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.
It is time to submit your glass work for US-based The Corning Museum of Glass’ flagship annual publication, New Glass Review.
New Glass Review was the result of a 1975 meeting among early leaders of studio glass, who saw that the thriving field of contemporary glass required a place to discover the work of other artists, designers, collectors, museums, and enthusiasts. Four years later, after the exhibition ‘New Glass: A Worldwide Survey’ brought studio glass to people across the US and Europe, the New Glass Review publication was founded.
Every year, entries are invited from anyone from a beginning student to an established artist. Most years, the museum receives around 1,000 submissions from artists, designers, and organisations in more than 50 countries. These submissions are reviewed by a panel of curators, scholars, and artists, led by the Museum’s curator of postwar and contemporary glass or a guest curator. Ultimately, 100 images are selected for publication.
The museum explains that what appears in New Glass Review is “not what is ‘best’ in glass in a given year. Instead, it is a collection of works, chosen by individuals from across the world of glass, arranged to spark new ways to see and think about this incredible material and the people who use it expressively.”
Submissions to New Glass Review 45 are now open and the selectors are excited to see how artists are transforming and pushing the material of glass to new heights of creativity and skill. Work must have been created in the past year and the submission deadline is 7 January 2025.
Find out more and submit your entry via this link.
Image: ‘Trans*cending and Becoming’, by Janette Torres Cordero with Maeve McGale and Cyrus Walker, which is featured in New Glass Review 44.
A window design by Chad Kenney, a serving member of the Royal Air Force, was selected in a competition to commemorate 100 years of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF). Here, Wing Commander Howard Leader, of RAF Media & Communications, explains the history of the RAuxAF and how the design became a reality.
The year 2024 marks the centenary of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF), also known as the RAF Reserve. Established in 1924, the then Auxiliary Air Force (AAF) was the brainchild of Lord Trenchard, who believed that a RAF Reserve force was vitally important to the defence of Britian. He came up with the idea of training civilians to learn to fly bi-planes and be ready to support the RAF when called upon.
The AAF proved his point during World War II, when a quarter of the squadrons that fought in the Battle of Britain were from the AAF and accounted for a third of the combat victories. The AAF squadrons then went on to fight in every theatre until the end of the war.
For their outstanding contribution, King George VI bestowed the prefix ‘Royal’ on their title. Today, the RAuxAF is as important to the RAF as ever, with volunteer reservists from all walks of civilian life bringing their own skills and experience to squadrons specialising in everything from medicine, media, intelligence, and even cyber and space.
The finished window.
To celebrate 100 years of the RAuxAF’s achievements, a competition was launched in January 2024 to find a design for a new stained glass window to occupy a place of pride in the famous RAF Club in Piccadilly, London.
Five emerging artists were shortlisted to produce a design for the large 2.4m x 0.9m window. Each artist was given a design fee and paired with an experienced stained glass mentor to develop their ideas. In April, a panel was convened to judge the submissions ‘blind’. One design stood out and everyone was surprised and delighted to learn that the artist who created it was actually a serving member of the Royal Air Force who was studying stained-glass window making as a hobby in his spare time.
That winning man is Air Specialist 1 Chad Kenney, an RAF Air Cartographer at the No 1 Aeronautical Information Documents Unit. This unit delivers aeronautical data used by the UK armed forces, its allies and civilians to inform operational decisions and improve safety in the air.
Chad Kenney soldering his stained glass panel, overseen by his mentor, Deborah Lowe.
Commenting on the award, Chad said: “being a graphic designer in my spare time and having only designed one stained glass window, I couldn’t believe it when I was chosen, firstly as a finalist for the RAuxAF 100 competition and being assigned the extremely talented Deborah Lowe as a mentor, and, secondly, being chosen as the winner.
“Despite feeling a little out of my depth, I was excited by the task ahead and honoured, ultimately, to have my dedication next to the work of Helen Whittaker MBE in the Royal Air Force Club of all places!”
Chad cutting glass pieces to fit his design cartoon. He also had to learn glass painting techniques to complete the finer details of his vision.
