If you want a bespoke Christmas gift or an artwork to cheer up your home, check out the Contemporary Glass Society’s latest online selling show, “A” Is For Affordable, which is live on the CGS website now.
The Contemporary Glass Society’s latest online exhibition offers beautiful glass at affordable prices that you can buy direct from the maker. All work is priced between £50 and £500 and includes a huge variety of colours, styles and techniques. Whether you want bowls, sculptures, vessels, wall art, plaques or garden features, there is sure to be something to suit you.
This show has been especially commissioned by CGS to help support artists through the COVID pandemic. Many of our members have been locked out of their studios, seen events and exhibitions cancelled and have been unable to run workshops or sell their work. Many also live and work in isolation. So please take a look at our inspired, unique glass work and support creative people!
The Private View will be held on Friday 6 November 2020 via Zoom from 7-7.30pm. Click this link at 7pm on that day and use the Passcode 363880 to join us. In the luxury of your own home, bring a glass of wine and join the CGS Board to launch this first new show on our wonderful new website.
The show runs until 8 January 2021. Click here to browse and shop.
The new editor of the Glass Network print magazine, Kirsteen Aubrey, provides a sneak peek into some of the highlights coming up in her first edition, which will be posted out to CGS members shortly. If you are not a member yet, why not sign up now to ensure you receive future issues?
This year we have experienced many changes, not least those of Covid and the lockdown. We are constantly adapting to new situations and encountering unfamiliar scenarios that have encouraged us to pause, think and reflect.
It has been a transitional time for many, not least the makers, artists and practitioners working in glass. As a community, we continue to adapt and the CGS has used this period well. The CGS has provided a virtual, creative hub through its Wednesday talks, where we celebrate and gain insight into glass practice and share current experiences.
The CGS has also created this new online magazine section, Glass Network digital, led by Linda Banks, and the bi-annual Glass Network print publication that I edit. Both are new, exciting ventures for 2020. Neither could have happened without the guidance of Milly Francis, who ably edited Glass Network for many years. Linda and I are grateful for her support as we embark on our new roles.
Linda’s digital platform draws together her experience in stained glass alongside that as journalist and editor. She explains, “We decided to introduce the online magazine, Glass Network digital, to provide a vibrant and up-to-date means of quickly communicating exciting developments in the glass world to our members, the wider art community and the general public around the globe. The aim is the share a love of contemporary glass with readers, through regular interview pieces with established and up-and-coming glass artists, articles to help creatives do business better, tips on tools and techniques, as well as the latest news and opportunities.”
Each month, CGS members receive an email roundup with links to the most recent digital magazine content, reinforcing the sense of community that is so important to us all in these changing times. Do get in touch via linda@wordbanks.uk if you have news or article ideas (please supply a landscape photo in high resolution too), or if you want information about advertising.
Backed by my glass experience from working in studios and teaching, my objective is to create a thematic Glass Network that showcases and promotes glass widely. Each publication has a central theme, and this November edition focuses on ‘Inspiration’. It is particularly poignant to reflect on what inspires glass artists at this time; many glass studios have had to temporarily pause their work, and artists have reflected on what motivates them to keep creating. This publication is a celebration of this inspiration. Using a central theme for each publication allows us to explore narratives that unite glass artists, enthusiasts, gallery owners, and collectors. We investigate the theme across stained glass, lamp work, kiln glass and glassblowing, using these to open dialogue, question the boundaries of material and process, and to extend the potential of glass as a creative medium.
This issue, number 77, offers insights into the inspiration of landscape, light, process, sound, illusion and conversation. Kate Jones, one half of Gillies Jones Glass, reveals the power of the North Yorkshire Moors. Her studies and exploration of landscape, line and light inform the carved, contemporary glass that is masterfully blown by her partner Stephen Gillies. Landscape also inspires Helen Slater-Stokes, and she uses it to create glasswork that questions illusion and perception. Meanwhile, Bruno Romanelli discusses the role of light to stimulate ideas, exploring this through the process of lost wax casting.
