A selection of exciting glass courses is on offer at the Glass Hub in Wiltshire, UK, in the closing months of 2020 and into 2021. Why not book a class with an expert glassmaker and give yourself something to look forward to that will also enhance your skills? Have a look at the choices below:
8 to 11 October 2020: Experimenting with Colour Dropouts with Ruth Shelley
14 to 16 October 2020: Advanced Pattern Making in Glass Masterclass with Ian Chadwick
8 to 9 November 2020: Colour and Form Masterclass with Katherine Huskie
11 to 13 November 2020: Fusing Doesn’t have to be Flat with Nina Casson McGarva
20 to 22 January 2021: Form to Fuse Masterclass with Andrea Spencer
1 to 5 February 2021: Flexible Fusing Masterclass with Matthew Szösz
8 to 12 February 2021: Advanced Pattern Making in Glass Masterclass with Ian Chadwick
2 to 5 March 2021: Collage for Kiln Casting with Georgia Redpath
12 to 14 March 2021: Hot Glass Sculpture with James Devereux
30 March to 1 April 2021: Graal Masterclass with Sonja Klingler & Ruth Dresman
21 to 23 April 2021: Printing Techniques for Glass with Philippa Beveridge
14 to 16 May 2021: Fusing with the ‘Wow’ Factor with Opal Seabrook
25 to 28 May 2021: Kiln Casting Glass Masterclass with Fiaz Elson
11 to 17 September 2021: The Perfect Vessel Masterclass with Karl Harron
29 September – 1 October 2021: Follow the Torch – Hot Glass Masterclass with Elliot Walker
14 to 17 October 2021: The Freedom of the ‘One-Off’ – Ice Casting Masterclass with Joseph Harrington
In addition to these classes, the Glass Hub has a programme of courses for less advanced students. All classes will be run in accordance with COVID-19 regulations. Find out more via the website: https://www.theglasshub.co.uk/glass-courses.html
Photo: Colony of Colonies by Georgia Redpath; Photo Credit: Simon Bruntnell.
As has happened with so many events recently, the 2021 International Festival of Glass and British Glass Biennale have been postponed and rescheduled for August 2022.
Speaking in September 2020, Janine Christley, the Festival Director, explained, “With the call to artists for the Biennale due to be launched in the next few weeks, we have had to make this difficult decision now, even though the festival is 11 months away. Our priority is to keep our artists and audience safe and the fact that the pandemic is still a significant global health concern creates uncertainty around international travel and exchange. We are also mindful that Glasshouse College, which hosts the festival, works with some of the UK’s most vulnerable young people.”
The Festival will now take place from 26-29 August 2022.
The theme remains East Asian glass and the artists from Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan who were scheduled to take part in the 2021 events, will attend in 2022 instead.
Make a note in your diary now to attend these highlights of the contemporary glass calendar in Stourbridge in 2022.
Photo: Monica Guggisberg, Biennale jury member, judging glass exhibits at the previous event. Credit: John Plant
Kirsteen Aubrey has taken over from Milly Frances as the new editor of Glass Network print edition. Here she explains her own glass journey and how she proposes to develop the CGS magazine.
While we may be a niche collective, we have significant value as creatives working with glass. My aim as Editor is to share the value of what we do, from our inspiration to create work, through to our experimentation with ideas and process, to the final artefacts. Telling our stories will extend our glass community, reaching out to other creatives, enthusiasts and buyers, to celebrate our work with us.
I believe that in articulating the narratives and motivations behind our individual glass practice, we promote the value, creative potential and technical mastery involved in producing our glasswork to the public. Motivators such as culture, identity, politics and sustainability may be key features, yet each of us interacts with different agendas, or the same agenda, in different ways. Capturing and sharing your stories is central to the success of Glass Network, and a main driver for my desire to become Glass Network print Editor. Do get in touch with me to share your own ideas and inspirations.
My personal practice spans 30 years (eek!) and has involved a range of glass processes, including kiln, lamp and blown glass. My work was exhibited in the retrospective at National Glass Centre, celebrating their 21st anniversary. Exhibiting as one of 60 strong glass makers, the works represented “artists who have helped develop the city’s reputation for excellence in glass”(Sunderland Echo, 16 April 2019).
