The latest Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) online exhibition features the themes of summer and flowers and is live now on the CGS website. Twenty glass artists are represented and they have used a wide range of techniques to create a diverse range of styles and subjects.
Some of the works are for sale direct from the artists, who were invited to share the pieces that they created for decorating garden borders or acting as a sculptural focal point. They are designed and made specifically for the great outdoors.
From elaborate mosaic spheres to bold arrows of cast glass to delicately formed fused glass lilies, there is something to suit all preferences and scales.
View all the artworks and find out full details of each one here.
This exhibition is live until 2 July 2023.
Image: ‘Cactus Garden’ is made from recycled and repurposed glass that has been fused, cold worked and bonded by the artist Marc Fresko.
Do you want to find out more about contemporary glass? All are welcome at the next Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) Discovery Day, where glass artists will talk about their processes and inspirations.
Organised by CGS, the next in this series of Discovery Days taking place around the country during 2023 will be held at impressive art gallery The Hepworth Wakefield on Saturday 17 June 2023.
Come to West Yorkshire to meet an amazing melange of glass artists talking about their work and lives as contemporary glass artists. You will have the opportunity to interact with professional creatives and to find out more about the creative industries. Meet and make new contacts with glass artists local to you.
The four fascinating speakers are both established artists and young emerging makers. One of these speakers is an international artist, joining the day virtually by Zoom. CGS is bringing some of the best of the world’s contemporary glass artists to Wakefield to excite and inspire everyone.
The speakers are:
Joanna Manousis, a British–American artist working in glass and mixed media sculpture
David Reekie, an internationally renowned glass artist specialising in lost wax cast glass who reflects on the human condition
Jahday Ford, a glass artist and designer from Bermuda but based in Manchester, who specialises in hot glass fabrication and mould design
Kristiina Uslar, a glass artist from Estonia who works mainly in pâte de verre.
This Discovery Day in Wakefield includes exploring the beautiful Hepworth Wakefield gallery inside, as well as the garden designed by Tom Stuart-Smith.
Glass artists attending are welcome to take part in a ‘Show and Tell’ session, bringing along a piece of their work and explaining the techniques and ideas behind it.
A Discovery Day offers participants the chance to explore the collaboration between heritage crafts and modern technology and to appreciate the value of glass not only as an artistic material but also its technical, scientific, historical and geographical importance.
Tickets cost £45 + booking fee (Early Bird price of £35 + booking fee available until 14 May 2023), which includes all the day’s events, refreshments and lunch. Tickets can be purchased via Eventbrite here.
The Hepworth Wakefield is at Gallery Walk, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF1 5AW. Website: https://hepworthwakefield.org
This Discovery Day is sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers Charity Fund, the Glass Manufacturers Educational Trust and Pearsons Glass.
Image: Some of the speakers for the Hepworth Wakefield Discovery Day and examples of their artwork.
Inverness Museum and Art Gallery will be celebrating the history of Caithness Glass with an exhibition of pieces donated by glass collector Dr Graham Cooley, opening in June 2023.
Over 350 items have been generously donated to the museum from the Graham Cooley Collection, most of which will be on display. From vases and bowls to thimbles and candlesticks, the range of goods designed and made by the company is impressive.
The first Caithness Glass factory opened in Wick, Caithness, in 1961. The aim was to provide much needed skilled employment opportunities and create a product that could be sold around the world.
The early designs by Domhnall ÓBroin showed a strong Scandinavian influence, with colours inspired by Highland landscapes. ÓBroin was followed by Colin Terris and other designers, who introduced more colours and patterns.
The products were popular and the company grew, establishing new factories in Oban in 1969, and Perth in 1979. In 1988 it took over the Wedgwood Crystal factory in King’s Lynn, Norfolk.
However, by 2004, the company could no longer compete with cheap imports and rising production costs. It was bought out of receivership by Edinburgh Crystal but went back into receivership in 2006. This time it was bought by Dartington Crystal, based in Devon. Sadly, all of the original factories have closed, but the Caithness brand is still owned by Dartington and operates from the Crieff Visitor Centre in Perthshire.
Graham Cooley is a 20th century art collector based in England. His collection is focused on the company’s art glass and tableware, rather than the paperweights which have become synonymous with the Caithness brand.