Harriet Shooter-Redfearn and Vanessa Cutler address the role of handwriting to inspire their glass in two contrasting ways. Harriet’s archaeological investigations uncover hidden signatures and reveal personal narratives that inform her mixed media outcomes. Meanwhile, Vanessa shares how handwritten communications led to an exploration of analogue and digital processes, and the creation of interactive glasswork that captures thoughts, conversations and reflections.
Handwritten signature at London Road Fire Station, 2017. Artist: Harriet Shooter-Redfearn. Photo: Harriet Shooter-Redfearn
Also highlighted is the inspiration that enabled Jessamy Kelly and Jahday Ford to respond positively during the lockdown, especially when glass production was temporarily paused. Jessamy explores the opportunities presented by recycling and re-purposing glass, while Jahday explains how he re-evaluated a glass residency without access to a workshop. Engaging with new platforms, both have found new ways to engage with, and communicate, their practice. Their uplifting stories remind us to be adaptable and create daily.
Collectively, these features demonstrate the diverse inspiration that drives glass practice, and a determination and resilience to continue creating, despite current challenges.
The next print edition of Glass Network, number 78, will focus on ‘Collaboration’, exploring the nature of collaborative practice between makers and across skills, and the collaborations that exist between artists, galleries, museums and collectors. A call out will be made soon to invite people to share their collaborations and glass outcomes.
Main feature image: Chitter Chatter by Vanessa Cutler. Photo: Simon Bruntnell.
About the author
Kirsteen Aubrey is the editor of the CGS Glass Network magazine print edition. She is a glass maker and educator, based in Manchester. She regularly engages in collaborations with fellow practitioners across textiles, photography and graphics, using her hot glass specialism to explore the innovative agency of glass. Contact her via: editor@cgs.org.uk
The fascinating painted glass of the 18th century, and the transitional period from the Regency into the early Victorian Era, will be the subject of a webinar presentation by Steve Clare, the chairman of the Conservation Working Group of The British Society of Master Glass Painters, in November 2020.
Steve Clare has unrivalled experience in the conservation of glass of this period. In his talk, entitled ‘The Magic Lantern’, he will discuss the techniques and methods of important figures, such as Peckitt, James Pearson, Francis Eginton, and Joseph Hale Miller, accompanied by images taken during live conservation projects.
Steve Clare ACR, FMGP is a conservator in private practice, national stained glass advisor to the National Trust, and Consultant to the cathedrals at Wells, Gloucester and Winchester, King’s College Chapel, Cambridge and St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. He established Holy Well Glass in 1995.
While BSMGP lectures are normally held in person, during the COVID-19 restrictions, they will take place online using Zoom, for the reduced fee of £5.00 (£4.25 members). To book for this second in the series of BSMGP webinar presentations, taking place on Friday 27 November 2020 at 7pm, click here.
Image: The East Window, St Alkmund, Shrewsbury. Photo by Holy Well Glass.
Rebecca Matthews, former CEO of the European Capital of Culture Aarhus 2017, has been appointed as the new Director of the Danish museum for contemporary, international glass art, Glasmuseet Ebeltoft, from 2021.
Glasmuseet Ebeltoft is a private, self-financing institution established and directed by the Foundation for the Collection of Contemporary, International Glass Art. It presents the best in contemporary, international glass art through an ambitious exhibition programme and has a unique collection of glass art from around the world, as well as a professionally-run glassblowing studio on site.
Prior to this role, Rebecca spent five years as Director of the European Capital of Culture Aarhus 2017 and two years as Director of the international educational charity, Goodenough College in London.
She comments, “I am very much looking forward to being part of Glasmuseet Ebeltoft, a museum which unites the best of Danish and international glass art. Glasmuseet Ebeltoft has a unique international reputation, and I look forward to using my national and international networks to strengthen its continued development across the country and globally.