Chad’s design is a long window with the dates 1924 and 2024 prominent top and bottom, surrounded by images reflecting the work of the reservists between inception and this, the centenary year. These segments are separated by the central Badge of the RAuxAF with its motto Comitamur Ad Astra, which means ‘We go with them to the stars’. (The RAF motto is Per Ardua ad Astra, meaning ‘through adversity to the stars’).
Chad commented, “To do the RAuxAF justice, the detail was going to have to be immense! A mosaic style would not be enough, thus learning glass painting was a must. Luckily, my mentor taught me everything I needed to grow my confidence in this endangered craft.”
The ‘early’ period images include the Meteor aircraft flown by some RAuxAF squadrons, barrage balloons, which were operated by RAF Reserves during World War II, radar operators and other trades of the period. At the bottom of the window there are not only ‘modern’ references to flying trades, but to music, field catering, force protection and media.
Following a commemorative service at the RAF church St Clement Danes on 6 October 2024, HRH The Duke of Gloucester attended the RAF Club to unveil the stained glass window. The Duke is the Air Commodore in Chief of the RAuxAF and Patron of the RAuxAF Foundation. He is also president of the British Society of Master Glass Painters.
HRH The Duke of Gloucester (centre) was welcomed to the RAF Club to unveil the new window.
The ceremony was attended by Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton, Chief of the Air Staff, and Air Vice Marshal Ranald Munro, Commandant General of the RAuxAF, himself a part time volunteer reserve.
Air Vice Marshal Munro stated, “This is a fantastic piece of work and a fitting tribute to the thousands of men and women who, over the last 100 years, have served the RAF as part time volunteer reserves. It is even more special knowing that the window was designed and made by a serving member of the RAF who studies stained glass window work in his spare time.”
The official unveiling of the new window by HRH The Duke of Gloucester.
Chad’s mentor, Deborah Lowe, was at the unveiling. She said, “This has been a fascinating project to be involved with and I have suddenly found a new fascination with the shapes and textures of aircraft, which I might experiment with myself!”
There is one final detail of note that is typical of Chad’s thinking. He included an image in the window of Sergeant Cathy Sharples, the photographer from RAF Media Reserves, who covered the development of this window from the start. Cathy documented the whole project, through progress visits to Chad’s workshop up to the unveiling of the finished window at the RAF club by HRH The Duke of Gloucester. She is representing one of the contemporary RAF Reserves trades. This was nice touch by Chad and he caught her likeness very well.
Sergeant Cathy Sharples standing in front of her likeness that Chad captured in the window.
The window is situated in the 601 Squadron room at the RAF Club and will be much admired by members and visitors for years to come.
The author of this piece, Wing Commander Howard Leader QVRM VR ALCM, is based at RAF Media & Commuications, HQ Air Command in Buckinghamshire.
Main feature image:Chad Kenney discusses details of the window he designed and made with HRH The Duke of Gloucester (right).
CGS heard today the sad news of the death of Iain Gunn, at age 91. Iain was one of the founding members of North Lands Creative, and a driving force behind the development and expansion of the renowned glass school and facility that was based in Scotland.
Iain was born in Thurso in 1933. He was educated at George Watson’s College and the University of Edinburgh, where he read law and economics, and became a solicitor. He spent his career with the Shipping Federation in London, alongside a keen interest in the arts.
Iain was awarded an MBE in 2018 for services to the arts, heritage and the economy in Caithness. Viscount Thurso, the Lord-Lieutenant of Caithness, said: “Iain gave a huge amount back to his native county – not only with the founding of the Clan Gunn Society and museum, but also as a champion of the arts, heritage and tourism.
“He served as a Deputy Lieutenant with distinction, and will be remembered for his tremendous work as one of the creators of North Lands Glass. He richly deserved his MBE and his legacy will live on.”
CGS’s Administrator Pam Reekie, commented, “We send our warmest regards to Iain’s wife, Bunty, who is a joy to everyone she meets. I have so many fond memories of them both.
“Together they worked hard with Dan Klein, Lord Bob Maclennan, Denis Mann and Alan J Poole to start the amazing project in the far North of Scotland, something we tragically dearly miss.”
North Lands Creative was established in 1995 in Lybster, a small fishing village in Caithness on the far north-east coast of Scotland, to stimulate the growing interest in the possibilities of glass as an art form. From the start, it aimed to become an international centre of excellence in glass making, encouraging collaboration with other art forms.