Alongside the exhibition, the book Caithness Glass: Loch, Heather & Peat, written by collectables expert and TV personality, Mark Hill, will be available to buy from the museum’s gift shop, along with some vintage pieces of Caithness Glass.
Most of the collection will be displayed in the Inverness Museum’s Foyer Gallery from 17 June to 19 September 2023.
Inverness Museum and Art Gallery is at Castle Wynd, Inverness, Highland, IV2 3EB, Scotland. Find out more via the website.
Image: Range of vases by Caithness Glass, designed by Domhnall ÓBroin in the 1960s.
Denmark’s Glasmuseet Ebeltoft opens its doors on 29 April 2023 with a new name and a new visual identity, following redecoration of the museum.
The museum of international glass art had been known as Glasmuseet Ebeltoft since 1986. Now, it will be called Glas with the subtitle ‘Museum of Glass Art’.
The name change marks the first step on the way to an ambitious, strategic development of the museum. Behind the new name lies a desire to sharpen the profile and clearly signal the core of the museum’s work: glass and the exploration of the material’s properties in an artistic context. It is about the unique qualities of glass, from liquid to solid, from hot to cold, the sensuality of the material, transparency, optics, colours, but also about building a bridge towards a wider art scene with glass as a point of departure.
“We must be a living and relevant museum for both the professionally interested glass enthusiasts and for visitors who are on holiday in the area and experience glass art for the first time,” explained the museum’s director Mikkel Hammer Elming.
“We want to share our interest and passion for glass with as many people as possible and create meaningful encounters with art. We see an increasing interest in glass in contemporary art. The exhibition with the artist duo Studio ThinkingHand will be a perfect example of how we want to explore glass as an artistic material in the future, and how we want to work on introducing glass to new contemporary artists.”
The museum’s glass studio plays an important role in the future development of Glas. It is the centre of a present and sensual communication that also includes the heat from the furnaces, the smell of burnt wood and the sound of the tools. And this is often where the fascination with the material begins.
The new logo reflects the sensuality of the glass in the ‘a’, which is soft and ‘liquid’ like hot glass. And the optical qualities of the glass appear like a lens that gives a view into the world of glass, on the new website, which launches at the same time as the new name.
Visitors will also experience changes in the physical layout of the museum, which has a revamped reception area and new shop.
The museum’s new visual identity and website have been developed in collaboration with the design and branding agency Stupid Studio.
The ‘Evolutions’ exhibition by Studio ThinkingHand opens on 29 April 2023 and runs until 7 January 2024.
The rebranding is supported by Syddjurs Municipality, The Beckett Foundation, The New Carlsberg Foundation Dinesen, Kvadrat, plus VisitAarhus/The Business Promotion Board.
The Obelske Family Fund supports the museum’s 2023 exhibition programme.
London Craft Week runs from 8-14 May 2023. The annual event celebrates outstanding British and international creativity, bringing together over 750 established and emerging makers, designers, brands and galleries from around the world.
Among those taking part are several glass artists, including glassblowers, engravers and casters. Find out about their exhibitions and workshops via this link.
Glassblower Michèle Oberdieck will be showing with Contemporary Applied Arts (CAA), as part of ‘Seven: Seven Decades, Seven Makers, Seven Disciplines’. This week-long exhibition showcases one maker for each applied arts discipline of ceramics, wood, glass, jewellery, metal, paper and textiles.
Meanwhile glassworker Trine Drivsholm will be exhibiting with Flow Gallery as part of ‘Constructing Space: An exhibition of Danish contemporary craft’.
Handblown glass firm Molten 1090 will present a demonstration at their studio, reflecting on their circular design ethos, followed by an informal Q&A. Their East London studio will be open for the whole of London Craft Week.
Glass sculptures are one facet of the work of Kira Phoenix K’inan. She will be taking part in ‘Future Icons Selects’, which presents over 70 leading makers from across Europe in a curated, industrial setting at Oxo Tower Wharf’s Bargehouse. Another artist showing in this exhibition is London-based glass artist Kate Maestri. She works to commission on large-scale architectural glass installations and small-scale glass wall sculptures for interiors. Jennifer Hackett, known as Glass By Butler, makes sculptural glasswork. See her pieces in ‘Future Icons Selects’.
