Vereker Glass Studio: In the Adelaide City region of South Australia with Lisa McAskill

In a studio in one of the backstreets of Norwood, Eamonn Vereker continues a tradition that stretches back thousands of years. He's half a world away from the fiery furnaces of Ireland, where he first learnt this ancient craft. On one of the warehouse shelves there's a reminder of his fourteen-year stint at the famous Waterford Crystal Glass Works in County Waterford.

But now, in an inner city suburb of Adelaide the inspiration comes from the South Australian outback.

On a recent visit to Ireland, Eamonn said he was struck by the granite grey skies. He reckons they were in total contrast to what we have here in Australia.

The cloudless blue of a Flinders Ranges sky, the purples of its ancient ridges and the browns of the far northern plains - they've all fired Eamonn's imagination since coming to Australia in 1987.

Each vibrant layer of Flinders Ranges colour is slowly infused into Eamonn's latest bowl or plate under enormous heat. Then it's carefully moulded into shape. It's intense work and timing is critical.

"If you don't act at a certain time you've lost it." he explained as he carefully manipulated the hot glass.

Eamonn's wife, Noreen also takes part a morning ritual at Vereker Glass. We found her out the back tending to another creation - Soda Bread.

"This is straight out of the oven this morning," she said with a smile. "Its two main ingredients are self raising flour and buttermilk. That's all."

Fresh soda bread with mulled wine - the perfect antidote to any cold Adelaide morning. Not that Eamonn needs to worry about that as he toils away near the warm glow of the furnace. It's all a bit of theatre for those who wander into Vereker Glass and on several Saturday evenings through Winter the glass works open their doors to anyone who wants to sample a little more Irish hospitality.

But the day we caught up with Eamonn it was work as usual. He certainly loved his time at Waterford Crystal but his position there, number 1383 said it all. While he made wonderful pieces the assembly line nature of the business had him yearning for something more. This first stop on a trip to Australia included the Barrier Reef and soon he was thinking of glass and colour.

"Both Noreen and I are keen divers and we couldn't wait to get out on the reef and see the brilliant colours," said Eamonn. "Of course when you get out there you see the water is also a wonderful colour. It has a beautiful brightness about it and you see the greens and the purples and that stays with you forever.

Then they arrived in South Australia and visited the Flinders Ranges. "When you go to the Flinders you see totally different colours to our reef colours."

That has led to Eamonn's Outbreak Range of glassware.

"There are thirteen pieces in the range," said Eamonn, "This is our flagship and we're presenting it to dignitaries from all over the world."

The swirling colours of Australia are scattered throughout the showroom, but as you'd expect from a true Irishman touches of the Emerald Isle are never far away. In the quiet solitude of their Norwood hideaway, daughter Maryanne was practicing the harp.

Vereker Glass is in Sydenham Street at Norwood. Eamonn holds demonstrations evenings on the last Saturday evening of each month. If you have any further questions or would like to book a place please email eamonn@eglass.com.au or visit www.eglass.com.au

For details contact
Eamonn Vereker Glass
87 Sydenham Road
Norwood
Ph (08) 8362 9904