“Glass is a fascinating and exciting art form, a material that can be formed in a variety of ways and expressions, and one that audiences find captivating to watch. Glass has a long and remarkable history and, as a museum, we aim to convey this in a modern context.
“Ebeltoft has a number of strong cultural institutions, such as Maltfabrikken, Fregatten Jylland, The European Film College and Glasmuseet Ebeltoft as well as an international frontrunner in Kvadrat, and I look forward hugely to collaborating with these institutions and many more.”
Welcoming Rebecca to the museum, Chairman of the Museum Foundation’s Board, Henning Kovsted, said, “The Museum has an ambitious strategic plan for the next five years, and I am confident that Rebecca will use her great professionalism, credibility, infectious energy and a wealth of ideas to pave the way and take the Museum securely into the future.”
Rebecca holds an MA in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London University, and an MA in Modern and Medieval Languages from Cambridge University.
Margeret Bunn runs the British Craft Trade Fair (BCTF) and has worked with designer-makers for over 38 years, guiding them through the process of trade selling. She explains what creatives need to think about when considering the trade route.
We all want to be individuals, expressing ourselves through the clothes we wear, the food we eat and the products we buy. The benefits of British handmade products are that they are created to high standards, made to last and offer the chance to own something that no one else has.
More and more consumers are looking to buy such unique products, not only because they want to support home-grown talent, but also because they want their homes, offices, and gardens to say something about them and the person they are.
Our aim is to introduce makers of British handmade products to buyers who have the spending power and are mad about British goods – the perfect combination!
For over 40 years, the BCTF has showcased the work of thousands of talented individuals. Often, they combine technological and traditional skills to create magical, inventive, extraordinary collections. With prices ranging across the board, there is plenty of choice for every type of buyer and budget, whether that is a high-end London gallery, The National Trust, a department store, gift shop, museum or a small post office with a gift shop.
Trade selling checklist
The trade route provides the maker with increased brand awareness, resulting in expansion and growth. The more the work is seen, the more chance it has of selling. It is almost impossible to achieve this amount of exposure or sales through direct selling. Although interacting with the public is a great tool that allows makers to sell at full retail prices, its benefits are limited. It can also be tiring and time consuming travelling the country to take part in events.
Taking the trade route means that, once you are established, your work will be on display at venues across the country and the shop and gallery owners will be selling your work for you, while you focus on creating your next collection.
However, you have to consider your pricing. You need a trade price and a recommended retail price (RRP) and the trade price will necessarily be much lower than the RRP. You need to get the pricing right to ensure you have enough return on your trade price, but also that the RRP is not too expensive that the trade cannot sell your pieces on.
You also need to realise that building success can take more than one trade show. Buyers need to feel comfortable with a new seller and trust that they will deliver on time. While some will meet with instant success, many will need to build their brand up from modest sales into an established business over a few years. It is important to manage expectations.
We at BCTF provide free, tailor-made business advice to exhibitors, covering all aspects of dealing with the trade. It includes information on pricing, lead times, minimum orders, terms and conditions, Sale or Return (SOR), stand display and post-show advice.
This advice ensures makers are ready and able to provide orders to trade buyers, starting their trade journey on the right footing from the outset.
As an exhibitor it is important to listen to the buyers and incorporate their feedback – good and bad. Their advice can help you to create new work, for example by extending a current range with the addition of alternative sizes or colourways. It can also inform your pricing and inspire you to make new work, too. The buyers know their market and their advice can be invaluable.
If you decide the trade route may be right for you, register your interest and then we can have a chat about your work and whether it is right for the BCTF.
Now, more than ever, high street shops need to diversify and offer their customers something they cannot easily purchase online. Affordable, unique heirlooms of the future are being created and made right now. Buyers want to support British ingenuity and are looking for new talent.
BCTF takes place in Harrogate, Yorkshire, each April, with the 2021 event scheduled for 10-13 April.
