Kate Mitchell is a multi-disciplinary glass artist who works with both cast and blown glass. Since graduating from Elam in 2015, Kate has been working at Lukeke Design, an Auckland-based casting and blowing studio. Through time spent in the hot shop as an assistant to glass blower Luke Jacomb, she has been exposed to the inner workings of glass blowing. While many people fear the extreme heat and difficulty of glass blowing, Kate thrives on the excitement, immediacy and challenging nature that working with hot glass presents. Over the past six years at Lukeke Design, Kate has been fortunate enough to attend glass workshops with the team in Prague, Murano, Australia and Shanghai. She also independently attended a workshop at Pilchuck Glass School in Seattle in 2019. Each experience further ignited her passion for glass while broadening her knowledge of the material and its different applications and processes across the world. Finding inspiration from artists and designers such as Fabio Vogel and Jochen Holz, Kate is drawn to the organic forms that can be created in the hot shop and is currently interested in producing functional items where the process is evident within the final product. She is also drawn to the vivid colours and patterns which can be created and captured in glass, shown in the glasses pictured here. For more, email katemitchellglass@gmail.com