On 13 December 2024, the European Union (EU) introduced a new set of safety regulations, which affect people selling consumer products to the EU and Northern Ireland. These rules do not apply to products being sold in the UK.
Known as the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), it applies to new, used, repaired or reconditioned products sold to these regions both physically and through digital sales channels from 13 December 2024. Products that were for sale prior to this date do not have to comply with the new rules.
Essentially, the GPSR aims to ensure that products are safe and traceable.
The information on the GPSR is not clear regarding how it applies to craft businesses, but the Crafts Council has produced a document outlining what it believes is known to date for craft sellers.
Two main features of the regulation include improved safety requirements and accessible information, as well as a named, EU-based ‘Responsible Person’ to support product safety compliance. In practice, this means that people selling to the EU and NI need to provide a comprehensive product safety information outline (preferably in a language relevant to the receiving country), plus appoint the Responsible Person. This person could be:
The manufacturer
An importer, if the manufacturer is not established in the EU
An authorised representative mandated by the manufacturer
A fulfilment service provider if the manufacturer, importer and authorised representative are not based in the EU.
GPSR puts greater responsibility on online marketplaces like eBay and Etsy, which may result in sellers having to supply details of safety information and nominated Responsible Person to them.
Greater clarity is required on how this new regulation affects craft businesses. Please read the Crafts Council’s summary here (link to download their pdf). You can also read the UK Government’s full guidance via this link.
Note: It is important to do your own research on GPSR before making any business decisions.
The Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) is looking for a new Administrator to manage the day-to-day running of the organisation, contribute to its development and to help raise funds to sustain its future.
This role is primarily a remote working from home position, with occasional meetings involving travel, depending on event, exhibition and meeting requirements (expenses will be reimbursed).
Key responsibilities will include responding to emails, managing membership, day-to-day finances and budget, publicity and communications, and to seek sponsorship and lead fundraising activities.
Skills required
Highly self-motivated and able to manage time effectively and multitask
Experience of business planning
Experience of managing people and events
Good communication skills, both verbal and written
Confident to speak in public
Proficient in Word and Excel, access to the internet and experience of e-marketing and social networks
Must be able to work independently as well as part of a team
Great attention to detail
An understanding of financial matters, such as budgets and management accounts
Experience of writing funding applications is desirable
An understanding of Charity governance.
Overview
Role Title: Administrator Number of days work: Flexible working of 20 hours per week. Contract: Offered initially as a 12-month contract for a self-employed individual, with the intention to extend this, subject to ongoing funding. There will be a 3-month probationary period. Salary/package: £38,584 FTE p.a., pro rata. This equates to £22,100 for this role. Holiday: 25 days p.a., pro rata. This equates to 15 days for a 0.6 role.
Background
CGS is the premier supporter and promoter of contemporary glass art and glass artists in the UK. Membership is open to glass artists at all stages of their careers, collectors and members of the public interested in contemporary glass.
CGS was established in 1997 to represent the interests of national and international glassmakers. Its team is passionate about glass and the artists working with this amazing medium. Today it has almost 1,200 members and continues to grow.
CGS is a charitable organisation funded entirely through members’ subscriptions and by donations. Glass making has been at the core of the creative life of Great Britain for centuries and CGS members continue this great heritage, while producing innovative, exciting, environmentally conscious work that incorporates new technologies while showing respect for long-established techniques.
The current Administrator has been in post for 22 years. With her leaving in 2025, there is an opportunity to review and evaluate the organisation, with a view to develop a new business plan and vision for the next five years.
Central to the CGS’s plan is a model that builds resilience and sustainability, develops partnerships and profiles and helps ensure that the charity continues to thrive in what can be challenging times for small, independent charities.
The Board of Trustees are seeking a dynamic and committed individual to help realise the ambitions for this unique organisation.
Summary
The role of Administrator is key in the organisational and strategic development of the organisation, working with the Board to take CGS into a new phase.
This role will be a great opportunity for a skilled, experienced, and motivated individual who enjoys working in a small, dynamic team and can embrace the ethos, practices, and ambitions of CGS.
The successful candidate will be ambitious for the Society, resourceful, and self-motivated. While the individual who fills this role could come from any sector, they would need to possess a genuine understanding of the arts, and value the role and impact of creativity and making opportunities in our lives.
They will have the flexibility, interest, and ability to juggle business and operational activity, as well as functions, alongside being able to develop and deliver an inspiring creative programme and range of activities with the Project Manager, Chair and Board members.
