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Making connections with history

Glass gloves with veins by Kit Paulson

Kit Paulson looks to the past for inspiration for her flameworked glass creations, which include fantastical headwear and old-style telephones. Linda Banks finds out more.

What led you to start working with glass?

I just kind of fell into it. Furnace working was one of the studio classes that was offered at my undergraduate university and I thought, ‘Hey, what the heck, might as well try it while I’m here’. It turns out that glass is endlessly fascinating and I’m still learning 20 years on.

You have perfected the use of the flameworking technique. Why does this method appeal to you?

There are a lot of great things about flameworking. It’s fairly simple and easy to set up a flameworking studio (particularly in comparison to setting up a hot shop, which is the area of glass I started in) and one can work alone and independently. It appeals to my innate love of small things, but flameworking can also be a good way to make large things out of small, modular parts. Borosilicate glass (the type that I use) is particularly good for this. I like the level of detail I can get with flameworking and how delicate I can make things.

Lace mask made from glass
‘Lace Mask’ by Kit Paulson is an example of her wearable art.

What is your creative approach? Do you draw your ideas out or dive straight in with the materials?

For many pieces I make a working, scale drawing that serves as a template. Often it’s easier to work out problems in a drawing before moving on to the material. But I do leave room for on-the-fly adjustments and additions. So I would say most pieces are about 80% planned and 20% improvised.

A lot of your work features sculptural, wearable glass art, often with a historical theme. What message(s) do you want to convey through this work? 

I like to make objects that look as though they have come from an earlier time, but not from a recognisable, specific time. I create objects that look as if they must have existed but never did. The past is a source of endless inspiration for me. We are so connected with things that happened in the past but sometimes these connections are invisible without a bit of digging. My work is often a form of digging.

Glass cravat
‘Cravat After Grinling Gibbons’ draws on historical references.

What is your favourite tool or piece of equipment and why?

My mini torch is my favourite. It’s a game-changer! It allows me to make incredibly small details and also to build large pieces. It’s a small, handheld torch, so I can use it to draw in three dimensions. I’m not constrained by having to bring my work to a bench torch, as I can bring the torch to the work.

Flameworked glass telephone
‘Telephone’ is an example of how borosilicate glass can be used to create 3D work.

Do you have a favourite piece you have made? Why is it your favourite?

My favourite piece is usually the last thing I finished. Right now it’s a little piece I finished in Scotland at North Lands Creative that’s based on gothic cathedral architecture.

You teach at venues in the US and farther afield. How does this impact your own glass practice?

I really enjoy technical teaching. This involves breaking down and categorising processes and passing them on to students, who often do interesting things with them. I enjoy getting the chance to solve problems that I would never have come up with on my own. And I enjoy deepening my understanding of the material by explaining it to others. I always come away from teaching experiences with tons of new ideas and I always learn something.

Tiny flowers are a feature of ‘Elderflower Umbel’ by Kit Paulson.

Where do you show and sell your work?

It’s a fairly random game at this point. My larger, sculptural work doesn’t sell very well because it’s delicate and hard to transport. So it’s mostly my smaller production work that actually sells. Therefore, I sell little things on Etsy (kitpaulson.etsy.com) and in regional boutiques. Occasionally I’ll have a larger piece in a gallery show, but most of the work that I really care about is displayed in the gallery of my studio, which is arranged as a sort of Wunderkammer, or cabinet of curiosities.

Do you have a career highlight?

I was delighted to have a piece acquired last year by the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum.

Who or what inspires you?

I am inspired by glass itself, the endless different ways it can be manipulated and by the skill needed to manipulate it successfully. I am inspired by looking at objects from the past, and the way that humans have solved problems and created beauty through the clever use of materials. I am inspired by the dawn of The Age of Reason, when people were creating objects and methods of observation for natural processes.

Flameworked glass lungs
‘Lungs’ demonstrates Kit Paulson’s mastery of the flame working technique for creating delicate details in glass. Photo: Brady Connelly.

Has the coronavirus impacted your practice?

Much of my time before COVID-19 had been spent in teaching, so when it struck I was suddenly at home and alone. This situation pushed me to set up an online outlet for my production work and to develop that work into something people actually want to buy. It gave me a lot of time in the studio that I wouldn’t otherwise have had.

