Graphic designer from Diss launches one-man business, Rock Paper Glass

A graphic designer from Diss is offering the chance for people to do away with conventional pet memorials and put their animals on glassware instead.

Julian Peachment’s one-man business, Rock Paper Glass, sees him draw portraits of people or their fluffy companions on more than simply a canvas or a sheet of paper.

​The 46-year-old, who lives in Mission Road, set up the business after he was made redundant from his graphic design role.

Having worked a handful of jobs since, he was forced to work from home, after being diagnosed with fibromyalgia – a chronic disorder that causes pain and tenderness throughout the body – last year.

Stuck at home over successive lockdowns, the father-of-two turned to his lifelong hobby for drawing and, before long, friends and family were suggesting he could making a living selling his work to the wider public.

“Due to my diagnosis, I was having to stop more often, and having to go home, so I decided I would try to do something that was less strenuous,” he said.

“I started engraving to give myself something to do. Soon, my friends started saying to me, ‘you’re really good, you should start selling these’.

“I figured there was not a lot of hand engraving businesses around here, so there was a good opportunity.”

Having previously worked as a stonemason, designing headstones, Mr Peachment has drawn on his 20 years’ experience in design to expand his offering.

As the name suggests, Rock Paper Glass offers hand-drawn portraits on slate, granite or paper, or on to glass with the use of a dremel.

“With glass, it’s got a certain elegance to it, and they make the ideal wedding gifts,” said Mr Peachment.

“There are some places that use machinery to put pictures on slate and granite, but it’s nothing like drawing them – it takes a long time, but it shows that time and effort has gone into it.”