To apply please email a covering letter of no more than two pages outlining your suitability for the role, plus your CV , to admin@cgs.org.uk , using Job application as the subject title.
Lea Lenhart has developed her childhood love of glass beads into a glass practice that celebrates nature and beauty through flameworked glass ‘beings’. Linda Banks finds out more.
You are a gifted artist and painter. What made you start working with glass?
I have been collecting glass beads since I was a child and have spent many hours making little things with them, or just dumping the material together and sorting it again. My studies at the Düsseldorf Art Academy in Germany began with classical painting, which I always found a struggle.
‘Chrysina Gloriosa’ is a beetle made from tiny glass beads. Photo: Dejan Saric.
The small box of childhood beads gave me the idea of creating a kind of painting with them, so I started drawing designs and using the beads like pixels. My first woven pictures were portraits of my friends. Later, these were followed by butterflies, beetles, garden pictures and abstract works. The largest work, ‘Hortus Conclusus’, consists of over 400,000 glass beads – I worked on it for a year.
‘Hortus Conclusus’ features natural forms created using thousands of tiny glass beads. Photo: Dejan Saric.
During this time, the desire for three-dimensionality grew, so I began to embroider glass beads (now including larger ones too) onto canvas. This resulted in underwater objects that were often backed with painting on Plexiglas.
‘Orange Sea Fan Flower with Feather Grass I’ (2016) comprises sequins and glass beads embroidered on canvas, plus acrylic painting on Plexiglass. Photo: Lea Lenhart.
When this material was also exhausted and I could not achieve the liveliness with it that I desired, I took an intensive course with Maggie Napier in Banbridge, Northern Ireland. She introduced me to the mystery of glass melting and showed me basic techniques. She is a wonderful glass artist and teacher!
It was a golden time of my life. I knew that glass melting was my medium for artistic expression! I was so excited that I hardly slept for four nights. I was, and am, driven by a longing to mould the glass into the shape I want. Since then, not a day goes by without me having glass in my hands. This may be at the burner or when sorting, and, later, when embroidering.
It is so wonderful to see what flows from my hands. When experimenting with different types of glass, I learn about their possibilities and qualities. Each type of glass has its own secret; each has a different liquidity. Therefore, I use soft glass for leaves, drops and balls, but hard glass for the more dimensionally stable tentacles. I also love the colour change found in some canes. This is particularly pronounced when working with silver glass. I find it incredible what little cosmoses are created.
‘Blue-White giant-Anemone’ measures 55x55x12cm and incorporates glass and bone beads with flameworked glass pieces. It was the first object Lea created with her own handmade beads. Photo: Dejan Saric.
Which glass techniques have you used and which do you prefer?
As mentioned, it all started with web images, where I threaded thousands of rocailles beads based on a plan I drew. Later came the embroidered underwater objects, for which I used mostly industrially produced glass beads.
Now, I have been melting glass on a torch for six years. This is definitely my home!
Occasionally, I use a small glass grinding machine or etching agents to give my glass a matt finish.
Please tell us more about your creative approach. Do you draw your ideas out or dive straight in with the materials?
I am always looking for beauty. During my studies I met the incredible artist Rosemarie Trockel, who was a professor at the Academy of Fine Art in Düsseldorf. She said that I should not listen to anyone who called my art ‘decorative’. Instead, she told me that I should look for beauty and take it to the most extreme limits. This is my credo!
For me, colours are a very important aspect of beauty. There are colour combinations that I like to immerse myself in. Small nuances make a color shine. A lot lies in contrasts, such as light-dark values, which have to be right. At the start of my studies colour theory was my favourite subject. Now I know why!
I only make sketches on vacation, when I do not have any glass to hand. In everyday life I don’t have time for drawings. The objects are created, sometimes with a vision that I follow, sometimes by chance when putting together the most diverse materials. Often, when embroidering the different elements, I notice that a shape or a colour accent is missing. This is then created in the next step on the torch.
This sketch was created in Canada in 2021 and the object, ‘Sea Creature 330’ (shown below), (circa 10cm wide), was created as soon as Lea came home. The murrini were made by Dani Müller. Photos: Lea Lenhart.‘Sea Creature 330’. Photo: Lea Lenhart.
You often depict nature in your work. What message(s) do you want to convey with your art?