The inspiration for North Lands Creative came from Robert Maclennan, at that time Member of Parliament for Caithness and Sutherland. He developed the idea of an international centre for glass in Caithness with Dan Klein, one of the world’s experts in studio glass, and Professor Keith Cummings of the University of Wolverhampton.
The first master class was given in 1996 by Bertil Vallien, the legendary Swedish artist, who returned to Lybster in 2002 to lead another class. Other master class leaders followed suit over the years, earning North Lands Creative an enviable reputation in the arts, and glass in particular, until its sudden closure in 2023.
Image: Iain Gunn, photographed in 2016. Photo: Angus Mackay Photography.
Netherlands-based architect and glass artist Han de Kluijver talks about his career and how he wants his glass objects to build a bridge between architecture and sculpture.
As a child, I was always impressed by mist in the countryside – the image of cows without legs. And I observed how light plays with spaces. In my final year at the Academy of Fine Arts, I realised that being an artist was not for me. I needed interaction and cooperation, and I wanted to contribute to society. In those days art training was too individualistic.
During a visit to Le Corbusier’s iconic Chapelle Notre Dame du Haut building in Ronchamp, France, I knew immediately that I wanted to become an architect. Sometimes your eyes are opened and you see things in a different light. You suddenly understand things, like you did at school. For example, once you understand the formulas in chemistry, it ‘suddenly’ becomes a fun subject.
At the kilometre-long shrine of Fushimi Inari Taisha in Japan, with its ‘tunnel’ of orange-red gates filtering the greenish light of the forest, I suddenly realised that everything is part of a larger and richer world. At such a moment, the question of what is truly important arises. What endures through time? What is essential?
At the kilometre-long shrine of Fushimi Inari Taisha in Japan, Han suddenly realised that everything is part of a much larger and richer world. Photo: Han de Kluijver.
After completing the Academy of Fine Arts course in the mid-1970s, I studied architecture, graduating in 1982. I also studied urban design, finishing in 1983. Then, in 1985, I founded HDK Architects bna bni bnsp.
Light is one of the most important ‘materials’ the architect has. Next to playing a role in the perception of buildings, light is of great influence on the quality of a structure. Colours change under the influence of daylight or artificial light. ‘Gallery’, HDK Architects bna bni bnsp. Photo: Walter Frisart Fotowerk.
Architecture is an ancient art: man has created floors, walls and ceilings for centuries. However, I am convinced that it is still possible and necessary to create completely new architectural forms and shapes. Ever-changing ways of life require this adaptability: our buildings and urban planning have to fit contemporary needs. Old and tested characterisations are insufficient as they primarily refer – in a nostalgic way – to a world that (possibly) no longer exists. This does not mean that we should not appreciate the old. What already exists can also be inspiring. However, for me, the search for new forms, shapes and materials is a very important aspect of architecture. A second essential aspect of the architect’s profession is contemplating space and its arrangement.
During a visit to a glass factory in Sandomierz, Poland, where I was working as an architect, I watched glass plates coming off the conveyor belt and noticed glass blowers in an adjacent workshop making Bohemian glass products. I saw the pleasure they had in working as a team. Inspired, I took a course and began experimenting with glass objects. Later, I met Neil Wilkin and collaborated with him for several years.
‘Credendo vides’ (240 x 180 x 140mm), made in association with Neil Wilkin. Art and architecture can strengthen and influence each other. Outings to other disciplines can stimulate creativity and innovation, introduce new materials, and improve technical knowledge. Photo: Paul Niessen.
I tried blowing glass, but switched to glass melting, as my focus was mostly on forms that I could extrapolate into architecture.
Collaboration has become commonplace, with more and more talk of solidarity and community spirit. This suits me, as both architecture and glass art involve teamwork. Today, I work with craftsman Radovan Brychta, from the Czech Republic, to create my glass objects.
