It does not look like it now, but this piece of glass being worked on by Tony Johns could help him shine new light on his business.

Mr. Johns is the CEO and manager of Dockyard Glassworks and he wants to expand his business into new markets.

So he is busy designing and building a new prototype light fixture that, when finished, could weigh as much as 250lbs, measure four feet by five feet and sell for as much as $15,000.

"We are trying to create a fixture that is unusual and exciting, something a bit more artistic to what we have done in the past," he said.

When the product is finished, because of its size and weight, it will be targeted at corporate companies and hotels on the Island. Mr. Johns said the larger part of his clientele were tourists so making the new fixtures would allow the company to be more marketable to local businesses.

He added: "The prototype that I am currently working on will take some time to get right. The light fixture is made up of 65 different pieces of glass called nodes. Each node takes about 20 minutes to make and we will probably make about five per day."

He said it will take about a week to assemble all the nodes and three weeks to make one fixture. "After we have mastered this fixture, we will be looking to make smaller versions and sconces for homes," he added.

Mr. Johns said the complete product should be available for viewing and sale in April, priced at $15,000.

Currently the Dockyard Glassworks, at the Royal Naval Dockyard, makes a large variety of handmade glass items for the local, tourist and export industry. It produces hot furnace glass, flameworked glass, fused glass jewellery and glass beads.

For more information on Dockyard Glassworks visit http://www.dockglass.com/.