Based in Somerset, Emma Baker splits her time between glassmaking and farming. She graduated from Sunderland University in 2014 and and now works out of a studio overlooking the grazing cattle. Specialising in blown glass, her practice has always explored a curiosity around memories and the events we experience throughout life. How can a memory fill us with feelings of euphoria and excitement, at the same time as loneliness and sadness? The emotions we experience surely have a weighting on the works we create.The works showing at CAA are part of her newest series: The Joy of Making comes from rediscovering the intuitive, sensory enjoyment for blowing glass. Distortion is a new exploration into the characteristics of glass, emerging from experimentation with positive and negative space. Emma has always been motivated by the technical challenges of glassblowing, and The Joy of Making incorporated an ancient decorative effect within the glass called a 'roman ring', in which a constriction is purposefully made in the bubble, forming it into an egg timer shape. The bottom of the bubble is then pushed to join the top of the bubble and so a double wall is formed where the constriction or waist once was. The technique was reawakened at the Rhode Island School of Design and is commonly referred to as a 'RISD' ring. The maker has to work quickly and efficiently, and when executed effectively the double wall will also include a trapped band of air and have no surface difference to the rest of the vessel. It is a complex skill to master and formed the basis of Emma's inspiration for the series.