The demarcation of space
Art and architecture can strengthen and influence one another. Explorations into other disciplines can stimulate creativity and innovation, introduce new materials and improve technical knowledge. Nobody is just architect, artist or philosopher. Architects and visual artists are used to thinking in abstract concepts. Several realities can exist side by side. In my work, glass and architecture are always related. The two disciplines are equivalent: both come from a love of craftsmanship, in which the design process is central. In both glass and architecture, the creation has a life of its own. While working on new concepts and conceptions of glass, I research and develop a new language of form, which I may extrapolate to architecture later. By this, in a humble way, I hope to contribute to the spatial design of our living environment.
‘Mutual discord’. Each piece measures 850 x 500 x 150mm. Photo: Han de Kluijver.
The design process is the basis for both architecture and the arts. Designing requires a specific attitude and a certain obsession. Once you have mastered that attitude, you can design either objects or buildings, or even parts of cities. For me, drawing is the necessary tool in seeking proportions, visualising space and objects, or documenting observations. As time passes, imagination and observation start to blur and drawing becomes design.
Model and drawing. There is a world of difference between drawing from observation and drawing from imagination. Drawing is the necessary tool in seeking proportions, visualising space and objects, or documenting observations. As time passes, imagination and observation start to blur and drawing becomes design. Photo: Han de Kluijver.
With my glass objects I aim to build a bridge between architecture and sculpture. Of course, there are boundaries between both disciplines: architecture is often more pragmatic in nature, as it is restricted by a client’s wishes and must adhere to construction building laws. And, most importantly, architecture cannot be fiction, whereas art can.
‘The creation that created itself’ and ‘The mists of the past into present’. These two pieces each measure 1400 x 400 x 250mm. Like architects, artists go through a creative process; they use light and space, stimulate the senses and challenge the viewer to reflect and interact with their designs. Photo: Han de Kluijver.
My glass objects only have a visual function, in contrast to architectural structures. But they do tell a story and are conceptual in a way no building could be. An architect creates space with the help of glass walls and facades. My glass objects only create space in a figurative sense. They are a metaphor for the literal space that architecture provides.
‘Mesocosm’ measures 450 x 250 x 220mm. Photo: Tomas Hilger.
Architecture is about making space. The walls are not the most important thing, but the space they create is. The cast glass object is like an architectural creation: an unchanging solid form in space. The walls of my glass objects have the same function as walls in architecture.
‘Anchored movement’ (1400 x 400 x 250mm). Photo: Tomas Hilger.
Art – with architecture in its wake – plays a leading and vital role in the development of such structures. This is why architects and artists should always maintain a level of curiosity towards a new language of forms and the motivations that shape and re-shape our surroundings.
Find out more about Han de Kluijver via his CGS member page.
Main feature image: ‘Poetry of space’, (924 x 148 x 240 mm). Han says, “It is wonderful to be able to assign meaning, to create something more than just material and form”. Photo: Tomas Hilger.
The Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) continues to expand horizons and take contemporary glass into the community through its final Discovery Day of 2024, to be held at the iconic Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The day promises a wealth of glassy inspiration through presentations by four leading glass artists, an opportunity to tour the galleries, plus ample chances to network with likeminded people.
This Discovery Day is open to all and takes place on Saturday 7 December 2024. Last year’s event at this venue sold out quickly, so book now to secure your place.
PROGRAMME
10.00am Museum opens. Registration and coffee
10.30am Welcome
10.45am ‘You gotta grind while the grit’s runnin’!’ by Theo Brooks
11.45am ‘Like a Moth to a Flame: A Journey into Molten Glass Sculpting’ by Laura Quinn
12.45pm Lunch & tour of galleries (1hr 30minutes)
2.15pm ‘Unlimited Restrictions’ by Opal Seabrook
3.15pm Tea and coffee and networking
4.00pm ‘Glass Print and the Creative Journey – Layer by Layer’ by James Cockerill
5.00pm Farewell
5.15pm End of day
5.45pm Museum closes
LOCATION
The Hochhauser Auditorium, The Victoria and Albert Museum, Cromwell Rd, London SW7 2RL.
TICKETS
CGS Member General Admission to the event is £45, including booking fee and morning and afternoon refreshments.
There are 20 student tickets available at £30 each (including booking fee and morning and afternoon refreshments).
Non-CGS Members are welcome for a price of £55 (including booking fee and morning and afternoon refreshments).
Find out more details about the speakers and the Discovery Day, plus book tickets, via this link.