Collaboration has been a key interest in my glass practice, both between glass practitioners and with practitioners from diverse disciplines. Each collaboration provides new experiences and challenge, relying on an openness and trust to create new work. Each resulted in outcomes that explored the agency of glass as a creative medium. Here, I have collaborated across glass and crochet, exhibited in ‘Pairings’ at Contemporary Applied Arts (2012), and later combining textiles and lampworked glass with Alice Kettle to create an installation for VAS:T at the Royal Scottish Academy. In subsequent collaborations I have worked with a haiku poet, an astrophysicist and photographers.
Recent work includes developing hand-blown lenses for photography, exploring ways of seeing. The results featured in ‘Radical Matters’ as part of the International Association of Societies of Design Research (2019), Milan Virtual Design festival (2020) and were captured on film for ‘Glass, Meet the Future’ (2020), a North Lands Creative initiative.
Ellie Miller, who co-owned the Miller Gallery in the USA with her husband, Bob, died on 1 September 2020 after a long battle with colon cancer. Ellie and Bob championed the work of British and Irish glass artists, encouraging them to showcase their art in their gallery from the 1980s onwards.
Their first gallery, The Studio Glass Gallery of Great Britain, was established in Montclair, New Jersey, in the mid-1980s, before moving to Manhattan and becoming the Miller Gallery. It was responsible for bringing UK artists, such as David Reekie, Keith Cummings and Colin Reid to the attention of American glass collectors.
Ellie previously held roles as a director of UrbanGlass and the Creative Glass Center of America. She and Bob participated in many SOFA and Wheaton Glass Weekend events until they closed their gallery.
One of the glass artists whose career in the USA was boosted by Ellie’s support, David Reekie, adds his own tribute:
It was with great sadness that we have heard the news that Ellie Miller has died.
Through their gallery in New Jersey, Bob and Ellie created a valuable stepping-stone for many young British and Irish glass artists into the United States.
The 1980s represented an important time for contemporary glass in the UK, as glass courses in art colleges were thriving and galleries specialising in glass art were opening their doors.
Ellie and Bob Miller crossed the pond to attend British Artists in Glass conferences and made many friends by encouraging young artists to show their work in the States.
In the late 1980s they moved the gallery to central New York, establishing the Miller Gallery on Broadway. It became a very important international gallery specialising in sculptural glass art, but still remembered its roots and continued to exhibit the work of British creatives.
Ellie and Bob retired in 2001. Ellie was a wonderful, happy and encouraging woman and she will be missed by the glass community.
When Milly Frances left her role as the extremely capable Editor of the CGS Glass Network magazine in June, the members of committee wanted to show their appreciation of her hard work over 10 years. Knowing she was keen on gardening and nature, the perfect gift was a garden voucher that she could use to buy a tree for her garden.
As Milly comments on her purchase: “This Irish Oak is pretty special on lots of levels:
it reminds me of lovely CGS as it was given to me as a leaving gift (thank you, I never did like carriage clocks);
its resilience gives me hope and
it’s the Best-Looking Oak in The Lane. It’s down by the wildlife pond that is now home to its first frog. How is it possible that I used to be an urbanite?”
Since stepping down from editing Glass Network Milly says she has been both teacher and student, “both online, and both energy-inspiring”.
“All the while CGS has been doing a sterling job helping us convert this bubble of warped time into something creative. Thank you for that and for my special tree,” she concludes.
Glass Network digital is the magazine section of the CGS website. This is where you can catch up with all the latest news about contemporary glass, as well as read more in-depth features about the work of some talented glass artists.
This online resource complements the longstanding and well-respected print edition of Glass Network magazine, which all CGS members receive as part of their membership package. If you are not a member, please consider joining us! You do not have to be a practising glass artist – you just need to have an interest in glass.
We decided to introduce this digital magazine 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.
Glass Network digital has two sections – one for features and one for news items. In the features part you will find longer articles focused on topics including interviews with interesting practitioners in contemporary glass, both new and established, as well as content from related fields, such as specialist glass photographers and creative business advice. It aims to be a mix of the inspirational and the practical.
Alongside these more in-depth features is the news section, where we share the latest happenings in the contemporary glass arena – from exhibiting opportunities to gallery openings, virtual events to competitions.