Kit Paulson flameworking at the bench.

About the artist

Kit Paulson received her MFA from Southern Illinois University and her BFA from Alfred University in the USA. She has taught across the US and internationally at schools including Penland School of Craft; Pilchuck Glass School; Corning Museum of Glass; Bildwerk Frauenau, Germany; National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland, and Canberra Glassworks in Canberra, Australia. 

She has completed residencies at the S12 Gallery in Bergen, Norway, the Tacoma Museum of Glass, in the US, and, most recently, a three-year residency at Penland School of Craft. 

She has received scholarships from Pilchuck Glass School, Corning Museum of Glass, Pittsburgh Glass Center, The Windgate Foundation and the Glass Art Society. 

Her work has been published in New Glass Review editions 36, 37, 38 and 41 and is in the permanent collection of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum. 

She is currently a studio artist in Penland, North Carolina, USA.

Find out more via her website: https://kitpaulsonglass.com or Instagram: @kitpaulson 

Main feature image: ‘Ivory, Coral, Blood and Bone’, flame worked by Kit Paulson. Photo: Brady Connelly.

What’s in the next CGS Glass Network print magazine?

Kirsteen Aubrey, editor of the Contemporary Glass Society’s (CGS) print magazine, Glass Network, outlines some of the features members will see in the upcoming special 25th anniversary edition.

As is fitting in the CGS’s 25th year, in this 80th issue of Glass Network, Susan Purser Hope, our Chair, provides a timeline and the rationale behind the birth of CGS, outlining its objectives and many achievements as we celebrate our silver anniversary in 2022.

Her article reminisces on the early days of studio glass in the UK, from the establishment of British Artists in Glass (BAG) – the first organisation in the country to support professional glass artists and students in the 1970s – through to the launch of the CGS in the 1990s and beyond. Numerous glass artists involved with CGS offer their reflections.

In addition, this edition features artists working with diverse approaches to glass and a variety of techniques. One thing they have in common is that all are inspired by the transparency, colour and wonder of glass.

David Traub introduces his colourful glass, produced in New Zealand, and Lisa Pettibone explains how her work is destined for outer space!

Dominic Fonde explores illustrations and reflections that motivate his latest glasswork, while Cherisse Appleby explains how she uses UV-sensitive glass to produce scientific creative tools that aid understanding of health and wellbeing.

There are many glass exhibitions taking place in celebration of this special year – too many to mention here – but we focus on Chris Bird-Jones as shares her recent work, exhibited earlier this year.

The Glass Network print magazine is sent to all members of CGS twice a year as part of the membership package. Why not join our over 1,100 members in the UK and overseas and secure your copy? Read about the benefits and join here.

Image: ‘Unfurled’, (2020), by David Traub. Photo: Leigh Mitchell-Anyon.

Chris Day becomes Trustee of British Glass Foundation

Glass artist Chris Day has become a Trustee of the British Glass Foundation (BGF).

The BGF has been the driving force behind the realisation of the new Stourbridge Glass Museum (SGM), which opened in April 2022. Chris Day also won the Contemporary Glass Society’s (CGS) 25th anniversary competition for a piece of glass art that will be situated at the SGM.

Speaking of Chris’s appointment, BGF Trustee Graham Fisher stated, “His appointment will add a new perspective to our direction of travel and will greatly strengthen our already-broad base of governance.”

Graham Knowles, BGF Chairman, added, “We are delighted that Chris has accepted our invitation to join our Board of Trustees and we all very much look forward to working with him in the future”.

Chris grew up in the West Midlands and is one of the few black glassblowers in the UK.

He creates highly personal works in glass and mixed media, which investigates the treatment of black people in Britain and the US. Much of his research focuses on the slave trade in the 18th Century and the events up to, and during, the Civil Rights Movement.

A recurring theme in his work is the use of ‘copper cages’ enclosing his glass, representing the restriction of movement, both physically and mentally, that slave traders forced on people who they viewed as mere ‘commodities’.

Chris compares the glass to the human spirit, attempting to break free despite the restrictions that hold it in place. His recent work also features the war in Ukraine.

