Captivated by it’s luminosity, broad spectrum of colours, translucency and reflective & textural qualities, she pursued the study of Architectural Stained Glass at Swansea University. This was the beginning to what is becoming a successful, challenging, and utterly enjoyable career as a glass artist.

Dreya was born in Lagos, Nigeria and grew up playing in the swimming pools and the ocean in Africa. At 9 years old, she and her family moved to Cornwall, where the beach and sea became her playground of choice and her love and interaction with the water intensified in the crashing Atlantic surf of the Cornish coast. In her teens, Dreya became a keen surfer and eventually discovered the thrill of kite surfing. She set up one of the first kite schools in the UK, at Watergate Bay. Her adventure in kite surfing took her competing on the world circuit, and in 2005, she set a world record by kite surfing from Cornwall to Ireland (under her maiden name Wharry).

The lure of the ocean, beauty of the sea and the form of waves became all encompassing and after retiring from competitive sport, Dreya returned to glass to capture her experience and relationship with the sea, “To me glass has a similar quality to water, it is enigmatic, you can look ‘right through it’ or ‘at it’”.

In Dreya’s glass work, no two pieces are the same. Dreya’s glass cutting tools are used as an artist uses their pencil, to record observations and experiences. Her cuts and layering of glass have variety and her use of coloured frits, enamels and texture are different in each piece. The glass then goes on it’s own unique journey in the kiln, from solid it becomes liquid; hot, melting, slipping and fusing, to cooling and becoming solid once more. Dreya’s wave pieces are (untraditionally) mounted on glass within a bespoke wooden frame, this
encourages the glass’s textures to be explored by touch. Light travels across the glass, giving it the sparkle and movement that is so alluring and conducive to water.
 

Dreya’s work can be found in her newly opened gallery on the Killacourt park, overlooking Towan beach, in Newquay. Dreya Glass is also online and in several galleries around the Cornish coast.