The winners of the 2024 British Glass Biennale, held in August 2024 as part of the final International Festival of Glass under the direction of the Ruskin Mill Land Trust in Stourbridge, West Midlands, have been announced.
British Glass Biennale Award for Best in Show Winner: Celia Dowson for ‘Reflections Platter’ (pictured).
Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers Arts & Crafts Award Winner: Vic Bamforth and Darren Weed for ‘Cup Case Sommarial’s Pair’. Joint Runners Up: Tim Rawlinson for ‘Trewyn Light’ and Charlie Burke for ‘Larimar’.
Worshipful Company of Glass Sellers Arts and Crafts Student Award Winner: Aria Kiani for ‘Intimacy 22’. Runner up: Anthony Amoako Attah for ‘Independence Day’.
International Bead Biennale Award Winner: Rachel Elliott for ‘Cento-fiori’. Joint Runners Up: Allister Malcolm for ‘Nurturing Growth-Pod’ and Ann Steenkiste for ‘Deconstructed Chevron’.
Bullseye Living Edge Award Joshua Kerley and Guy Marshall Brown for ‘Protean Pipe’.
Glass Art Society International Artist Award Zac Weinberg for ‘Various Positions’.
The Glass Society Themed Award “Connection” Winner: Anthony Scala for ‘Particle’. Runner up: Beth College for ‘Equilibrium II’.
Glass Painters and Glaziers Award Rachel Mulligan for ‘Whitefriars’ Legacy’.
Guild of Glass Engravers Award Tracey Sheppard for ‘Nothing is so beautiful…’
Fielding’s Newcomer Prize Celia Dowson for ‘Reflections Platter’.
British Glass Biennale People’s Choice Award Madeleine Hughes for ‘Cornucopia’.
Madeleine Hughes with her winning piece, ‘Cornucopia’. Maddy constructed the piece by blowing coloured rondels in three colours to use as sheet glass, which she cut up to create a double-layered patterned mosaic slab. This was heated up, rolled onto a pipe, encased in clear glass and blown into a cone shape. Finally, a diamond wheel on a lathe was used to cut the Battuto lenses covering the outer surface. Photo: Simon Bruntnell.
Various prizes were awarded to exhibits at the final International Festival of Glass, held in Stourbridge, West Midlands, UK in summer 2024.
CGS postcards exhibition
Once again, CGS held its popular ‘postcards’ exhibition, with the 2024 theme being ‘Thanks for the Memory’. This theme was inspired by the fact that this year’s IFOG was the last to be held in Stourbridge. After 20 years, the increasingly popular event has now been taken over by the US-based Glass Art Society, which plans to take the Festival around the country in the coming years. In 2026, The World of Glass in St Helens, Merseyside, will host the event. So CGS wanted to mark this change.
Over 100 members took part in the fundraising show, with some choosing Festival-inspired themes and others marking personal memories in their designs. Many glass techniques were employed in creating the mini masterpieces, which were for sale at £50, £75 or £100 each.
The Best in Show prize of £300 was awarded to Nancy Sutcliffe for ‘An Elephant Never Forgets’ (main image above). This award was sponsored by Alan J Poole.
The two runners-up prizes, sponsored by Mark Holford, were won by Susan Purser Hope’s ‘Splash’ and Opal Seabrook’s ‘Snap Shot’.
Susan Purser Hope’s ‘Splash’.Opal Seabrook’s ‘Snap Shot’.
Highly commended were Karen Lilley’s ‘Thank you for the venues and to the people who staffed them 2024’, Alison Jardine’s ‘Star Gazing with Grandad’, Helen Slater Stokes’ ‘Thank you Ruskin’, Kate Jones’ ‘Green and Pleasant Land’ and Zara Johnson’s ‘Blooming Brilliant’.
Karen Lilly’s piece was one of the five highly commended postcards.
British Glass Biennale awards
The Glass Society chose two pieces in the British Glass Biennale to receive its awards of £2,500 and £1,000, respectively. These were ‘Particle’ by Anthony Scala and ‘Equilibrium II’ by student Beth Colledge. The works were judged on technical skill and artistic appeal.
‘Particle’ by Anthony Scala.Beth Colledge’s ‘Equilibrium II’.
