing its close, was the Seal Island studio established by Ross Smith and Lynda Braid. Ross Smith was one of the founders of the Avalon Studio in 1985 with Lawson Bracewell and Greg Smith, joined subsequently by Robert Reedy 6 months later and then Roger Thompson. Lynda joined Ross at Avalon in 1993, and in 1996 after Avalon closed they formed Seal Island Studio, named after a small island (uninhabited, at least by humans) just west of the mouth of the Fox River.   Signed Seal Island 1999 Aotearoa NZ (L) Seal Island NZ 2002 (R) Between 1993 and 1995 Ross was the owner of the Avalon works, which he leased to Greg Smith and Robert Reed...