The Designer
The Designer
Founder & Designer
Esther Patterson
Combining Colour and Form
Esther, of half English and German heritage, was born near Sheffield, and now lives in Wirksworth Derbyshire – having spent most of her life in the Midlands UK. Glass is actually her second career – a lifelong creative, she felt unfulfilled as a graphic designer and returned to university to study decorative arts. She was happily pursuing both textiles (for the colours) and bone china (enjoying the forms), when a visit to a local glass blower, showed her a way to marry both mediums. “It was an amazing eureka moment,” she recalls. “At the time, lighting felt quite masculine in greys and whites, so I thought there might be a niche in the market for some simple but still decorative, lighting forms.”
The early years of Curiousa
Esther launched Curiousa & Curiousa at TENT LONDON in Shoreditch in 2010, a year after graduating. After earning the Elle Decoration Design Award, Esther was overwhelmed when her jewel-like lighting designs were an overnight success. Since that pivotal moment, Esther has never looked back. “I was really keen to keep to my ethos of quality British-made lighting and never weakened to offers to have my free-blown shades manufactured abroad using moulds. I wanted to keep the authenticity of my products using hand-crafted materials such as wood, ceramic, and traditionally woven tassels – making each light completely unique and a one-off.
Hand-Blown Glass Meets Artisanal Ceramic Lighting
Esther’s latest venture is her return to her first love of ceramics and in 2023 set up her very own ceramic studio. Now she’s slowly building up her ceramic lighting collections to add to Curiousa’s glass lighting range. Esther says “I love designing for glass lights but I’ve missed making and actually working with organic materials myself. I especially feel a connection with clay and I’m loving this new journey.”
FREE-BLOWN, HANDCRAFTED
LOVINGLY SCULPTED
METICULOUSLY EXECUTED
Feature: How It's Made
Before work…
I usually walk to work with our cross-collie Inga. I live and work in a rural town in Derbyshire so, I make the most of our location and walking is a great start to the day.
Once at work, what’s the first thing you do?
I say hello to everyone, chat and see what needs to be done for the day – and I also drink copious amounts of tea.
What are you responsible for in your job?
I have my fingers in many pies. I design all the individual lights but I work with our small product development team to decide which lights we launch and how they are going to be made and when they need to be ready. With my sales team, we’ll create marketing plans and discuss upcoming exhibitions and how we are best to show any new lighting collections. From this, one of my favourite jobs is styling the photoshoots. It can get quite involved but I love telling a story with the locations and new lights. It really does help our customers to be inspired. There’s always lots to do!
Talk us through a typical day…
I might go and visit one of our glassblower workshops and discuss new designs, or help with some glass quality checks. We’re also developing a new range of ceramic lights so if I can get all my jobs done in the morning I can then quite happily play with some slip casting in my new ceramic studio in the afternoon – that’s my happy space!
What is the crafting process like?
We use three different glass-blowing workshops. One is local, one in Stourbridge and another in Hertfordshire. Each piece is blown to order using our design templates. A piece of coloured glass is melted in a small kiln then attached to a hollow metal rod, and then dipped into a hot crucible of melted clear glass within the furnace. Then the shape is created by blowing air down through the metal rod and turning it simultaneously. The piece may have to be popped back in the furnace a number of times to heat it back up again to carry on creating the required shape. The shade is then placed into a kiln so it is cooled slowly. Also, my glassblowers don’t use moulds so each piece is shaped by hand and eye – a very skilled job. After we receive the final drilled glass shapes at our old mill workshop in Derbyshire, we check and clean them. Then, the production team will start wiring up to the customer’s specifications such as flex colour, fitting finish, and the length of each piece. Once the order is complete, it needs to be carefully packaged and posted to the customer. We have managed to post our delicate glass all over the world so, we’re pretty good at it.
What is the last thing you do before going home?
I look for my reading glasses – I always lose them.
How did you get your job?
After graduating as a graphic designer in my early 20s, I was feeling demoralised with the regular 9-to-5 and my jobs never seemed to last. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and set up a graphic design business with a friend. Then after having a family, in my late 30’s I went back to uni and studied Decorative Arts. I think the combination of my experience with my graphic design business and my newfound passion for lighting helped me to successfully launch my new lighting business in 2010 and really, I’ve never looked back.
What surprises or impresses people the most when you tell them what you do?
People love the handmade nature of our lights. They are all free-blown and shaped by hand. The material is quite magical.
Tell us about the weirdest thing that’s ever happened at work…
Covid for sure. We thought our business would falter or even fail but it turned out to be our best year ever for sales.