Chris says: “Like the glass I have pushed my approach in how I work with glass and ceramics in both traditional and experimental methods, to create contemporary artworks that represent my passion for this part of our history. As a black glassblower, I am one of few and on a quest to find and inspire more. My main purpose, however, is to engage the audience on issues that are hard to confront on many levels, using art to help overcome some of the traumas that haunt our collective past.”

An emerging artist and a recent graduate from Wolverhampton University, Chris received a special commendation at the 2019 British Glass Biennale, held in Stourbridge, UK.

His commission piece for the CGS competition will be unveiled at the ‘CGS at 25’ exhibition at the SGM on 25 August at 11.30am. The CGS event will be officially opened at 6.30pm by Andy McConnell of BBC TV’s ‘Antiques Roadshow‘ fame.

See Chris Day’s work at Vessel Gallery here.

Image: (left to right) New BGF Trustee Chris Day, Vessel Gallery’s Angel Monzon, CGS Chair Susan Purser-Hope and SGM resident glassblower Allister Malcolm.

Wolverhampton Uni glass courses under threat

Wolverhampton University, of which Wolverhampton School of Art (WSoA) is part, has announced that it is suspending recruitment to 138 undergraduate and taught postgraduate courses for September 2022, including its glass and ceramics courses.

This action affects the oldest glass course in the country, which began in the 1850s in the heart of the glassmaking district of Stourbridge, before relocating a few miles up the road to Wolverhampton.

The university’s website states that it has ‘one of the largest, best equipped glass-making facilities in Europe, giving students the opportunity to experience a broad range of techniques to realise their creative aspirations’.

However, while focus is on the many uses and benefits of glass during this, the UN designated International Year of Glass, and just weeks after the opening of the state-of-the-art Stourbridge Museum of Glass nearby, the furnaces at WSoA could soon be left cold.

The university’s move impacts courses across the university portfolio and sees most of the BA courses facing a suspension of intake for September 2022, including the Glass and Ceramics BA. “In effect, this means the closure of the MA Design and Applied Arts course, as there will be no BA courses to feed through students,” explained Dr Max Stewart, the MA Design and Applied Arts course leader.

Students who have applied for the threatened courses have been offered places on alternative courses that are still running, such as the BA Fine Art.

The university’s Interim Vice-Chancellor, Ian Campbell, cited rising costs and falling student applications and enrolments for the decision. However, WSoA staff and members of the wider glass community saw it as part of a broader attack on the Arts as the university and Government place more emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects.

Ian Campbell said, “The higher education sector as a whole faces a number of significant challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased costs to the University while at the same time, like many similar universities, our enrolments have been falling, with associated loss of income. This has been compounded by difficulties around overseas travel impacting international students during the pandemic.

“The reduction in student income, combined with increases in pay and non-pay costs including pension costs, alongside the impact of the pandemic, means the University is facing a very challenging financial landscape and a significant deficit in the current financial year.

“We are embarking on a robust recovery action plan which has included an internal cost-saving exercise across the institution and an external benchmarking exercise.

“As part of the recovery plan, we have been assessing subject areas using information such as enrolment and application data, the National Student Survey, Graduate Outcomes Survey, continuation and progression of students and student experience to ensure that our course offering continues to meet the needs of future students.

“This evidence-based review means we are looking to consolidate some areas and are suspending recruitment of new students on some courses… Current students on these courses will continue to be taught as normal.”

The university stated that it remains committed to the Arts and ‘a sustainable Arts offer’ and pointed to its opening of a new £5m Screen School in Wolverhampton earlier in 2022, to support subjects such as Animation, Computer Games Design, Film and Television Production and Multimedia Journalism.

WSoA staff are looking at all options and formulating recovery plans to put to managers within the coming weeks.

Therefore, there may be hope that the glass facilities at WSoA can be maintained and can continue to support the exceptional talents of up-and-coming makers, like ‘Blown Away’ Netflix TV series winner, Elliot Walker, who is a former Wolverhampton University MA Design and Applied Arts student.

Image: Work by Wolverhampton University graduate, Elliot Walker. Photo: Simon Bruntnell.

Dominic Fonde’s Analogue Hearts exhibition at Gallery Arai

A solo exhibition of drawings and engraved glass, called ‘Analogue Hearts’, by Dominic Fonde, takes place at Japan’s Gallery Arai in June 2022.