I have always been very moved by nature and feel incredible happiness when looking at flowers or walking through forests or gardens. These are incredibly delicate creatures that surround us humans and nourish us. The destruction and loss of these ‘beings’ hurts me deeply. Therefore, I try to create my own beings that bring inspiration, beauty and joy to the world.
What is your favorite tool or device and why?
I love the torch. Working on it is a great meditation. The process of melting glass has an incredibly calming effect on me. It’s a bit like watching the most diverse shapes flow from my hands.
Lea at the torch. Photo: Andrej Henze-Lenhart
Do you have a favourite piece or collection that you have created? Why is it your favourite?
I have been working on my ‘Sea Creatures’ series for three years now. This collection is actually a large experimental laboratory. I’m always testing out new glasses, trying to explore their possibilities, combining the resulting shapes with the thousands of glass beads that I’ve collected over the years. In terms of numbers produced, an object is created every day. I see this work as a kind of training…
A wall of Sea Creatures, each about 10cm diameter. Photo: Lea Lenhart.
Where do you show and sell your work?
The recently renovated Hentrich Glass Museum in Düsseldorf has purchased a large installation of my sea creatures for its permanent exhibition. In addition, the “On the Way” exhibition opened in November 2024 at the Fils Fine Arts Gallery in Düsseldorf, featuring a large installation of the sea creatures and some larger objects. Next February 2025, my work will be shown at the Art Fair in Karlsruhe and with Fils Fine Arts Gallery.
Where is your creative practice heading next?
At the moment I’m still at home experimenting with the sea creatures theme. However, increasingly, I find I am limited by size, so I’m currently creating some larger, more complex objects in which I replace missing colours with yarn, which I use to embroider the ‘bases’.
And finally…
I came across Dani Müller on Instagram. She lives in my home town, St. Gallen, in Switzerland. I discovered that we even went to the same school for a year. Like me, she has developed wonderful murrini beads through experimentation and trial and error. She makes ‘in’ the glass what I make out of the glass. Her murrinis can be found in many of my objects. Her world of shapes and colours is another great inspiration for me!
‘Sea Creature 967’ is made with murrini created by Dani Müller. Photo: Lea Lenhart.
Find out more about Lea Lenhart and her work via her website.
Main image: Detail of ‘Orange Sea Fan Flower with Feather Grass I’, (2016). Made from sequins and glass beads embroidered on canvas, with acrylic painting on Plexiglass, this piece measures 30cm diameter. Photo: Lea Lenhart.
The 23rd International Flameworking Conference takes place at Salem Community College, in New Jersey, USA, from 21-23 March 2025.
The weekend includes presentations, demonstrations, exhibits, vendor displays and the chance to mee a community of flameworking practitioners and enthusiasts.
The event features Japanese artist Kentaro Yanagi, who makes kinetic flameworked sculptures (see image) and will demonstrate on the Saturday morning.
Other flameworkers who will be demonstrating include Lacey Walton, Kamila Mroz, Lucie Kovarova-Weir, Serbay Doru, Eunsuh Choi, Andrew Certo, Lucio Bubacco and Michal Adamski.
Floor Kaspers and Bandhu Dunham will have speaker presentations on the Friday evening and Meghan Bunnell will present a lunch and learn session on the Sunday.
There is a dinner party on the Saturday evening (advanced registration required).
Early, discounted registration is open now until 16 February 2025.
Find out more about the schedule and the artists, plus sign up, via this link.
Rachael Durkan has a fascination with the intricate patterns of nature at a cellular level. Through careful, kiln-formed glass fusing, she captures the transience of organic matter and shares her wonder with the viewer. Linda Banks finds out more.
You are a skilled artist with a background in sculpture and printmaking. What led you to start working with glass?
I completed my BA (Hons) in Fine Art in Newcastle in the late 1990s. The work I produced during this time was inspired by patterns found in nature and organic matter. I enjoyed practising close-up photography, which influenced my sculptural forms and printmaking. My sculptural work focused on light projecting through organic forms to reveal intricate patterns, so when I discovered glass, I knew I had found a material I was excited to explore.
After completing my degree my path led me into computer-aided art and design and I worked in the website design industry for many years.
I began an evening course in stained glass at Bristol School of Art and Design, where I was introduced to kiln-formed glass. Since 2017 working with glass has been my full-time occupation and passion.
Fused glass works by Rachael Durkan featuring intricate hanging cell forms.
What glass techniques have you used, and which do you prefer?