To register as a buyer or a maker, visit: www.bctf.co.uk
About the author
Margeret Bunn has run BCTF for over 27 years. Before that she ran retail craft fairs dedicated, again, to British handmade. She has dealt with literally thousands of makers and seen tens of thousands of products during her 38-year career and received feedback from countless buyers. Few people in the UK have a better understanding of the craft industry and the changes it has seen over the past four decades.
Norwich Cathedral’s Hostry is showcasing a collaborative exhibition of work by two artists, featuring stained glass panels made during lockdown by Sasha Ward, based on drawings by Ray Ward.
Called ‘The Cloud of Unknowing’, the two-month exhibition runs from 12 October until 12 December.
Alongside the series of stained glass panels, the exhibition features a guide to making stained glass and draws a link between the couple’s contemporary art and the stained glass windows in the cathedral and churches around the county.
Although they worked alongside each other since meeting at art school more than 30 years ago, this is the first time Sasha and Ray have collaborated on an exhibition together.
Ray’s art is full of droll, everyday imagery describing passing thoughts or small incidents. He finds his subject matter not only from observing real life, but also from newspapers, leaflets, billboards, television, radio and his imagination.
Ray said: “The pictures are written from scratch. I have no idea what they are going to be when I start. I have displayed them in groups on the wall forming clouds which you can see as a whole. But if you look harder you can always see something else in the cloud, whether it is a camel, a weasel or a whale.”
Sasha is an architectural glass artist who works to commission making windows and other features for mostly modern public buildings. Her distinctive glass panels are highly decorative, with pattern and strong colour applied to the glass using her own enamelling and sandblasting techniques.
At the start of lockdown, Sasha took a step away from commissioned work and returned to traditional stained glass techniques and figurative imagery, with a series of glass portraits and interpretations of Ray’s drawings.
Sasha said: “The people in Ray’s pictures have always intrigued me in the same way that the figures in church windows do. For me, the new collaborative panels make a link between my own practice and the work of the favourite stained glass artists that have inspired my career.”
‘The Cloud of Unknowing’ is open Monday to Friday 10am-4pm, Saturday 10am–3pm and Sunday 1pm-2.30pm.
Nick Mount has been blowing glass since a cowboy boot-wearing American introduced him to it in the mid-1970s. Looking back, it was a fortuitous time as only months earlier he had married his partner of now more than 45 years, Pauline. Together they went on to establish Victoria’s first hot glass studio, raise three relatively well-adjusted children, and develop an internationally renowned arts practice. Today, they enjoy the chaos of family events with seven grandchildren and Nick is celebrated as one of the most important and influential figures in contemporary Australian studio glass.
Based in Adelaide, South Australia, Nick works out of a home studio and the JamFactory’s open access hot shop. In the traditions of the studio glass movement, he is an advocate for communal training and production, and has a reputation for being a generous teacher and mentor. He also travels regularly, both exhibiting and demonstrating around the world.
Nick’s work is materials and process driven. His early exposure to the thriving studio glass scene on the West Coast of the United States, and the historic and cultural traditions of the Venetians remain an enduring influence. So, too, does his commitment to continually expanding his knowledge of the enigmatic qualities of glass and his belief in the power of working with his hands. More broadly, Nick draws on that which is most important to him: his family; the productive garden he and Pauline have spent 30 years cultivating; the glass community; and the people and places he visits.
Nick says, “While I have been able to continue with my work in the studio without much interruption, I have not had the same access to the furnaces and have had to reimagine my place as a maker.
“The work that has come from this period may seem like another small step in the continuing evolution of my ‘shoots’ and ‘fruits’ series but it has come from a very different period of time and a very different place.
“Some of these new pieces refer more directly to the shapes and colours of fruits that we know. Some of them are less recognisable. Maybe from the future or another place. Maybe from trees or plants that we don’t yet know that hold the promise of something new and exciting. Or frightening.”
The exhibition is on from 10 October to 4 November at the Sabbia Gallery, 609 Elizabeth Street, Redfern, Sydney NSW 2016 Australia. https://sabbiagallery.com
Feature image: Prunus in Repose, photographed by Pippy Mount.