The definitions of the word ‘Analogue’ are:

relating to or using signals or information represented by a continuously variable physical quantity such as spatial position, voltage, etc.

“analogue signals”

Or

a person or thing seen as comparable to another.

“an interior analogue of the exterior world”

Dominic explains the thinking behind his ‘Analogue Hearts’ exhibition pieces:

“At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with all my exhibitions cancelled, I sat down in my studio in Kobe, Japan, and wondered what I was going to do. Even access to the blowing studio where I made blanks to engrave on was restricted.

“In order to have a plentiful supply of glass, I visited a 100-yen shop, which is the Japanese equivalent of a UK pound shop, and bought a large supply of magnifying glasses. Then I began engraving images of people wearing facemasks. These stipple engraved portraits evolved into a series called ‘Pandemic Portraits’.

‘Images of these posted to Instagram resulted in requests for commissions. Then, as lockdown eased, I had invitations to submit them for exhibitions. I also got asked one question again and again: ‘How do you do these?’

“When I explained that I use nothing more hi-tech than a tungsten scriber and sit for hours tapping at the glass, creating an image from an unimaginable number of tiny dots, the reaction was incredulity. Then they asked a question that stunned me: ‘Why don’t you use a laser?’

“This got me thinking about our love-hate relationship with modern technology and modern media.

“I told Arai San, the owner of Gallery Arai, that all the processes used to create the artworks for this exhibition would be traditional hand drawing and engraving techniques. However, as I worked, I realised how much I depend on tools like my digital camera and computer. The majority of the Pandemic Portraits were developed from photographs. It was the only feasible approach with social distancing. A couple were even engraved via screen grabs over Zoom.

“We live in a digital age, where everything is experienced via the magic portal of the smart phone or tablet and people cannot imagine there may be a way to create something without using modern technology. We can 3D print everything from guns to replacement heart valves, so why shouldn’t you use a laser to engrave?

“The answer is because sometimes the process is important. Sometimes the tools the artist uses feed back into the process and allow for the idea to be articulated in a certain way. An artist uses the cumulative experience of a lifetime to shape and curate ideas. Choosing the right tool for the job, developing the technique to use that tool well, is of vital importance.

“Lasers and 3D printers can and should be used to create art, but they lead to different creative choices. They are not the only choice, as people seem to think these days. The ‘Pandemic Portraits’ series would have looked vastly different if I had used a laser.

“My vision for the drawings and engravings featured at Gallery Arai is as a series of informational bits cross-connecting all the ideas buzzing through the exhibition; old, analogue technologies, modern digital ones, hand-engraved portraits on magnifying glasses, digitally manipulated images of laptops and typewriters, plus piles of thumb drives and SD memory cards loaded with data, but painstakingly drawn using ball point pen.

“When I first started the ‘Pandemic Portraits’ series, I often talked about how art is a way for a person to look at the world, a way to find signposts and landmarks in their life. I thought I was only looking through magnifying lenses, but I came to realise I was looking through camera lenses and screens just as much. ‘Analogue Hearts’ is me looking around and trying to make a map.

The ’Analogue Hearts’ solo exhibition of drawings and engraved glass objects by Dominic Fonde takes place from 9 to 14 June 2022 at Gallery Arai, 14-20 Koshien 6bancho, Nishinomiya, Hyogo 663-8176, Japan.

www.gallery-arai.com

Image: Dominic Fonde’s ‘Pandemic Portraits’ series was stipple engraved on 100-Yen magnifying glasses. Photo: Yasutaka Akane.

Mel Douglas’ glass showcased in Sabbia Gallery exhibition

A solo exhibition of work by Australian glass artist Mel Douglas opens in Sydney on 27 May 2022.

Talking about the exhibition, ‘Linear Perspective’, Mel Douglas explains, “Objects and drawings are often thought of as two separate entities. This body of work explores and interweaves the creative possibilities of this liminal space, where the form is not just a support for drawing, but a three-dimensional drawing itself.

“Using the unique qualities of the material, and the rich potential of mark making on and with glass, I am using line as a way to inform, define and enable three-dimensional space.”

Interior view of the 'Linear Perspective' glass exhibition at Sabbia Gallery.
Interior view of the ‘Linear Perspective’ exhibition at Sabbia Gallery. Photo: Sabbia Gallery.