Each month, we share links to the new content with members via our newsletter (another good reason to join ;)).
There are also advertising opportunities, including the button advert in the digital magazine section, sponsored article content and enhanced listings in the Resources section.
This is your magazine, so if you have an idea for a feature or news, do get in touch. We can’t guarantee to use everything offered, but we are open to your suggestions. We need at least one good quality image (landscape orientation) supplied with news pieces.
Who should you contact?
For Glass Network digital, contact the Editor, Linda Banks: linda@wordbanks.uk
For Glass Network print magazine, contact the Editor, Kirsteen Aubrey: editor@cgs.org.uk
For membership and advertising queries, contact Pam Reekie: admin@cgs.org.uk
Up-and-coming glass artist Kaja Upelj wants to project a welcoming and warm feeling in her work – to dispel the sense that glass is cold and brittle. She invites us to understand more about her story through her evolving glass practice.
The movement of hot glass, its fluidity and softness as it was worked by a master craftsman, captivated Kaja Upelj as a child on a trip to Murano in Italy. Since then, she has always seen glass as “an intriguing material, which I never defined as cold and fragile”. This experience inspired her belief that glass would be the perfect material with which to express herself.
Years later, she carried through her conviction, completing a Masters degree in Glass at the Royal College of Art and winning awards and scholarships to develop her original, luminous glass process.
Otherworldly Bodies: Kalopsia
“My methods and ways of working have changed tremendously over time,” she says. “I have focused a lot on exploring glass qualities through various techniques and ideas. I want to have a great understanding of the material because I am convinced it is the only way to find a common language with it.”
For her, the most important aspect of her research has been to observe how glass acts, moves and lives, so that now she has “harmonised my poetic expression with the laws of the material”.
Her focus is not so much on what technique she uses, but on how to translate the image in her mind into a real object of art. The techniques are just the tools making that happen. The materials she chooses vary considerably and are governed by the feel of the collection itself. Her collections ‘Otherworldly Bodies’ and ‘Subtle Flow’ are strikingly different from one another.
Welcoming feeling
She describes her work as minimalistic with an element of fluidity. “Unrestricted lines and movement give the individual the opportunity to interpret it in their own way. The most important aspect I wish my art to express is a welcoming feeling.”
She adds, “I want the viewer to experience the material differently, to lose the belief that it is cold and brittle. With the tactile and silky surface, I hope to achieve interaction, inviting both familiarity and personal connection. I am interested in seeing how it affects people emotionally.”
In her collection ‘Subtle Flow’, Kaja researched and introduced a process involving dangerous chemicals. Her aim was to express the movement of glass when it is hot, enabling the observer to have a better understanding of what a soft and warm material glass can be.
Subtle Flow – detail
“I was exploring materials to subtly mark the path, which is captured within the glass object. When chemicals are introduced to liquefied glass, they reveal an iridescent sparkle, which captures the movement of glass and shows the working process clearly,” she expands.
“Each artwork I create consists of various emotions I experience during the working process and tells a different story about me.”
This quotation, from the Finnish designer and sculptor Tapio Wirkkala, underpins her approach: ‘All materials have their own unwritten laws. This is forgotten way too often. You should never be violent with a material you’re working on, and the designer should aim at being in harmony with his material.’
Support for emerging glass artists
As an emerging artist, Kaja is familiar with the struggle to buy expensive equipment, such as kilns or compressors. “I often search for second-hand equipment, as it can be priced more reasonably,” she says. However, she has received support for other areas of her work, having been a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) scholar in 2018. The funding from QEST enabled her to take up a placement at Corning Museum of Glass in the USA.
“Being a part of QEST family is a great honour!” she explains. “The amount of support you receive through events, art fairs, networking and QEST Magazine is incredible. Emerging artists often feel overwhelmed at the beginning of their career, so advice and opportunities from such institutions are greatly appreciated.”
She says she would encourage any artist who wants to create unconventional art and is looking for support and new avenues to apply to QEST.
At the Corning Museum of Glass, she spent time researching in the extensive Rakow Library and gained expert knowledge from the tutors and scientists. This invaluable experience helped her develop her glass projects.
