Meet the Maker: Keith Grinter
In this interview series, we get to know the makers and artists whose beautiful work features in our gallery shop. Here we meet Keith Grinter, a Whangarei-based artist known for his colourful, joy-bringing cups and bowls.
Keith Grinter at his workshop in Whangarei.
What mediums do you work with?
At the moment drawing, painting and glass blowing. I also worked with stone carving for ten years. Currently I am creating related paintings on both blown glass and canvas, as well as a range of vases, bowls and tumblers. One of the most popular techniques we use is the shard pickup technique.
What has been your journey as an artist?
I loved art when I was young and spent a lot of time in the art room when I should have been studying other subjects (Maths, Physics and Chemistry). As is normal, I was told I couldn't go to art school, so I went to Southampton University to study a degree in Chemistry. Needless to say, I dropped out after spending the second year painting all night, sleeping during the day, and partying or pubbing in the evenings. Fortunately, the art took over from a rather decadent lifestyle, and I ended up running a Youth Hostel in the New Forest where I could spend most of the day drawing and painting. I met a girl from New Zealand and travelled with her when she left for home.
I continued to paint and draw and also raised five children, studied a diploma in Horticulture and then a degree in Computer Science and Business Studies to learn about the jobs I had. The degree took its toll on my painting, but I got back into drawing when my daughter asked me to take her to a life drawing class for her Design Portfolio. She went to Design School while I carried on with the life drawing and got back into painting every spare moment when I was not at work.
When our youngest children were old enough to leave home, we left Wellington and my job so I could go to Art School in Whanganui. I planned to major in printmaking to complement my painting, but one day of glass blowing and my life was ruined. Glass blowing is hot, difficult and dangerous, hard to learn, expensive, and needs a lot of technical knowledge about the glass, colour and equipment. This ticked a box for the "barriers to entry" that would allow me to make a living as a glass artist. There are lots of very good painters, but too much competition for all but a few to make a living.
I taught myself how to paint on graal blanks and blow them into large vessels in the last two years of my degree and had 11 blown and painted vases for my final show. After art school I did a Masters of Art and Design and taught art, first at the Whanganui Art School and then at The Learning Connexion. It was the TLC job that allowed me to take up the opportunity to buy the glass studio in Whangārei when Keith Mahy died unexpectedly in 2013 and Shona Firman needed a buyer who would have a chance of keeping it going.
I managed to survive the first few difficult years (thanks to earning an income teaching distance students through TLC) and have now grown the studio to the point where I hire three staff and can paint and draw again.
Can you tell us about the pieces you have in the gallery shop? How would you like them to make people feel?
All the work we make at the studio is based on modernist art, colour theory and my everyday experience of the amazing world we live in. I love to create art glass that is affordable for everyone, from our range of tumblers to my large painted pieces. I want people to feel happy and inspired when they use our glass.
What inspires you?
I am inspired by everyday life, people, nature, science and modernist art. Music is also a great inspiration. My recent series of five paintings on canvas and five paintings on Glass are inspired by Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz.
Grinter Glass Website • Grinter Glass on Instagram
Visit our Gallery Shop to see colourful glasses alongside the craft of other local artists and makers.