Mel Douglas has worked as an independent studio artist since 2000. In 2020 she was awarded a PhD from the Australian National University for practice-lead research investigating how studio glass can be understood through the aesthetics of drawing.

In addition to winning the 2020 and 2014 Tom Malone Prize, she has received several major awards, including the Ranamok Glass Prize in 2002 and the International Young Glass Award in 2007 from Ebeltolft Museum of Glass. In 2021 she was selected as the Art Group Creative Fellow at the Canberra Glassworks.

In 2019 her work was the inaugural acquisition of the NGA’s Robert and Eugenie Bell Decorative Arts and Design Fund.

Her work is held in private collections and public institutions internationally, including the Corning Museum of Glass, New York, the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA; the Ebeltoft Museum of Glass, Denmark, and the National Gallery of Australia, Australia.

Mel Douglas is a finalist in the prestigious 2022 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize, the third Australian artist to be awarded this honour.

‘Linear Perspective’ opens at Sabbia Gallery with a private view on 27 May and runs until 18 June 2022.

Sabbia Gallery is at 609 Elizabeth Street, Redfern, NSW 2016, Sydney, Australia. More information: www.sabbiagallery.com

Main image: Mel Douglas’ ‘Disruption’ (2022) is created from kiln formed and coldworked glass.

Crowdfunding campaign launched to support Glass Works training

A project to support young European glass makers to become professionals is looking for support through a crowdfunding campaign.

The Glass Works pilot project was launched in 2018 and aims to secure the future of the art and craft of glass in Europe. Germany’s Bild-Werk Frauenau is the lead partner running Glass Works. Blid-Werk is known for its international summer academies and workshops for glass and fine arts, for creative people from around the world.

Glass Works provides start-up training for glass makers in art, craft and design, as well as actively working to strengthen cooperation between glass regions and glass makers in Europe. The programme highlights cooperation with partners in Scandinavia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Austria and France and seeks to strengthen links that will help those involved to design and market new glass and exchange ideas into the future.

The participants receive a grant and can use Bild-Werk’s workshops for six months to develop their projects. Practical work in the studios is supplemented by business and marketing courses, organised by the Danish project partner, and internships, primarily in Czech glass companies.

The scholarship holders are put in groups of 10 and exchange ideas and support each other, creating small networks that last beyond the training period.

Another aspect of Glass Works is promotion of exchange and networking across Europe. Public events have been organised with the University of Graz and an exhibition is touring Europe. In addition a digital networking platform is being built for European artists and designers, regional and international companies, museums and educational institutions.

Bild-Werk has invested a lot of time in Glass Works because it believes that the project offers prospects to young glass makers in Germany and Europe, which will strengthen the cultural heritage of glass in the longer term. Find out more here.

Glass Works is part of the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and part-funded by the Bavarian ministry of Finances and Homeland, among others.

Bild-Werk’s financial contribution to Glass Works is €50,000, which is a massive burden, especially as the original plan to raise funds through corporate sponsorship was destroyed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Therefore, it is seeking donations of any amount to help Glass Works to continue to connect artist makers with industrial craftspeople, manufacturers and new markets. Find out more and donate now via this link: www.startnext.com/en/glass-works

Glass Works is based at Bild-Werk Frauenau, Moosaustraße 18a, 94258 Frauenau, Germany.

Image: Glass Works participants receive comprehensive training and a network of support to develop their glass practice.

Channelling the beauty of Nature in glass

Wayne Charmer finds tranquillity in the natural world and wants to convey a sense of this through his organic glass forms. Linda Banks finds out more.

What led you to start working with glass?

I became interested in glass at an early age, mainly with my grandma’s collection of blown glass and lampworked figures. I remember these huge shelves on either side of the fireplace, full of colourful glass objects that amazed me. Looking back over the years, I think this is where my love for the material started.

I chose to do a 3D design course at Manchester Metropolitan University because it offered training in glass, among other materials. I had an offer for another university that was more craft based, which suited my interests more, but they didn’t have any glass working facilities.

At the time I knew nothing about the material and how you could work with it and that intrigued me. Therefore, the chance to learn all the basics, from cutting and kiln working to blowing glass was really exciting.