Otherworldly Bodies: Mangata
Another benefit from the QEST experience was being able to exhibit with the organisation at Collect, the International Art Fair for Modern Craft and Design, at Somerset House in London earlier in 2020.
Kaja has continued to build her profile, having exhibited with Officine Saffi and Miart in Milan, the travelling design event Nomad Circle, and Milan Design Week. She also took part in the British Glass Biennale and other exhibitions across Europe.
For her, the most challenging part being an artist who works with glass is to get this artwork recognised in other sectors of art, rather than just as a craft. As she points out, “To create glass artwork is indeed very skilful, but it is often expressing more than just an interesting technique; it expresses a story, a concept.”
This is the message Kaja will carry with her as she travels the world with her glowing creations.
Feature image: Subtle Flow.
About the artist
Kaja Upelj is a Slovenian artist working between Slovenia and the United Kingdom. She holds a Masters in Glass from the Royal College of Art and has won numerous awards and scholarships to develop her original, luminous glass process safely. She was a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust Scholar and one of the global emerging young talents at New Horizons 2018 in China.
She has exhibited across Europe, showing her work at art fairs such as Collect, Miart, Nomad Circle and Milan Design Week.
If you have an idea for a piece of bespoke art for your home or business, where do you start with commissioning it? Here are some tips to help you get that special work of art.
While you can purchase a glass artwork from an exhibition, gallery or shop, whether online or in person, sometimes what is on offer does not quite suit your needs. Perhaps you really like the style of the artist but the piece is of a size or colour that won’t fit with your home or office space. Perhaps you want a piece of wall art for a specific location, but the last one in an exhibition has been sold.
Maybe a friend or loved one is due to celebrate a milestone birthday or anniversary and you know exactly what they would like as a truly personal gift. Maybe your office space needs a unique, statement piece for inside or outside, or a series of awards for a business or corporate venture?
This is the time to consider commissioning a new artwork, to be made especially for you, direct from the artist. Many artists are willing to make a special piece that will meet your needs precisely and they enjoy the challenge of doing something bespoke.
Commissioning a glass artist
Commissioning a glass artist or designer to produce a work of art can be highly enjoyable for both parties. You will find both the work and the experience personal and unique. Your piece will be specifically produced for you, to your requirements. Each commission will vary according to the commissioner, artist, situation and circumstance, but it will be a process you will find rewarding. It is the best feeling knowing that your finished, exclusive artwork has been lovingly created and nobody else has the same.
Where to start with commissioning glass
Below are some simple steps to consider when commissioning a unique piece of glass:
Put some thought into what first prompted the commission;
Develop your brief and your idea;
Research what you are looking for and the potential artists who could help;
Check testimonials or feedback from the artists’ past clients;
Review portfolios of work and case studies on their websites;
Consider the location of the artist and whether you will want to meet in person or collaborate remotely;
Make contact with some artists who you think fit your brief;
Discuss ideas and budgets with them;
Choose the artist whose ideas and methods best match your requirements;
Make a clear agreement or contract, which should include the fee, deposit and payment structure, fabrication process/site visits, delivery, installation, timescale, maintenance and ownership.
Ask about how you will review progress; agree how much involvement will you have;
Await completion and delivery;
Enjoy your unique artwork.
When discussing your idea with the artist, they should find out what it is you are looking for in detail, introduce their own past portfolio and then proceed in a way that suits the commission or project. This may include them offering their own ideas or thoughts on the design and its practicality, a potential budget, something similar that they may have done before, or drawings or samples of work.
Remember that communication is important and both parties must keep in touch for the duration of the project. On your part, you need to check progress, answer questions and approve or correct details promptly. On their part, they should be updating you regularly, possibly with a photographic record, and letting you know if there are issues that could push the work back from the agreed timetable.
Whether you want a delicate vase or a large, stained glass window, the CGS has glass artists expert in all aspects of glass making. Have a look at the ‘Find a glass artist’ page, where you can select members based on name, glass discipline, location or product.
Top quality photographs are essential for presenting glass art at its best, for websites, books, catalogues and exhibition submissions. Glass photographer David Williams shares his step-by-step process for achieving accurate and attractive images of objects made from glass.
I have been photographingglass for over 30 years and I have to say it is not easy. To photograph glass well is hard.