Janine Christley recognised
Retiring Festival Director Janine Christley was recognised for her hard work nurturing and developing IFOG over the years with a Special Award for Service to Glass from the Glass Society. Her award was a specially commissioned glass artwork called ‘Blossom’, made by Allister Malcolm, the resident glass artist at Stourbridge Glass Museum. Janine is joining the board of the Glass Art Society, which takes over the running of the IFOG from October 2024, to ensure a smooth transition. The location of the 2026 event will be The World of Glass in St Helens, Merseyside, UK.
Janine Christley being presented with her award by David Willars, who recently stood down as chair of the Glass Society.
Main image: The winning piece from the ‘Thanks for the memory’ exhibition, created by Nancy Sutcliffe.
South African artist Dr Sarah Pryke has brought a scientific eye to the creation of her finely detailed glass mosaic pieces. Linda Banks finds out more.
You have an academic background in biology, which clearly influences your highly realistic artworks. What led you to start working with glass mosaic?
My work as a mosaic artist evolved unintentionally. While working as a biologist in Australia, I was looking for a creative outlet and tried mosaics at a local Saturday class and I guess I caught the mosaic bug! In 2016 I sold my first mosaic and within a few months I had a full-time business and growing commission list.
I started out working with ceramic tiles, slowly incorporating more and more stained glass into my artworks over the years, as I began to experiment and create more detailed and realistic work. Initially, I found glass a rigid and often unforgiving medium, but I’ve learnt to love its reflective nature, which changes depending on the lighting and angle of viewing. This reflectivity can bring an added dimension to the artworks, allowing them to continuously change, and helps bring the scenes and subjects to life.
‘Morning Gaze’ (2024) is a commission of a lion with the early morning light catching his fur and the foreground grasses (60x90cm).
While mosaic is your preferred method, are there other glass techniques you use?
I sometimes play around with fusing glass to create unique elements and add interest and texture. This includes specific body parts (such as noses), to fur and tree bark. I will often use the ‘wrong’ techniques here to produce cracks, bubbles and weird textures in the glass to help create the desired effect.
‘Turtle Reflection’ (2022). Sarah found this a fun commission to design and create in glass. The fish are made from fused glass. Measures 1.7m square.
What is your creative approach? Do you draw your ideas out or dive straight in with the materials?
If I’m working on a pet or animal portrait, I will usually sketch the animal directly onto the board, using multiple reference photos to try and capture the characteristic traits and emotions of the subject. If I’m designing a unique scene, I usually sketch the basic design in watercolours first (and then play around and change it many, many times!) before sketching it on to the backing board. I often end up changing many sections, or at least some elements, as I begin working, because I find that the sketched ideas or designs in my head don’t always translate well into the mosaic. But I guess that this is the challenge of working in this medium!
‘Thandeka’ (2022) in progress. Sarah says she finds human portraits particularly challenging, but she enjoys the challenge.
What message(s) do you want to convey through your art?
I think that the main message I want to convey is the incredible beauty of nature. I’ve always had a passion for animals and wildlife, first explored academically through my biological research, and now creatively through my mosaic artworks.
I try to capture not just the shape, patterns and lines of the birds and animals, but also each character and personality, in the hope of providing the viewer with an emotional reaction to the subject. Perhaps because of my biological background, I also attempt to place subjects and scenes in realistic and natural contexts (while still providing my artistic interpretation) to highlight the beauty of the natural world.
‘Miss Ivy’ (2024) is a commission portrait measuring 60x60cm in size.
What is your favourite tool or piece of equipment and why?
Probably my very old, wonky and damaged veterinary dissecting tweezers! I found these little tweezers in an old laboratory dissecting kit that I was throwing away about five or six years ago and, since then, I have used them on every mosaic. They need to be replaced, but I’ve never managed to find a suitable replacement that I am comfortable with. Every time I pick up the old tweezers and start working, I feel right at home!
Do you have a favourite piece you have made? Why is it your favourite?
This is a very hard question to answer. There are so many favourites, those that evoke special memories… those that have really challenged and taught me important lessons… those that have been pivotal in influencing the direction and evolution of my artwork. It’s hard to choose!