I have explored many glass techniques that have expanded my knowledge and understanding of this material. This, in turn, helps me achieve the finished effect I am aiming for in a piece. I am particularly interested in reactions – the effects that can be captured within the glass when you combine certain colours and styles.
I strive to give the patterns and shapes in a piece extra definition by choosing colours that will react, and subsequently define, the many small shapes.
‘Plant Cell #4’ is made from fused glass that has been shallow slumped.
What is your creative approach? Do you draw your ideas out or dive straight in with the materials?
First, I sketch out my design idea, then work out how I intend to build the different sections and layers of the piece and what colour palette I want to use. At this stage I have to consider the pattern of the piece and try to visualise how the individual layers will look when overlayed and how the colours will work together and react.
Often, segments of my work are designed to be flipped over after their first firing, as I prefer the definition that is achieved on the kiln shelf side.
I also need to consider how individual elements will be fired, so I can achieve the texture I want from the final piece.
I then take a deep breath… and cut lots of glass shapes ready to get stuck in and build the piece. From this point on I work intuitively and let the form flow.
This work in progress photograph shows the numerous pieces that are cut and carefully positioned, ready to be fired in the kiln.
You like to create organic forms. What inspires your work?
My work draws inspiration from the intricate patterns found in nature, which govern their growth and determine their final shape. I find the pure perfection and complexity of how natural forms are constructed mesmerising. I strive to capture this alluring element in my work. I am currently exploring the shapes and patterns found in microscopic plant and tree cells.
Rachael recreates the beauty of a tree cell in this 30cm diameter artwork.
What message(s) do you want to convey through your art?
I want to convey the beauty of organic form – its intricate, complex structure – and for the viewer to take time to reflect on the fragility that exists in every living organism. My aim is to create work where detail is discovered gradually – where tiny fragments are as beautiful as the whole and I capture patterns within patterns. I want my work to be mesmerising.
I find it fascinating working with the inherent permanence of glass, which contrasts the temporary and momentary existence of the organic subject matter. You can capture and hold on to a moment of a life cycle, evoking both the sense of fragility yet strength in nature.
A detailed close-up of fused glass artwork, ‘Plant Cell #8’, based on the delicate patterns found in a plant cell. It measures 40cm diameter.
What is your favourite tool or piece of equipment and why?
Aside from my kiln, which is the most magical piece of equipment, I love my humble, flat-head paint brush, which I use for grouting between tiny glass pieces. This part of the making process is very therapeutic and exciting, as I can begin to visualise the finished piece.
My ‘Bullseye Colour Wheel’ is also invaluable. I refer to it daily, looking at colour groups and how they complement each other. This helps me select a colour palette for each piece.
This vessel, ‘Tree Cell #3’, measures 20cm diameter.
Do you have a favourite piece you have made? Why is it your favourite?
‘Plant Cell #1’ was the first large work I made, after many hours of making test pieces. I strived to create several layers of detailed patterns, which, when the individual layers were fused together, would not lose their pattern definition or flow into each other. I discovered a technique while making this piece that would create this outcome. This has opened an array of possibilities for new work.
‘Plant Cell #1’ is the first plant cell-inspired artwork that Rachael made at a large scale (30cm diameter).
Where do you show and sell your work?
I have exhibited in galleries in the Southwest of the UK, including Black Swan Arts and Thelma Herbert Gallery. I am also a member of UK Glass Art Collective. This group formed in 2023 and we have exhibited twice in 2024, in Bristol and Leicestershire, with further exhibitions planned for 2025/26.
Where is your glass practice heading next?
Rachael Durkan with one of her larger pieces.
I would like to exhibit more widely in my local area of Bristol, apply to the Art trails and some local galleries in 2025. I will also continue to submit work for regional exhibitions. I would like to work towards having a solo exhibition in the next couple of years.
Chester Cathedral would like glass artists to apply for a commission to create a new window for a former school building that has been returned to the cathedral.
The Dean and Chapter would like to commission a stained glass design for this building, which will be used to improve the facilities the Cathedral offers to the local and visiting communities.
The Cathedral is open to methods using conventional leaded construction, as well as more contemporary approaches to glass design. The design should represent the spiritual purpose of the Cathedral but should not present a barrier to entry for people of all faiths and none. The Cathedral wishes to establish a confident church presence in the City Centre. Preference will be given to designs that are, in the eyes of the assessors, contemporary, invitational, inspirational and eye-catching.
