The 2022 International Festival of Glass promises an exciting programme of events, demonstrations, masterclasses and exhibitions this August. This year’s event will incorporate an East Asian theme, sitting alongside work by the UK’s best established and emerging glass talent.
There will be the largest offering of exhibitions, with 10 diverse shows planned.
As always, the much-anticipated British Glass Biennale will be the flagship exhibition, showcasing the best of the UK glass art scene and the full spectrum of techniques. Anonymously juried, the Biennale gives emerging artists an equal opportunity to be selected alongside the top names in British glass, making it a highlight of the glass calendar. Read about this year’s successful entrants here.
This year the Biennale will be joined by the inaugural International Bead Biennale, giving miniature works of art a place to shine.
‘Expanding Horizons’ will be shown for the first time in the UK, curating exceptional glass work from Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan.
The Contemporary Glass Society is always a key part of the Festival and this year celebrates its 25th anniversary with exhibitions at both the newly opened Stourbridge Glass Museum and Ruskin Glass Centre.
Alongside the exhibitions, there will be an inspiring schedule of lectures and discussions. Professor Clare Corkhill from Sheffield University will discuss encapsulating nuclear waste from Fukushima into glass; Lulu Harrison, who has received a Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers’ bursary for her project, will share her investigations into turning seashells into glass batch and Professor Roger Kneebone will share his insights into the similarities between artisan craftspeople’s skills and the art of the surgeon.
Festival visitors can enjoy a host of glass-themed evening entertainment. From a Hot Hanbok and Cool Glass fashion show to a glass and circus skills finale, it can all be washed down with a pint of festival ale or a soju cocktail.
The Festival showcases the skill and innovation of the glass industry and makers, historic and contemporary, local and international. Since 2004, it has been drawing visitors from all over the world.
The International Festival of Glass takes place every two years in Stourbridge, West Midlands, UK. This year’s Festival dates are from 26-29 August 2022 and the exhibitions will be in place from 26 August until 1 October.
For more information on the International Festival of Glass visit www.ifg.org.uk and for more about the British Glass Biennale visit www.glassbiennale.org .
Image: Etsuko Ichikawa is a masterclass leader and demonstrator at the 2022 International Festival of Glass.
For the last 50 years, the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass (the Glaziers’ Company) has run the Stevens Competition to find the Architectural Glass Artist of the Year.
The purpose of the award is to allow aspiring architectural glass designers and craftspeople to develop a design, have it assessed by experts in the field, and compete for a range of prizes.
One contestant may be chosen to work on the development of their design prior to its fabrication and installation.
The 2023 Stevens Competition runs in co-operation with the Mercers’ Company. The Mercers’ Company wishes to procure the design for two architectural glass panels which will provide a focal point to the reception area for a large, high quality development it is constructing in the City of London.
The competition seeks to identify and encourage new and up-and-coming talented people of all ages, who are early in their career or vocation. It is open to designers and architects who have commenced their training and vocation in glass during or after 2012.
A full range of architectural glass solutions can be offered to reflect the Mercers’ vision of the past and future expressed in figurative or abstract form.
Designs are to be submitted by 12 January 2023.
The Competition brief can be accessed in the Competitions and Awards section of the Glaziers’ Company website here.
This year’s winner of the Amanda Moriarty Prize, awarded by the Contemporary Glass Society (CGS), has been announced as Pratibha Mistry.
The annual prize is awarded in memory of Amanda Moriarty, a long-serving board member and Honorary Treasurer of the CGS who sadly passed away in 2017. The award celebrates her passion and encouragement of glass making.
The Prize enables one glass artist to fulfil a creative ambition or add to a technical skill set and enables a dream that would not be possible otherwise.
Pratibha Mistry beat off competition from 30 other applicants to win this year’s award. She recently graduated from UCA (Farnham) with an MA in Glass. For her MA she explored the reactive properties of glass for science-inspired installations. She has expertise in kiln-formed glass and coldworking.
This year, the Prize is provided by Wiltshire-based The Glass Hub, which is offering a five-day residency in the studio. The Glass Hub is an educational centre with extensive glass-working facilities and a highly qualified and experienced team of tutors to support creative development.