In this short series of work, David Reekie and Morag Reekie, a father and daughter team, have collaborated around the idea of protesters and some general themes of protesting in today’s society.
David and Morag explain: “With these pieces we have combined glass making techniques that each of us has developed over the past few years. We have also combined our modelling skills and a shared use of colour whilst working on these figures. Their spiky appearance indicates their anger at the society around them and the placards show the reason for their distrust of government and the establishment at this present time. These are figures that are hard to handle and control and they want things to change!”
The exhibition runs from 9 October until 8 November 2020 and is open from 1-5pm on Fridays. Saturdays and Sundays at the Etienne Gallery, De Lind 38, 5061 HX Oisterwijk, The Netherlands.
Would you like the chance to show your glass creation at Japan’s Toyama International Glass Exhibition, which is scheduled to take place from 10 July-3 October 2021? Applications are open now.
The Toyama event is an international, open-submission triennial competition that showcases outstanding works of contemporary glass art from around the world. It is held at the Toyama Glass Art museum, whose remit is to support the latest breakthroughs in creative expression.
The inaugural event in 2018 received 1,110 entries from 46 countries and over 20,000 people visited the exhibition. The 2021 exhibition will be held in Toyama City, which has long been known as ‘the City of Glass Art’.
Applications will be accepted until 10 December 2020. Entry is free but those selected for the second round of judging will need to cover the cost of shipping their artworks to the venue in Japan.
Digital images of the submitted works will be judged on 20-21 February 2021, with the judging of actual works on 17-18 April 2021, when the prize winners will be chosen. Prizes are in Japanese Yen and range from around £20,000 for the top Grand Prize award to £735 for the judges’ prize (less tax).
All works that pass the two-step review process will be shown at Toyama International Glass Exhibition 2021 at Toyama Glass Art Museum in the autumn of 2021.
In 2018 the majority of submissions featured glassblowing or casting techniques, but alongside these were artworks combining glass with metal and/or ceramics, and large-scale installations incorporating sound systems and projectors. The Grand Prize-winning work, Shield II by Æsa Björk, was a compound installation in which images were projected onto eight glass shields hung from the ceiling and electronically converted sounds of brainwaves were played through small speakers in the shields. A faint contour of a human figure was seen wavering on the shields, providing the viewer with a moving experience.
The judges for 2021 have been drawn from an international field and each is an expert in contemporary glass. In addition to five Japanese judges, there are three from North America, one from Asia/Oceania, and two from Europe.
Toyama Glass Art Museum is located at: 5-1 Nishicho, Toyama City, Toyama 930-0062, Japan. Full entry details via the website: https://toyama-glass.jp/en/
Main photo: Toyama International Glass Exhibition 2018 exhibits at Toyama Glass Art Museum. Photo by Kichiro Okamura, courtesy of Toyama Glass Art Museum.
Second photo: 2018 Grand Prize winner Shield II by Æsa Björk from Norway. Sound: Tinna Thorsteinsdóttir, Technical assistants: Josh Kopel and Nanna Einarsdóttir. Collection of Toyama Glass Art Museum. Photo by Kichiro Okamura.
Emerging glass artist Chris Day is making his debut at Vessel Gallery, with a solo exhibition running from 28 September to 31 October 2020. His highly personal pieces discuss and investigate the treatment of black people in Britain and the USA, making his artworks powerful and thought provoking.
Chris Day 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.”
Vessel Gallery is at 114 Kensington Park Rd, London W11 2PW, and the exhibition is open from Monday to Friday, 11am to 5pm.
Feature image: Blown, Bound and Bold, by Chris Day. Second image: Emmett Till, by Chris Day. Photo credits: Ester Segarra.
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The judges for 2021 have been drawn from an international field and each is an expert in contemporary glass. In addition to five Japanese judges, there are three from North America, one from Asia/Oceania, and two from Europe.