The different properties of glass present the photographer with problems: it is reflective; it is refractive; it can be transparent or opaque, colourless or rainbow hued.
Controlling the light
It is my job to solve these problems and to represent the glass accurately in an aesthetically-pleasing image. It is my job to take the properties of the glass and enhance, reduce or eliminate these effects. I do this with light – light that I can control.
You can begin to see why your desk lamp, windowsill or LED torch just won’t cut it. Even an on-camera flash has severe limitations. I use studio strobe flash units, which give me a whole range of control over the intensity and quality of light. I like to start in the dark!
Understand the glass artwork
But, before I switch the lights off, I need to know as much about the glass as possible. Talking to the glass maker is always useful. Is there a preferred viewing angle? Is there a particular feature you would like me to accent? Is there a narrative sequence? Which way up does it go? Have you thought about a background?
‘The Skin’. Artist: Choongmok Yoo; Photographer: David Williams
When it comes to backgrounds, I’m a minimalist. I like black or white. Most glass will photograph well against one or the other, or both. The best black background I have found is black cotton velvet. It has to be cotton. It is very light absorbent and gives deep, rich black backgrounds. I understand the artist and sculptor Anish Kapoor has a non-reflective black paint…but he’s keeping it for himself!
For my white backgrounds, I generally use Colorama Arctic White paper. This comes in rolls of varying widths and lengths.
I often stand the glass on a sheet of black or white acrylic sheet to produce a reflective surface. This can be useful in grounding the subject, so it does not look like it is suspended in flat blackness or whiteness, which can look odd.
Here’s a tip: acrylic sheet comes with a protective film, which must be removed before use. Removing this film charges the acrylic with static and every particle of dust in the room finds it irresistible. Make sure you have an anti-static, soft cleaning cloth as this will save hours of Photoshopping later. Acrylic sheet is extremely prone to scratching, too, so treat it delicately to save hours in post processing.
Clean glass
OK, so we’ve chosen the background, now let’s bring in the glass. STOP and look closely. Really closely. Yes, it is filthy, smeary, dusty and covered in fingerprints. All glass is. When you hit it with light, the high-resolution camera equipment that I use to give you the best possible quality images, shows every speck and smear. Oh the hours I will never get back spent removing dust in post processing!
Clean it. Dust it. Polish it… and then do it again. Use cotton gloves if you have them. This is so important. There is nothing more frustrating than a beautifully-composed and lit piece of glass with a halo of dust that draws your eye.
Start with the lights out
Next, turn the lights off. By starting in a dark room I know that any light falling on the glass has been put there by me and, therefore, I can control it. I have blackout blinds, but drawing your curtains and/or working at night will help.
I turn one strobe unit on and the modelling lamp illuminates the glass, indicating my flash coverage. The glass can now be positioned with respect to the camera and composition desired. It is important that the camera remains in the same position once the composition is established, as I make multiple exposures and tweaks and may need to combine them in post production. You need a good tripod and, when it comes to tripods, you generally get what you pay for.
Find an assistant
Then I decide where my key light will go. At this point it is useful to have an assistant. It is all the better if they are familiar with the equipment. Paul Daniels had Debbie McGee; I have Bruce, who is neither lovely, nor magic, but he does know the gear.
While I sit directly behind the camera, Bruce moves the key light around the glass as I watch how the light interacts: where the shadows fall; what the reflections are doing; where the magic is happening. Even slight changes in height and angle can produce marked effects on the image.
Having established the optimum position for my key light, it is locked off and then decisions are made about the quality of that light. I can diffuse it, or bounce it, softening the shadows; I can light it with a single beam and from above, below, behind and, sometimes, within. I can do all this because I have tools like softboxes, snoots and reflectors, combined with experience, to create controlled and subtle effects.
‘Sting’. Artist: Ray Flavell; Photographer: David Williams
Then we tweak. A second light? A reflector board to fill a shadow? A flag to remove or soften an edge? Move it left five degrees? Backwards half an inch? Raise the camera slightly to reveal the rim? And so on. This is all done by eye.