For those interested in a creative glass workshop during London Craft Week, Maria Zulueta, senior lecturer at Morley College London, is offering different classes at the North Kensington Centre. Find out more and book here.
Aside from glass, there is a wealth of events and exhibitions, featuring all types of craftsmanship, to enjoy across the city. Find out more about London Craft Week 2023 here.
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES. WE’LL KEEP YOU ADVISED OF FURTHER CGS DISCOVERY DAYS SOON.
The second in the Contemporary Glass Society’s (CGS) series of glass Discovery Days around the country is taking place at the National Glass Centre in Sunderland on 20 May 2023. These special days are open to all – book by 30 April for a reduced ticket price!
Participants will be able to explore the University’s Art Department and workshops at the National Glass Centre, as well as seeing live demonstrations of glass making.
The programme for the day includes four fascinating speakers. These are: Sue Woolhouse, a long-established community artist who also works on individual artwork in a range of glass techniques; Effie Burns, famous for her cast miniature sculptures, who also works in the public sphere, plus Chris Day, a hot glass artist who gives a voice to Black history and challenges preconceptions through his work. In addition, Galia Amsel will bring an international flavour, joining the meeting via Zoom from New Zealand. She is a glass artist who manipulates hot glass with casting, grinding, texturing and polishing.
Participants will be able to explore contemporary glass and meet glass artists talking about their work and life as contemporary glass artists. Interact with professional creatives based locally and to find out more about working within the creative industries.
Glass artists attending can take part in a ‘Show and Tell’, which involves bringing along a piece of work and explaining the techniques and ideas behind it.
The day is organised by the CGS and sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers’ Charity Fund, the Glass Manufacturers’ Educational Trust and Kilncare.
Ticket prices:
EARLY BIRD rate until 30 April 2023: £33 + booking fee Standard Price from 1 May 2023: £45 + booking fee
Tickets include all the day’s events, refreshments and lunch.
Find out more details about the agenda and buy tickets via this link.
Image: Meet the makers, hear talks and see demonstrations of glassblowing at the National Glass Centre on 20 May 2023.
From 6 May until 8 October 2023, visitors to Germany’s Glasmuseum Lette can see the ‘To be on fire’ exhibition of lampworked glass.
This is the organisers’ third exhibition of lampworking, highlighting the exciting world of lampworked glass from across Europe.
Lampworking is a very old technique, which began to flourish in the sixteenth century, spreading to other countries from Venice in Italy. France, the Netherlands and Germany also became key locations. Today, as in the past, the German centre of lamp-blown glass is the Thuringian Forest, specifically the town of Lauscha.
For a long time, lampworked glass was considered the art of small objects, such as beads, miniatures, ornaments and small vessels. However, since the early 1990s, the technique has been adopted by a new generation of artists. Their enthusiasm for lamp glass is evident in the creative ideas they conceive and the objects they produce. With free, sculptural and sometimes large-format pieces, they are revolutionising lamp glass, opening up new possibilities for modern art.
Nine artists from different European countries have been invited to present their work in the ‘To be on fire’ exhibition. They all share a common technique, yet the world in which each one works tells its own story. The featured artists are: Falk Bauer, André and Rebekka Gutgesell, Krista Israel, James Lethbridge, Susan Liebold, JanHein van Stiphout, Christine Vanoppen and Nataliya Vladychko.
There will also be the opportunity to see work by artists from Glasmuseum Lette’s own collection.
Glasmuseum Lette is at Letter Berg 38, 48653 Coesfeld-Lette, Germany. Website: www.glasmuseum-lette.de
Opening hours: Wednesdays and Saturdays 2-5pm, Sundays 11am-5pm.
Image: Falk Bauer’s ‘Regenbogen-Skarabäus’ (2022). Photo by the artist
Glass artist Anne Petters is running a course called ‘Glass Sculpture: an Introduction to Pâte-de-Verre’, suitable for all abilities, in London from 3-7 July 2023.
The French term ‘pâte de verre’ translates as ‘glass paste’. Glass powders and frits (crushed glass) are mixed with a medium to a paste that can then be applied to flat and hollow moulds and fused in the kiln, at about 700°C, to take the shape.