“I am thrilled and truly honoured to be awarded the Amanda Moriarty 2022 prize,” commented Pratibha Mistry. “The prospect of working alongside the fabulous experts at The Glass Hub will be an invaluable personal growth opportunity, but also a chance to bring to life some of my innovative ideas.”
Pratibha’s early scientific career involved studying the mechanisms of disease at a molecular and intracellular level. Revealing and probing these beautiful internal structures (mitochondria, golgi, nuclei etc) left a lasting impression on her. She is keen to create a body of work to celebrate these microscopic structures and relay the power of these organelles to transform life and contribute to human uniqueness.
“For this residency I would like to depict these incredible structures by combining both pâte de verre and hot glass approaches within one object, if it is feasible,” she explains. “What I envisage is manipulating the delicate pâte de verre structures into organic forms and then encapsulating them into some sort of organ-like orb structure.“
Being predominantly a kiln-based artist, Pratibha wants to use the skills of the Glass Hub’s directors, combining Helga Watkins-Baker’s kiln-based expertise with the ‘hot’ skills of K T Rothe to explore a new combination of techniques.
“We are very pleased that Pratibha Mistry will be joining us in the autumn to work on new directions for her glass work,” commented Helga. “We were very impressed by her proposal.”
Don’t forget to visit the second part of the Joy of Glass exhibition, being held by the Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) in partnership with the Craft Centre & Design Gallery in Leeds.
A total of 25 artists are showing their work in the Joy of Glass show. The artists selected for part two, which opened on 11 June 2022, are: Effie Burns, Kate Jones/ Stephen Gillies, Steven Graham, Catherine Mahe, Caroline Moraes, Katherine Park, Verity Pulford, Karen Redmayne, David Reekie, Penny Riley-Smith, Elizabeth Sinkova, and Samantha Yates.
Steven Graham’s stained glass piece, ‘Bee – Golden weave’.
This event is open until 23 July 2022, with contemporary glass presented in the beautiful, Victorian building that houses the Craft Centre & Design Gallery, located close to Leeds city centre.
The show is part of a number of celebratory events this year, with the CGS marking its 25th anniversary and the Craft Centre & Design Gallery reaching 40 years.
David Reekie’s ‘Venus off balance II’.
Florence Hoy, Director of the Craft Centre & Design Gallery, Leeds said, “As it’s a very special anniversary for both of us this year … and it’s the International Year of Glass, we jumped at the chance of this fantastic opportunity to bring some outstanding glass to the city of Leeds, and to give it the spotlight it so rightly deserves.”
Find out more about the artists and view their work here.
Main feature image: This artwork by Gillies Jones – Stephen Gillies and Kate Jones – who have worked together since 1995, is on display in part two of the Joy of Glass exhibition.
Artist and curator, Gabrielle Argent, is the force behind the creation of The International Year of Glass Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022. Here she reviews highlights from this year’s event.
Unless you have visited the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, you may not understand the appeal. Simply, it’s an international shopfront where 168,000 affluent visitors come to discover beautiful living spaces, sculpture and gardens.
As an aspiring glass sculptor with bucket list goals, Chelsea is top of my list. Extraordinary things happen when you take a leap of faith, and my experience of this event has been 100% positive. I met the right people to collaborate with and had their support from day one.
When I put out the call for participants through the Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) in February, I could not have known that life-long friends would be made. I described an ambitious plan of showcasing glass sculptures and these very brave artists stepped forward.
Thanks to Emma Butler-Cole Aiken, Ian Godfrey/Gail Boothman, Anthony McCabe, Lisa Pettibone and Layne Rowe for allowing me to curate their work.
As soon as the artists were on board, my marketing brain kicked into gear. The press releases were written, the logo was created, and the website built. Press packs were sent to the RHS well in advance. The RHS rules, regulations, health and safety and insurance requirements are onerous and challenging. It took two months to get the paperwork needed by the RHS in place, leaving little time to make glass for the event.
A comment from the show manager the day before judging made up for the anxious months of preparation, when she said the display was ‘outstanding’. That was the moment I began to enjoy the experience. An article about us in the Daily Telegraph was a bonus and the private view by the Queen and members of the Royal Family was a highlight.
A highlight was the Queen’s visit to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in her Platinum Jubilee year.
Emma Butler-Cole Aiken, a stained-glass artist from Selkirk, was the first to install. Her 3-metre high, ‘Sails’ is a majestic piece of art reminiscent of the stunning church windows she is known for. When the sun shone through the panes of blue and green glass, the colours had us spellbound, cameras in hand.
