Description
Born in Norway in 1961 to celebrated engravers Alasdair and Rish Gordon, Eileen and her brother Kevin were raised around glass and quickly picked up the craft themselves. While Kevin continued engraving, Eileen became the first to move their work into the field of blown glass. First studying in the United Kingdom, she moved to Australia and continued to develop her practice with an associateship at The Jam Factory and masterclasses from the likes of Paul Marioni, Lino Tagliapietra and numerous others. Playing a role in the development of Australia’s Studio Glass movement, Eileen helped establish the Tasmanian Glassblowers where she met her future-husband Grant Donaldson. She moved with Grant to Victoria, establishing their family studio from where they raised their two sons to become the third generation of Gordon Glass Dynasty. They continue to work from their studio and gallery in Red Hill, Victoria Australia. Eileen has exhibited across Australia, Europe, Japan and the US for several decades, her work is housed in numerous public institutions including the National Glass Gallery and State Galleries throughout Australia. “Beautiful blown glass is hard to define. It is the evanescence of light, elegance of shape – and for me, above everything it is colour. My use of colour reflects my feelings and the moods of landscape – from the magical explosive sunsets of our home in Red Hill, to the fragility of early dawn on the Bay. The effect of simplicity in hand blown glass is not simple to achieve, but I love the challenge and have profound respect for the process and traditions of the medium.”