I knew that I wanted to continue working with glass and I thought the best option was kiln worked glass, because I knew I could easily buy my own kiln and set up a studio after I finished at university.

Once I graduated, I worked full time at the Craft Shop in the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. There I learned a lot about the craft industry and discovered a lot of artists. I was also able to save up to buy my first kiln, which was only just over 40cm diameter. I had it running in the hallway of my flat and was able to make one bowl at a time to supply a gallery I was exhibiting with at the time.

I applied for a loan and grant from the Prince’s Trust, which enabled me to buy a larger kiln and then I was able to supply more galleries. Initially I set this up in my parents’ garage. That was great until I decided to move to London with my partner. There, I was lucky enough to a get a studio at Cockpit Arts, where I got access to business training and learned a lot about how I wanted to further my practice.

‘Musa’ reflects the organic forms found in nature.

What glass techniques have you used, and which do you prefer?

I was fortunate to be able to explore most areas of working with glass while at university, from kiln working and blowing to mould making and cold working. Prepping the mould, cutting, layering, fusing and slumping the glass are the main techniques I use now. In my earlier work I focused on enamelling and metal inclusions. However, I don’t use those techniques as much these days.

I became intrigued with the process of preparing the glass for the kiln and then not knowing the outcome, either good or bad. But I enjoy learning from each firing. The mistakes are frustrating, but you learn from them.

Mostly I work with float glass. I enjoy exploiting its traits and seeing how far I can push it. It’s a very unforgiving material to work with and there are limits on how many times you can fire it. However, there is so much you can do with it, as long as you keep it clean before firing and get the firing schedules right. I feel free when working with float and I experiment more. In the past I’ve tried other, more expensive, glasses, but I found myself more tense during the making process, which affected the outcome.

Recently I’ve been experimenting with the mould making process for casting glass. Rather than limiting myself to float glass, I’m experimenting with glass intended for casting, which is a new venture for me.

A group of glass works inspired by the natural world.

What is your creative approach? Do you draw your ideas out or dive straight in with the materials?

At first, I was more interested in the process and seeing what happened to the glass during the firing, but, as you learn more about the material, you begin to understand how to apply this to your practice.

I start with an idea in my mind of what I want to create and then I fire lots of samples. I make notes on each firing and then I start applying these techniques to my inspiration, and my design evolves from there. If I have an idea in my mind, float glass enables me to feel free enough to go ahead and make it. If it works, that’s great. If it doesn’t, it’s disappointing, but you learn from it.

Now that I’m exploring the casting process, my approach is changing. I’m sketching more, to get the form right, before I start creating the mould.

A lot of your work is inspired by nature. What message(s) do you want to convey through it?

I find this difficult to put into words. It’s correct to say that my main source of inspiration is nature. This is where I feel most at ease – in the countryside, in a forest or by the sea. It’s a complete escape for me and my mind is calm there. In a city I’m less calm. I find cities exciting, but I don’t draw my inspiration from them and, as I’m getting older, I’m becoming less interested in the hustle and bustle of it all.

I don’t have any political messages I want to convey. I am inspired by the beauty of nature, and this is what I want to express in my work. The natural world is full of colour, texture, light and form, and it evolves. My aim is to channel this through my work.

Not only is nature a source of escapism, but I find escape in the making process, too. If I can echo this in my work, I’m thrilled.

What is your favourite tool or piece of equipment and why?

This is difficult to answer, because my latest piece of equipment is always my favourite until I buy something new. But my main piece of equipment, which allows me to create, is my kiln. Without it I would feel lost.

I remember getting my first small kiln and being so happy. Then, after receiving funding, I got the next size up and, a few years later, after saving up, I got the next size up again. Each time, it felt like a great achievement.

Last year, my kiln needed a repair. This meant I was without a kiln for a few weeks, for the first time in over 23 years. I had fired my glass too high in a mould and it melted into the elements. I was so frustrated with myself. It was really tough to be without it and I realised how much I missed using it and creating.

Do you have a favourite piece you have made? Why is it your favourite?

Again, my latest piece is usually my favourite! Looking back, I remember in the early days fusing a few sheets of glass with enamels and feeling content making clocks, small bowls and coasters. My aim then was to open a workshop with a gallery that was open to the public. However, I soon realised I wasn’t happy.