I met glass blower Layne Rowe through a recommendation from Peter Layton of London Glassblowing. His 3-metre high/wide ‘Solace’ angel wings have been shown at two cathedrals – Ely and St Albans – and the installation is destined to be displayed at the British Glass Biennale later this year.
‘Solace’ was a showstopper. Hundreds of visitors wanted to pose as angels, with the hashtag #TheGlassGardenDesign. Many of them purchased a limited edition signed glass feather, a poignant symbol of remembrance and hope. Ryan Harms, Layne’s business associate and maker of the bespoke metal frame, was also on hand with the installation.
Layne Rowe installing ‘Solace’ at the show.
The collection was completed by Lisa Pettibone’s ‘Dune’ and ‘Silver Tongue 4’, Anthony McCabe’s ‘Tulip’, ‘Lily’ and ‘Seed Pod’ Glass Garden series, and Ian Godfrey/Gail Boothman’s ‘Inferno’, ‘Mystic Ocean’ and ‘Life Force’, plus my own pieces.
Additional items by Sunderland BA graduate, Sacha Delabre, and prototypes of glass flowerpots from UCA Farnham university created by Emma Rawson, were also on site or featured on the website. Giving students the chance to be included at Chelsea was always a priority for this project.
We are grateful to TV personality, Andy McConnell, who interviewed our artists for the cameras and added his personal charm and wit to the event.
Glass expert and TV personality Andy McConnell (left) and exhibitor Anthony McCabe.
The day was extraordinary because, as if on cue, John Parker, Professor Emeritus, Glass Science and Engineering at Sheffield University arrived, and Andy interviewed him for Instagram Live about his work to ensure the United Nations’ designation of 2022 as the International Year of Glass.
Matthew Demmon, President of British Glass (left) with Glass Garden organiser and curator, Gabrielle Argent.
We also welcomed the President of British Glass, Matthew Demmon, to our stand and tentatively discussed support for RHS Chelsea 2023.
Supporting the CGS’s 25th anniversary with a glass stand at Chelsea flew the flag for contemporary glass art and demonstrated to a reticent public that glass is safe, sustainable, practical and stunning in an outdoor setting.
By Gabrielle Argent
Read our preview news story and see more images of the glass pieces displayed at the Glass Garden here.
Main image: Several glass artists and styles were represented in the Glass Garden at Chelsea.
Three BA(hons) Ceramics and Glass students have their contemporary glass work showcased in the degree show at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) at Farnham in Surrey.
The show opens on 9 June and runs until 7 July 2022.
The students displaying their work in glass are Shannon Baker, Frankie Leigh and Eleanor Hughes.
Shannon Baker describes her work (main image) as, “A collection of functional glassware considering notions of the uncanny in domesticity, womanhood, and the intrinsic link to ideas of the mother.” She seeks to translate inexplicable thoughts and feelings into the physical realm. Here, hot glass has been shaped and formed using bronze body extensions – tools cast from the maker’s own body – to develop an intimacy with the untouchable hot glass.
Frankie Leigh’s work focuses on the theme of rejuvenation. She has first-hand experience of bush fires in her native Australia and the devastation they inflict on the landscape and natural world. Her blown glass objects are a celebration of new life and the beauty that can emerge after such trauma. Frankie is fascinated by the movement, flow and rhythm of hot glass; the bud-like forms and painterly layers of colour are evocative of flora and fauna rising from the ashes.
‘Rejuvenation’ by Frankie Leigh.
Eleanor Hughes uses the fluid nature of hot glass to pick up shards of coloured and textured broken glass. This results in an object that has pops of colour both within and on the surface. She explains, “My pieces reflect the way I build layers and marks in my sketchbook; a chaos of colour and visual texture.”
‘Mark-making in Glass’ by Eleanor Hughes.
The UCA BA(hons) Glass and Ceramics degree show takes place in Rooms W05 & W04 at University for the Creative Arts, Falkner Rd, Farnham, GU9 7DS. It is on until 7 July from 10am to 4pm daily, (closed Sundays).
Main image: ‘Love as a Homesickness’ by Shannon Baker.
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’ 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.
‘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.
‘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.
‘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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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