Glasshouse Diaries; a new series of images and words celebrating and uplifting our community, focused on spotlighting dynamic and compelling women, whilst showcasing our team’s creativity in an editorial context. 

We are delighted to share our first of a new editorial series where we will be exploring each individual subject’s organic-nature, environments and landscapes – from sea to studio. 

For this series we have worked with long term collaborator and friend of Glasshouse, Jessica Maccormick, a photographer and anthropologist known for her cinematic, documentary style that explores character, environment and the nuanced life of everyday things. “For me, Glasshouse Diaries is a study that draws on the energy of the women at its heart; these are portraits of really special women in their places”, muses Jess. “I’m frequently photographing people who aren’t in front of the camera often, and it’s a precious exchange of energy that contributes to communicating their sense of self, their personal beauty and individual style. With this series we started with hair as the spark, and worked our way out. Differing moods, and characters, but all springing from the personal spirit of each woman.” 

Our highly experienced core team will be executing the storytelling elements through hair, beauty and styling, united in our shared philosophy of care, craft and a considered approach to beauty. Jess elaborates; “I loved working with Olivia and the Glasshouse stylists - the creative collaboration flows strong, especially around telling stories through hair. Shape, texture, movement, there’s a fluidity of ideas and narratives that come forth and it’s so great to see how extraordinarily creative these women are.” 

Our first subject is Jade Delmage, a ceramicist based in South East London who specialises in hand-built stoneware that explores design with functionality. Senior stylist Rubi took the lead on hair, meeting with Jade in the salon prior to the shoot to cut in a classic bob; “Jade has a lot of hair with a really lovely wavy texture, so I decided on this cut as a great way to showcase and emphasise it”, says Rubi. “The bob is such a timeless style and can adapt to most hair types - creating fullness for finer hair, definition for curly hair and shape for thick hair.” 

After the cut, we visited Jade at her new studio on a sunny day in July to find out more about her work and process, as well as come up with three editorial looks. “For the shoot with Jade, I really wanted to demonstrate the variation of ways to wear a bob, from styled and sleek to natural and textured”, explains Rubi. “For the first look, we wet Jade’s hair and ran through Keep Curl Memory Gel for definition, combined with a spritz of sea salt spray to further activate the texture.”  Whilst Rubi got to work on Jade’s hair, we sipped on Jade’s favourite herbal tea - “I always start my day with a pot of tea, which throughout the day will get topped up with more hot water, as the handles slowly get dustier and dustier with clay from my fingers!” - and found out more about her daily routines and inspirations.

“Ceramics sometimes feels as though there are 100 stages, so each day will depend on what level I’m at with what I’m making; from start to finish, each piece takes weeks! It’s a slow old process, the goodies have to be 100% dry before even thinking of touching a shelf in the kiln”, shares Jade. “On a good day, I’ll have a little bit of everything to do; from physically making, rolling out sausages of clay and squishing them together, or smoothing and trimming, glazing or decorating.”

Though Jade is currently establishing herself in a ceramics practice, she initially began pursuing a career within illustration after graduating in the field, as she tells us; “For me that meant drawing and designing posters, editorial work and animating short films. However, the pandemic had other plans - when things in the UK became a little looser I was sharing a studio with another ceramicist, who made the whole process look effortless and calm. It was then that I started to play; I enjoyed the concentration and the patience it required. I also loved the fact that it was a form of art that was tangible and tactile, with pieces that will take up space in your home.”

Reflective of her background in illustration, Jade’s ceramic work will often begin with drawing; “Sometimes it’ll start with a sketch of something I might have thought about just before sleep or in the shower, though often I’ll start off making something and it’ll end up completely different. Times like these I lean into it - clay is organic and does feel like it’s got a mind of its own.” This sense of discovery and an open mind is one of the key components of Jade’s work, as she elaborates; “Play is important, and a huge part of my process. It’s where the magic happens, when I stop worrying about the final outcome and start enjoying the process itself. I’m still learning as I go and that’s part of the beauty of this craft for me.” 

After hearing about Jade’s process, Rubi came up with an equally playful concept for her next hair look; “I combed the hair into a deep side part, finished with really cute and defined rolled up ends."

When it comes to external inspiration, Jade turns to her favourite female artists and makers, preferring to leaf through a book rather than scroll online; “An easy way to find my favourite books is to see how many muddy finger marks cover the sleeves. Valentine Schlegel is a design genius; I always look at her book, it never gets old. I also love Louise Bourgeois’ drawings, there is something very childlike and innocent about them.” This naivety and curiosity is something that is clearly visible in Jade’s work, and it’s endearing quality is further enhanced as she often looks to children’s drawings to inspire, as she muses; “You really can’t beat them - tiny people completely lack any kind of self consciousness and inhibitions when it comes to making marks!”

Outside of work, Jade credits her studio partner and ‘life wife’ Delly for teaching her to slow down and approach self care with a slower pace; “Go the long way, that is usually more beautiful, enjoy the process of getting to the destination. Essentially, stop and smell the roses. I’ve got a busy mind so trying to force myself to slow down helps. Also, getting enough sleep! I’m going to sound like a granny but if I don’t get the full shebang I’ll most likely turn into a goblin the next day.”

Finishing outside of the studio in the surrounding greenery, Rubi explored a tamed, sleek hair style to withstand humidity and keep hair out of the face whilst working; “For the slicked back wet look, we used Glaze, a soft hold gel that keeps flyaways at bay without that crispy feeling. I applied to Jade’s hair and brushed through backwards.” 

As we leave Jade feeling inspired and creatively fulfilled, we wonder what’s next for her; “There’s an exciting exhibition at the end of summer I’m making a few pieces for, as well as a couple of wholesale orders with brands I admire. Other than this, I want to make another candle holder that has character but in a way someone would like to show on their dinner table. Long term, I’d like to have my own kitchen and bathroom covered with hand painted tiles.”

You can follow Jade and her work @jadedelmage.

Photographer: Jessica MacCormick / @roadstory_
Hair: Rubi Potter - book in with Rubi by clicking here