I started working on a larger scale and using a more time-consuming approach. The first piece I created with this process was the Coral bowl, where layers of glass were built into a mould. More time was spent cold working, and I enjoyed the discipline of patience that was needed to create just one piece. I believe this attention to detail shows in the finished work.

The ‘Coral bowl’ was the first piece Wayne created when he decided to work on a larger scale. Photo: Ester Segarra.

Last year I created a group of sculptural pieces called ‘Celestite’, which is one of my recent favourites. They are large, free-standing, slumped forms, with layer upon layer of cut glass fused into the body of each piece. I enjoyed working on this scale. It took time to create them, but I found the cutting of the glass and the layering very therapeutic.

The ‘Celestite’ group is comprised of slumped forms with many layers of glass fused into the body of each.

Where do you show or sell your work?

I sell my work through galleries and, sometimes, temporary exhibitions. My main gallery is the Vessel Gallery in London, which has been a great help over the years and very supportive. Originally, I approached them with a new body of work, aimed at the higher end of the market, when I was in my early 30s. With their assistance, I’ve been able to progress within my practice and create pieces of which I’m proud.

Early on in my career, without any real experience, I tried exhibiting through trade shows. The thought was to sell cheaper, smaller items on a bigger scale. I had lots of galleries and outlets selling my work, but I was terrible at keeping an eye on all of the stock. Plus, a lot of the work was on a sale-or-return basis, which was a nightmare to manage. I thought that having lots of galleries and seeing my creations everywhere was important, but I soon realised this wasn’t how I wanted to work. Now I’m more cautious about where I exhibit and consider carefully how I want my work to be seen.

‘Bloom’ captures the essence of a flower. Photo: Ester Segarra.

Do you have a career highlight?

I think that came when I started to focus on the larger pieces. I saw that there was interest in this work and that people would invest in something I had created. Early on in my career I would not have expected to see my work on a client’s private yacht or in a private jet.

While it is nice to make money from the sale of an item, I get the greatest satisfaction from knowing that someone is willing to invest in something I’ve made. It is the nicest compliment when someone buys your work, and this gives me the confidence to carry on making.

Who or what inspires you?

Aside from nature, I am inspired by other confident makers and creative people. I always admire the people who find it easy to talk about their work and who are openly proud of what they create and do not focus too much on the faults. These people should not be confused with those who shout about their success. It’s the reserved confidence that I admire.

I’m always in awe of those who don’t follow the norm and who bang their own drum. They inspire me to think bigger and better about how I live my life and how I create my work.

‘Obsidian’ by Wayne Charmer.

Did the coronavirus impact your work?

There was a direct impact at the start of the pandemic, as I was getting ready for my first solo exhibition in March 2020, which was cancelled. At first, I was disappointed. However, those feelings soon lessened as I watched the news and saw the immense effect it was having on people’s lives.

I received a few good commissions during the pandemic, which I wasn’t expecting, and it gave me time to reflect on my practice. I had difficulty sourcing basic materials, and prices increased a lot, but I was able to work around these challenges. They were all small issues and I consider myself lucky to be here and able to keep making.

Wayne feels a sense of escapism when he spends time cold working to finish a piece.

About the artist

Wayne Charmer became attracted to working with glass at university. He was drawn to the complex and challenging process of manipulating a material from a solid form to become fluid whilst in the kiln. He captures this fluidity in the final cooling process, which gives an organic feel to his work. The glass undergoes many transformations whilst firing and the unexpected is part of the attraction of working with glass.

Wayne was awarded a setting up business grant by the Prince’s Trust in 2002 and, in 2004, he received a Cockpit Arts Seedbed Award.

He has exhibited extensively throughout the UK and internationally and has work in the Turner Museum of Glass private collection.

Find out more via his website.

Main image: Detail of ‘Bloom’ by Wayne Charmer. Photo: Ester Segarra.

Contemporary glass part of ‘Superbloom’ at Tower of London for Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

Queen's garden at Tower of London

A display of flowers has been planted to fill the moat at the iconic Tower of London as part of ‘Superbloom’, one of the celebrations marking the Platinum Jubilee year of Her Majesty the Queen.