I guess one of my ‘favourites’ is a large (life size) artwork of my three-legged dog, Joey, shaking off water after swimming. I made this one about five years ago and, although there are many aspects I’d like to change about it, every time I walk past it catches my eye with the water sparkles and I find myself smiling at ‘Joey’. I only own three of my own mosaic artworks (two of which were my first ones), so I guess that it must be a favourite as I haven’t sold it!
‘Joey’ (2019). Sarah created this artwork of her three-legged dog when she was starting to create more detailed artworks and exploring working exclusively with glass. This piece measures 1200x2100cm in size.
Where do you show and sell your work?
I mostly work on commissions, which go to homes all around the world. I also sell through local (South African) galleries and art exhibitions, as well as through my Facebook and Instagram pages.
Do you have a career highlight?
One of the many highlights was designing and creating a large bar for a private game lodge (Tuludi) in Botswana. I worked on different sections of this mural in my studio, before they were crated and trucked up to the lodge. I then went on site to complete and grout the mosaic work. This mural was definitely challenging (especially working on the curve with inflexible glass!), but it was such a fun and rewarding project. And it was pretty special to work with elephants watching!
The mosaic bar at Tuludi private game lodge in Botswana. The mosaic is over 7m long, wrapping around the lower part of a horseshoe-shaped bar, and featuring some of the local flora and fauna in the surrounding Okavango Delta. Designed and created in 2019.
Where is your mosaic practice heading next?
That is a very good question – and one that I wish I had the answer to! With the clarity of hindsight, I can see that my style has evolved to become much more realistic over the years, as I work to capture the finer details of my subjects and scenes. This approach was not intentional; it has simply evolved through trial and error as I constantly experiment and learn from each artwork that I’ve done. I’m quite excited to see where it goes from here.
‘Namibian Diptych’ (2023). This commission features some of the unique flora and fauna found in the Namibian ecosystem. Each panel measures 80x80cm in size.
What advice would you give to someone starting out on a creative career?
I would recommend following your passion, whether it be in the subject matter or medium, and then finding your own unique niche and creative process. Many new artists start out by copying or trying to imitate other artists that they admire or aspire to, and although this can help with learning techniques, I think it can hinder finding your own creative expression and path. I would encourage experimenting with what interests and intrigues you, taking risks and not being afraid to make mistakes; this is where you really learn and evolve.
‘Greta’ (2021) is a commission of a beloved warmblood horse. It is one of largest (1.4×1.8m in size) and most challenging pet portraits that Sarah has done.This close-up shows the glass mosaic details that make up Greta’s eye.
And finally…
It is interesting to look back through photos of my art over the last eight years and see how much my style, approach and technique have changed. I really had very little idea about what I was doing when I started, or where this could potentially lead, and I never imagined I would become a full-time artist. This finely detailed mosaic work is incredibly time consuming, often challenging and sometimes very frustrating, but I absolutely love it!
The Glass Art Society (GAS) has announced that the first International Festival of Glass (IFoG) under its stewardship will be held at The World of Glass (TWoG) in St Helens, Merseyside, UK, from 27-31 August 2026.
IFoG is a biannual festival celebrating all things glass, with masterclasses and exhibitions, including the British Glass Biennial, among many other activities. In selecting a location for the next IFoG, GAS stated that it is important to move throughout the UK to partner with as many glass artists and organisations as possible and to make glass accessible in every corner of the UK.
“We are excited to partner with the World of Glass for the 2026 Festival,” stated GAS Executive Director Brandi P Clark. “As the original home of Pilkington Glass and an advocate for contemporary UK glass, TWoG is the perfect partner for a festival completely dedicated to the material we all love. Halfway between Liverpool and Manchester, the location will make the Festival accessible for tourists and glass enthusiasts alike.”
TWoG Executive Director Sarah Taylor added, “We are so pleased to be partnering with the Glass Art Society to bring the festival to the NW of England for the very first time. We see this as an exciting opportunity for the World of Glass to do what it does best; promote and engage with the public to help them better understand the art, history and science of glass, as well as promote St Helens’ integral place within the industry. GAS has significant experience bringing together the international community of glass artists and enthusiasts and we are looking forward to working with them over the next two years to deliver a fantastic festival.”
Image: The World of Glass will host the 2026 International Festival of Glass.
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