The main door of the building is near to the Cathedral’s general visitor entrance and Great West doors. It is anticipated that this door will become the principal door into the Cathedral’s visitor interpretation space, box office and admissions area. The recessed area above the door is the site for the commission, which will be backlit throughout the day and night.
Sketches and cost estimates are requested by Friday 7 February 2025.
Full details and site images can be seen in the tendering documents on the British Society of Master Glass Painters’ website here.
The Stained Glass Museum in Cambridgeshire, UK, is offering a stained glass study tour of Leicestershire from 27-30 April 2025.
Across the three days the group will explore a variety of stained glass in situ, from rare medieval French glass at Twycross parish church to the glittering windows of Arts and Crafts artists Theodora Salusbury, Douglas Strachan, and Veronica Whall, to modern glass by Patrick Reyntiens and contemporary windows by Tom Denny, Derek Hunt and Helen Whittaker, to name just a few.
This residential study tour includes three nights’ hotel accommodation, meals and coach travel throughout.
The organisers say that participants will be visiting a variety of excellent sites and seeing beautiful glass across Leicestershire with a friendly, welcoming group of like-minded glass enthusiasts.
Find out more information and download the booking form here. Note that the non-refundable deposit is due by 27 December 2024. Payment plans can be arranged. Completed forms should be returned to the Stained Glass Museum.
It is 20 years since BeCraft began holding exhibitions in the stables of the Anciens Abattoirs in Mons, Belgium.
To mark this anniversary, a call for applications from European artists living in a member country of the European Union’s Customs Union (i.e. not including the UK) has been launched for an exhibition on the theme of ‘abattoirs’. People living in the following countries can apply: the Azores, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Madeira, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
All disciplines in the applied arts are invited to apply, including glass, ceramics, textiles, wood, paper, jewellery, furniture, accessories, craft design and more.
The exhibition will take place from 23 November 2024 to 22 February 2026 at BeCraft Galerie & Grande Halle, Anciens Abattoirs, 17 rue de la Trouille, 7000 Mons, Belgium.
Ahuva Zeloof began pursuing her sculpting career after the age of 70 and is now exploring glass as a medium. Here she explains how she found her way to creating with glass and the inspirations behind her work.
You are an accomplished sculptor, but only began following your artistic journey later in life. What led you to start on this creative career?
I was busy bringing up a family and I didn’t have a lot of time for art. I went to galleries and explored and had moments of inspiration, but I didn’t have time to dedicate to a practice, since I have four children.
As it happened, when I was cooking with a friend one day, she said, “Oh, your cookies are lovely. Each one’s exactly like the other. Let’s go and do some art.” Because of the symmetry she saw in my baking, she decided I had arty tendencies, and she invited me to a clay sculpture class. I loved it! It felt like it was a gift to be explored. That’s how I started creating art later in life, in my seventies. It’s never too late.
Ahuva’s ‘Evolution’ features her favourite subject – the human form.
You have worked with bronze and stone and more recently started using glass. What fascinates you about glass as a material?
I began creating sculptures from clay, which eventually I came to dislike. Then I moved on to wax and bronze, then stone. Each material I explored was interesting in its own way: stone is lovely and tactile, though chiselling is hard work; bronze is malleable and has its own life. But when I saw my first glass sculpture, it didn’t even resemble the original. The interplay of light and darkness, as well as the bubbles in the glass, are fascinating. It completely blew my mind. After that first sculpture, I started experimenting with coloured glass.
What glass techniques have you used, and which do you prefer?
I work with a glass foundry. I take an original sculpture I’ve carved in stone or cast in bronze, then create a mould based off that piece. I may try different colours for the glass and experiment with the technique to see if we can create more bubbles and textures within. It takes a long time. The glass is poured very slowly, little by little, and the resultant sculptures are never the same. Even two pieces done at the same time will look different. You can’t fully control the light or streaks within the glass, and often the process feels more intuitive than scientific.
Ahuva carefully creates moulds from her stone sculputures that are used to cast her glass sculptures.
You mostly focus on the human form as a subject. Why is this?
I used to teach yoga, and yoga is not just about the physical body, but also the body’s soul. When I look at a stone, it’s as if it’s talking to me, and expressing a feeling that I can see – perhaps an inner strength. I do yoga myself, which removes the need for a model, since I know the human body well – especially women’s bodies. When you look at my pieces, you can feel their movement, like a yoga stretch.
What is your creative approach? Do you draw your ideas out or dive straight in with the materials?