In addition, glass forms by glass artist Max Jacquard will feature in the specially created ‘Queen’s Garden’ at the Tower for Superbloom.

The concept for the garden was developed by Andrew Grant and James Clarke of Grant Associates, the lead designers for the Superbloom project. It draws on the colours, shapes and motifs in the Queen’s coronation gown, which was designed by Norman Hartnell. The layout of the space, with concentric scalloped hedging, evokes the scalloped tiers of embroidery which feature on the gown’s silk skirt.

Nigel Dunnett, Lead Horticulturalist for Superbloom, selected a delicate, semi-formal structure of shrubs such as lavender, santolina and brachyglottis greyi to frame a sparkling mix of summer flowers, hinting at the gold bugle beads, pearls and diamante on the dress, which dazzled viewers around the world on coronation day.

The 12 cast glass forms have been specially made and represent the national emblems featured in Hartnell’s embroidered design, including the thistle of Scotland, the Australian wattle and Canadian maple leaf. They sit around a glass crown in the centre of the display. The crown is a reminder of the Tower of London’s ancient role as home of the Crown Jewels, the sacred regalia used in Her Majesty’s coronation, and those of previous British monarchs.

In the moat, visitors will find a naturalistic landscape designed to be a haven for pollinating insects and seed-eating birds in the heart of the City of London. The display will transform the moat into an evolving sea of colours and scents over the course of the summer.

Visitors can choose to enter the moat on the Superbloom slide or use a fully accessible visitor entrance into the weaving pathways. (The slide availability is subject to weather conditions and demand).

Superbloom features winding, willow-lined paths and a specially commissioned soundscape with sculptural elements along the way, including ‘The Nest’, a woven wicker sculpture.

When the Superbloom display ends in September 2022, the new natural landscape created to support it will remain in the moat as a permanent Jubilee legacy.

Superbloom is open between 1 June and 18 September 2022 at the Tower of London, London, UK.

Find out more and buy tickets via this link: https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/superbloom/#gs.0k0noq

Image: The Queen’s Garden photographed in May 2022, where Max Jacquard’s glass forms will be featured among flowers inspired by the Queen’s coronation gown.

Focus on Norwegian glass in S12 exhibition

Marking the UN International Year of Glass, Norway’s S12 gallery is presenting an exhibition of Norwegian glass art and different media by 10 artists.

The ‘I & We’ exhibition is curated by Mika Drozdowska of BWA Wrocław Galleries of Contemporary Art and consists of sculptures, video, photography and performance.

The title of the exhibition was inspired by the phrase “The ‘I’ is thus at once a ‘we’” in the book ‘Notes Towards a Performative Theory of Assembly’, by the American feminist philosopher Judith Butler.

As Mika Drozdowska explains, “The author writes about experiencing freedom between people, which becomes the essence of understanding how a community works and how important it is. Freedom develops the creative and intellectual potential, gives us the freedom to choose certain forms and techniques of expression. Freedom is to be born in a group of people sharing the same passion and learning from each other.”

The participating artists are Anna-Linda Gabriel, Frantzsen&Mjanger, Heidi Kristiansen, Ida Siebke, Jeanne-Sophie Aas, Karin Forslund, Lene Charlotte Tangen, Maia Birkeland, Matilde Duus and Åsa Wigum Skjetne.

Themes include chewed chewing gum, ponds of meltwater, a dotty egg, broken glass and breath. At first glance, it may seem like the works have little in common, but the gallery points out that the glass’s ability to be shaped and a more conceptual approach to its use are the focus.

“While the artists use different symbols and language, they undeniably pursue their passion in working with the medium of glass. In their artistic strategy they focus on practices and narratives presenting attitudes filled with tenderness and mindfulness for the medium and the world around us,” states Mika Drozdowska. “Hence, the key to the exhibition lies in the approach derived from relational ethics and entering the framework of feminism – the ethics of care.”

She concludes, “The works raise greater awareness of artistic practice in the context of climate change and our intensive use of Earth’s resources. In what form, if at all, will glass still be a part of our lives in the future?”

The ‘I & We’ exhibition opens at 6pm on 21 May and runs until 14 August 2022 at S12 Galleri og Verksted, Bontelabo 2, 5003 Bergen, Norway. Website: www.s12.no