Anne Petters’ course will explore the pâte de verre process and participants will be able to make their own small, unique objects using this ancient glassmaking technique. Using a variety of mould-making materials, drawings, writing and texture can be transferred onto the glass. Flat and hollow plaster/Molochite moulds will be created, onto which glass frits and powders will be fused.
Further manipulation of the shape can be achieved by slumping and forming methods.
Participants will finish the course with a selection of beautiful and unique sculptural glass artworks to take home.
The 5-day course for adults is part of the Summer School programme at the City & Guilds of London Art School, at 124 Kennington Park Road, London SE11 4DJ, from 3-7 July 2023 from 10am to 5pm.
Make a note to visit the upcoming Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) exhibition on the theme of ‘Sumptuous Summer’, being held at Buckenham Galleries in Southwold, Suffolk during June and July 2023. Around 30 artists have been selected for the show at this leading contemporary art space.
This exhibition celebrates the warmth and sensuous pleasure of a Sumptuous Summer. The artists have had the opportunity to explore anything that relates to that glorious season, which extends from the June solstice through to the September equinox.
There will be a wide range of contemporary glass art on display, with a mix of wall pieces and plinth-based work. The pieces will be for sale and there is a range of prices, making contemporary glass attainable by all.
Many different techniques and styles have been chosen, demonstrating the versatility of this fascinating material. The selection was made by the gallery owners and the internationally renowned glass artist, David Reekie, whose studio is located not far away in Norfolk.
The selected artists are Alison Allum, Andreya Bennett, Beverley Bunn, Teresa Chlapowski, Jeanette Cook, Julie Anne Denton, Magda Gay, Hannah Gibson, Helen Hancock, Catherine Hough, Ingrid Hunter, Susan Kinley, Jane Littlefield, Marian Monas, Jackie Monk, Emmy Palmer, Susan Purser Hope, Lesley Pyke, Ana Laura Quintana, Morag Reekie, Annie Ross, Annica Sandström with David Kaplan, Katrina Shearlaw, Cathryn Shilling, Phillipa Silcock, Kathryn Sumroy, Nancy Sutcliffe, Frans Wesselman and Maria Zulueta.
Beverley Bunn’s ‘Sunset Over the Airfield’.
The exhibition runs from 1 June to 15 July 2023, with a Preview afternoon on Saturday 3 June at 2pm when visitors will be able to see the array of glorious glass close up and meet the artists to find out more about their work and techniques.
Buckenham Galleries is at: Buckenham House, 81 High Street, Southwold, Suffolk IP18 6DS. Website: https://buckenhamgalleries.co.uk
The Guild of Glass Engravers has announced the winners of the Making Your Mark exhibition of student work. The prestigious David Peace Prize of £500 goes to Moonju Suh, with two Emerging Artist prizes of £200 awarded to Miriam Witthaut and Rimona-Ruth Kogan.
Speaking about her winning piece ‘Happiness Diary (6)’, Moonju Suh said, “I believe people often hide their true emotions and personalities. There are many reasons for people hiding their true feelings. But, I argue, one of the most plausible reasons could be that none of us willingly expose their weakness or vulnerabilities. For example, in my case, I hide my anger when I feel angry or upset because of the societal fear of being judged by others as a social pariah behaviour. The glass dolls in my artwork ‘Happiness Dairy’ visualise my angers that are caused by different situations.”
The images on each head and body of the doll are hand cut onto vinyl, sandblasted and then cameo engraved. Each piece is 16cm tall.
German-based Mirium Witthaut’s piece is called ‘Five to Twelve’ and represents global warming. Mirium states, “You see the lonely polar bear on an ice floe that has broken out and below him the raging sea. We must not ignore the signs and have to act as fast as possible!”
‘Five to Twelve’ by Mirium Witthaut. Photo: Dong Min Lee and Josef Reitberger
Rimona-Ruth Kogan’s ‘Mount Nysa II’ is a cubism-inspired interpretation of her first competition piece ‘Mount Nysa’. It depicts the Greek myth of Dionysus, showing him hiding away inside Mount Nysa, his relationship with death, rebirth and his father Zeus, she explains.
‘Mount Nysa II’. Photo: Christoph Hagedorn
View all the Making Your Mark competition entries on the Guild of Glass Engravers’ website here.
Main image: ‘Happiness Diary (6)’ by Moonju Suh. Photo by the artist
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