I don’t draw. I take a piece of stone, I look at it, I start chiselling, and the form just happens. Even if I make a ‘mistake’, I don’t see it as a mistake, since I can improvise around it. It’s all up there, in the hands and the head. These idiosyncrasies of carving make their way into the glass mould and are re-translated in a second medium when they become glass. That’s an exciting process – the material itself inspires me and it can be amazing to see the glass mimic stone or filter light and shadow to create new meaning.
‘Me’ features a female head emerging from the rough glass form.
What message(s) do you want to convey through your art?
When people look at my sculptures’ faces, they often start asking, “Oh, what is she thinking? What is she doing? What is she going to do?” It’s a kind of meditation, capable of taking you to a different world. When the light hits the glass, they seem to come to life and have their own personalities, dictated by pose, expression, and so forth.
When you look at a piece of art and you’re with it on your own, you start a kind of dialogue; it sparks feelings in you. I’m trying to encourage people to discover their own thoughts through art and to interact with sculpture.
‘Life’ invites the viewer to ask questions.
What is your favourite tool or piece of equipment and why?
The most important thing is the mould. I begin with a model made of stone, but you need to do the mould properly before you can add the glass. It’s what controls the thickness of the glass, how it’s mixed, and the colours that it produces.
Do you have a favourite piece you have made? Why is it your favourite?
At the moment it’s a piece I call ‘Lovers’, which portrays two women, both pregnant. The future’s open to them, and the two females are together. I like to think that there’s a hopefulness to the piece, especially with how it interacts with light. The glass sculpture can’t be compared to its stone original.
That’s why I continue using glass in my sculptures, because it’s constantly surprising, and you never know what it will look like after it sets and dries. When you open the mould, it’s a whole new world. ‘Lovers’ is my piece for now, but I think the next one I make will be another favourite.
Ahuva’s ‘Lovers’ is her current favourite glass sculpture.
You have had successful solo shows, including exhibiting alongside famous names like David Hockney and Sir Peter Blake. How did these events come about?
In this industry, sometimes it feels like all you do is submit pieces to exhibitions. You have to put your work out there, enter competitions, speak to curators and artists, and hope that they like the pieces and take them. But it’s not just the exhibiting that’s important to me; I love interacting with amazing fellow artists. If I wasn’t an artist myself, I would never have met them. Having my work exhibited alongside well-known artists like the ones you’ve mentioned, and also Tracey Emin, is exciting, but interacting with other creatives through the process is what truly inspires me.
‘Fragment 1’ shows how Ahuva likes to give an ‘unfinished’ look to her sculptures.
Where is your creative practice heading next?
I’m working on an art book (my first!) based on a new sculpture series called ‘Faith’, but I can’t tell you much about it yet. Meanwhile, my next project will involve making new glass moulds from old stone carvings.
I’ve got my own style. Usually, when people look at my sculptures, they say, ‘Oh yes, it’s Ahuva’s work’. In my next collection, I’m hoping that no one will be able to tell it’s mine at first glance. I don’t like being monotonous.
Something else I’m passionate about is developing an exhibition where blind and partially sighted people can interact with sculptures, as they’re often not allowed to touch art. On the flipside of this, I really want sighted people to experience sculpture in the dark, so they can perceive the tactile qualities of the pieces. Part of this is also fostering understanding between able-bodied people and those with reduced vision.
At the end of November 2024, I’ll be taking part in a workshop with a charity for the blind and partially sighted, and I’m hoping this leads to bigger events and workshops on this topic in the future, since I think art needs to be open to everyone.
York-based stained glass business Barley Studio has created the ‘world’s first’ stained glass blue plaque, which has been unveiled at the Oliver Bonas store, located at 35 Stonegate in York, England.
Blue plaques are used across the UK as permanent public records, commemorating a historic link between a specific location and a famous person, event or building.
In this case, the plaque, commissioned by the York Civic Trust, honours 18th century writer and clergyman Laurence Sterne in the location where the first copies of his novel ‘The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman’ were sold on its publication in 1759. Interestingly, the building was also the home of stained glass manufacturers J W Knowles & Sons for over 100 years.
The plaque was created to replace a previous plaque, which was damaged during building works in 2022.
Founded by Keith Barley in 1973, Barley Studio specialises in stained glass creation and conservation for cathedrals, stately homes, parish churches and prestigious secular buildings, led by Keith Barley MBE and Helen Whittaker MBE.
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