Joanne Mitchell

Joanne Mitchell gained a first-class honours Bachelors degree in Three-Dimensional design at Manchester Metropolitan University, specialising in Hot Glass and Metalwork, and went on to win a scholarship to study for a Masters Degree in Glass Product Design with the University of Wolverhampton, in collaboration with the Edinburgh Crystal Glass Company. The scholarship allowed a free reign within the factory's production facilities to develop production prototypes for a range of contemporary glass tableware and giftware, working directly with skilled craftsmen to push the boundaries of crystal manufacture and design. On completion of a Master's Degree, she worked for Edinburgh Crystal as an in-house designer, designing both catalogue lines and special commissions for the Edinburgh Crystal and Thomas Webb brands.

In 2003 she founded Joanne Mitchell Glass Design, creating her own range of limited edition and one-off handmade studio glass designs, working with experienced glassblowers at the National Glass Centre, Sunderland, and integrating techniques learned whilst working within the crystal industry. Her vessel designs are influenced by the many contradictory properties of the material itself, balancing bold form and considered surface texture, blurring the boundaries between the sculptural and the functional.