Contemporary glass makers receive 2026 QEST awards

Two glass specialists have received training grants in the latest round of financial awards from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST).

The successful applicants, Tobias Newbigin and Phoebe Stubbs, join many previous winners of these prestigious and career-changing craft awards, including many glass artists.

Tobias Newbigin receives the 2026 QEST Johnnie Walker Scholar award for Glasswork/Signwriting. He is trained in traditional signwriting, glass embossing, brilliant cutting, gilding and silvering. He specialises in precise brushwork and historic lettering styles, skills that have taken him to restore period buildings in the UK and internationally.

He studied Fine Art Painting at Camberwell College of Arts, London, before apprenticing under Nick Garrett. He went on to study reverse glass gilding and ornamental glass with David A Smith MBE, and brilliant cutting with leading practitioner James Witchell. Over the past 12 years he has built his own studio practice, trained two apprentice signwriters, and continues to share the craft with others to see it pushed in new directions.

QEST funding will allow Tobias to undertake further training with James Witchell and David A Smith in hand bevelling and French embossing. In addition, he’ll learn about decorative glass techniques suitable for conservation-grade restoration with Ash Bishop at Brilliant Sign Co Ltd. This will support new bespoke commissions for heritage buildings, hospitality spaces and private collectors, and ensure these heritage craft skills are preserved.

Speaking about the award, Tobias said, “I am truly grateful for the QEST Scholarship, it will enable me to spend valuable one-on-one training with some of the remaining masters of the craft, saving me thousands of hours of mistakes.”

Phoebe Stubbs receives the 2026 QEST Famous Grouse Scholar award for Glasswork. She is a glassmaker specialising in functional, hand-blown glassware and lighting. Her practice centres on hot glass processes, including mould-blown forms, hot assembly, and bold colour. Her brand Gather creates functional tableware, decorative objects and lighting for a range of clients including Fortnum and Mason and Paul Smith.

Her QEST Scholarship will fund specialist training in chandelier making and large-scale glass at Pilchuck Glass School, mentorship with British chandelier maker Carl Nordbruch at Wilkinson Ltd, and Venetian chandelier techniques with Fabiano Zanchi.

Moving into advanced glass lighting and large-scale work requires understanding of complex hot assembly, structural arm pulling, and the integration of glass with architectural and electrical systems. Phoebe will use these skills to strengthen Gather, which has had a permanent glassblowing studio since 2023. The studio offers public workshops, supports skilled employment, long-term training, and collaborative making at scale. Phoebe is dedicated to the renewal of British glassmaking, demonstrating that traditional skills can evolve and support viable creative businesses. By combining heritage techniques with contemporary design and real-world production, she hopes to help secure a future for complex glassmaking skills in the UK.

She stated, “I am now 20 years into glassmaking, and have created a studio and aesthetic that finally feels fully my own. I’m now ready to extend that into chandelier-making – a craft I’ve wanted to learn since I was a teenager, and one I’m delighted that the QEST Scholarship is making possible, via workshops and training in the UK, Italy and the US.”

For any contemporary glass practitioners who would like to extend their skills with additional training, look out for the next funding round from QEST, with applications open from 13 January to 17 February 2027.

QEST offers three grants for training, education and skills development to support professional makers and conservators at various career stages, strengthening the pipeline of talented craft professionals in the UK. It supports contemporary and traditional craft, as well as the exploration of innovative techniques. QEST defines craft as ‘the skilled making, by hand, of tangible objects, or the conservation/restoration of such objects’.

Find out more via the QEST website here.

Image: Phoebe Stubbs (left) and Tobias Newbigin. Photo: QEST.