'Tori Amos tracked me down to say she loved my art'

A glass artist in Glasgow has been left stunned after singer Tori Amos bought her work while in the city - then tracked her down so they could meet in person.

Anita Jenkins has run a glass art business for about 15 years, making sculptures, necklaces and Christmas decorations.

Amos - who shot to fame in the 90s with hits like Cornflake Girl and Pretty Good Year - was in Glasgow for a gig on Wednesday, and visited the Scottish Design Exchange shop.

After buying several works by Anita, she asked the store to pass on a message to the artist, while also asking if she would like to attend the show and meet afterwards. She then told Anita in person how much she liked her work.

Anita told BBC Scotland News she was "still buzzing" from the encounter, while it also gave her a financial boost as Amos purchased items for her touring crew and family members in addition to herself.

She said: "I'd had a missed call and didn't recognise the number, so I thought it was scam call. But I called back and it was Hannah, the manager at the design exchange - she told me that Tori Amos had just been in the shop and had fallen in love with the glasswork.

"She was asking questions about it, saying some of the designs had reflected her personality and she wanted to meet me if I was free. I thought Hannah was winding me up - she had to convince me it was serious."

Both Anita and Hannah were able to go to the gig at the city's Royal Concert Hall along with their partners, before being given backstage passes and meeting the singer.

"She had some of the pieces hanging in her dressing room, which was amazing - seeing someone so creative being excited about your work is an incredible feeling. These are things that just started as wee ideas in my head."

The singer chatted to Anita about her ideas and told her how much she had liked the designs.

"She just wanted to know about the work. There was a genuine warmth to her and how she chatted away. She couldn't have been any more lovely, really. It felt like chatting to a pal you hadn't seen for a while."

Items bought by Amos include a mirrored sculpture designed to look like a sweetie wrapper with red hearts in it, and one that has several hanging hearts of different colours and textures, creating a rainbow effect.

Although the financial benefits are welcome, Anita said the endorsement worked on a different level, too.

"There's always a bit of imposter syndrome as an artist, so hearing someone praise your work is amazing and seeing it affected them is amazing - whether that's Tori Amos or the wee woman who lives down the road from me and buys a robin every Christmas," she said.

Her work has been available via her Glass Apple stall at the Scottish Design Exchange for several years, with the shop selling work from hundreds of local artists - something Anita says is amazing for Scotland's arts scene.

Amos was in Scotland as part of a tour promoting last year's In Times of Dragons, her 18th studio album.