Silica Gallery

Silica Gallery Work by Jill Bayley Multi Media Artist; Nikki O'Brien, Lampwork bead artist, and Robyn Douglas, glass Jill porcelain slab pieces.

Permanently closed.

Silica Gallery (previously known as The Glass Room Gallery) was initially established in the re-emerging old main street of Oamaru called Harbour Street, in the area now known as the Victorian Precinct. The work presented here is by Jill Bayley, Nikki OBrien and Robyn Douglas, all Oamaru residents. We each approach our media (glass, ceramic and paint, among other things) in our own way, resu

lting in a broad range of work that complements each other's pieces well. Jill’s work arose from years of teaching and experimentation. Her glass palette was inspired by visits to Coventry Cathedral in England with its generous use of black in the new cathedral, and the beautiful iron glass paint developed and used from medieval times. A little of the work uses commercial colours but generally Jill makes her own glass paint from scratch using medieval recipes. Quotes, remembered shapes and the land inspire much of her work, and her life long love of portraiture finds a new home in glass. Jill has been exploring fused and slumped pieces along with woven glass hangings and ceramic basques. See her Victorian inspired male and female torsos for examples of these. Nikki's work comes from a life long love of all things hand-worked. Encouraged from an early age to explore arts and crafts, she has slowly settled into an area of long term focus - lamp worked glass, specifically bead making. This work complements her skills in costume jewellery making, allowing greater control of the finished pieces since the glass work is now her own. Preferring to produce one of a kind pieces, Nikki is still happy to discuss commissioned pieces, and to work with customers to come up with customised items. The glass she uses includes Italian soft glass, German, Chinese and American made specialty glasses, and even a smattering of recycled glass, all worked and shaped in her own home based studio. All glass work has been fully annealed, cleaned and inspected before being made up into jewellery items for you pleasure. Information about Robyn's work to be added soon

Hello all. Our final week has arrived. SILICA closes permanently on Sunday 16th. This is my final Friday shift. Thank yo...
13/03/2025

Hello all.

Our final week has arrived. SILICA closes permanently on Sunday 16th. This is my final Friday shift. Thank you all for your support over the past 11 1/2 years. Do come in and have a final browse before we close!!

I opened with the lovely Katie Waite under the name of The Glassroom Gallery. Katie did stained glass and I did slumped and fused glass. When Katie made the decision to return to Oasis to work full-time with husband Greg, Nick found Nikki and her beautiful handmade beads followed by Robyn with her stunning slumped colorful bowls and paintings. Then, when I decided to focus back on my ceramic work we changed the name to reflect the wider offerings. Both clay and glass use silica as a base material, so it seemed appropriate. We relaunched as SILICA. Nick particularly loved manning the gallery and did so 3 days a week for years. Even 6 months before he passed he was saying how he missed it and planned to return, even if it was only for 1 afternoon per week! He loved meeting people from all over the world and being part of the quirky Harbour street community.
With him gone, we struggled to keep the gallery open 3 days per week, which just isn't viable, so the decision was made to close on 16th March 2025. We will all keep in touch I'm sure, but it is time to move on to new challenges. All artists can be reached on their email addresses
Jill Bayley- [email protected]

Robyn Douglas - [email protected]

Nikki O'Brien - [email protected]

So it's goodbye from us and it's goodbye from him.

17/02/2025

After 11 1/2 years first as 'The Glassroom' then changing our name to 'SILICA', Robyn Nikki and I have made the decision to close our wee gallery permanently.

We have been very happy here creating our pieces and meeting people from all over the world as well as locals, but we feel it is time. Thank you to all those who supported us over this time. If there is a piece you have been keeping your eye on you might need to get in soon! We are open Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10.30 - 3.30pm.

Shop fittings are for sale and will need to be collected over the following 7 days by appointment.

SILICA will be closing for the last time on Sunday 16th March 2025.

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Address

12 Harbour Street
Oamaru
9400

Telephone

+64226335002

Website

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