Now we are ready to expose. Up to this point I have been in total control. The last thing I want to do now is hand over the decision making to my camera’s very clever, but authoritarian, computer. After all, ‘exposure’ is only the relationship between shutter speed and aperture and I can control them in my camera’s manual mode. I know the strobes synchronise with my camera’s shutter at 1/160 second, so I can set that. My aperture is a little trickier, but crucial to the final image. What you need to know is that aperture controls the depth of fieldand that determines what is and is not in focus in your final image. A large aperture, say f2.8, will give you a small depth of fieldand a small aperture, f22, will give you a large depth of field.
Here is a practical example. A stained glass window has a very distracting exterior background. By focusing on the glass and selecting a wide aperture, the background is thrown out of focus, making it less intrusive. You can use a narrow depth of field creatively to draw attention to an object in sharp focus, whilst throwing everything else out of focus. A large depth of field ensures everything is in focus, from front to back of your image.
Taking the shot
My aperture and shutter speed are selected and I press the shutter release. The little unit on top of my camera sends a radio signal to the strobe and POP! the flash(es) go off. The shutter opens and hopefully all that lovingly-crafted and tweaked light hits the camera’s sensor and my image is made. Viewing it on the back of the camera, it looks a little underexposed, so I turn up the power a little on the strobe and that’s it. First image made. Fifty-five minutes to set up and 1/160 of a second to take the picture.
Zoom in on the details
Expose again. Perfect. Nice shadows. All in focus. Looks great. At this point, remember that you are looking at your image on an LCD screen that is, at best, a few inches wide. Save yourself some future grief and really zoom in to the image. This is where you spot that out-of-focus part and the reflection of coffee cups and a jacket hanging on a light stand and you can resolve these problems swiftly.
‘Illuminating colour’ – detail. Artist: Cate Watkinson; Photographer: David Williams
Some reflected objects are harder to hide. I mask the set with a very large sheet of blackout material. By cutting a strategically-placed hole in the material, you can poke your lens through and remain invisible. Oh, and I always wear black clothes.
At this point I bracket the exposures by deliberately under- and over-exposing by 1/2 and 1 stop. This halves or doubles the amount of light reaching the camera sensor. Most modern cameras have a dial which allows you to do this easily. These extra images may be used in post production. By this point I have a firm idea of the final image; sometimes I’ll under or over expose to achieve a particular effect in post production, or so that I can blend more than one image together.
I explore the piece from different angles, adjusting the lighting and repeating the process for each set up. I finish by taking close-up shots of significant details.
Finding the answers
Every piece of glass throws up different photographic problems which must be solved. The more you do it, the more answers you have and experience helps with new tasks. Most problems can be solved with clamps, boards, masking tape, scissors, coffee and a penknife made for the Swiss Army.
It is an involved business producing pleasing images of glass, but it is important that you do because:
It is those images that will represent you and your work when you are applying for bursaries and scholarships;
It is those images upon which decisions are made for acceptance into exhibitions;
It is the quality of those images which will determine whether they are published in magazines, periodicals and books;
Good images, shot in a coherent way, can only enhance your website and social media presence.
One day, when you look back on your body of work, you will be glad that all of those long-gone and pivotal pieces were recorded well…And, if I took the photographs, I have them archived too.
The next steps involve Lightroom and Photoshop…but that’s a whole other story. Blimey, the dust!
Feature image: ‘Deer’. Artist: Effie Burns; Photographer: David Williams.
About David Williams
After graduating fromthe University of Durham with a degree in Zoology, David taught Biology briefly, before lecturing in photography for 20 years. During this time he also worked as a freelancer before becoming a full time photographer. As well as photographing the work of artists from all genres, he has wide experience in broadcast television and film, especially environmental and music programmes.
The appetite for craft has never been stronger, with sales of over £3 billion in 2019, according to a recent survey of the consumer market for British craft. But who are today’s craft buyers and what do they want?
The Market for Craft report was commissioned by the Crafts Council and several partner organisations across the UK. It is the third undertaken for them (the previous ones having taken place in 2006 and 2010) and offers many insights into how consumers’ shopping habits and requirements have evolved over this time.
While the report provides a general overview of the whole craft market, there is information on the market for glass specifically, and data about consumer trends that glass artists will find valuable.
The report is based on a survey of 5,000 UK residents, 1,500 US citizens and 1,700 professional makers. Because the survey was large, the overall market for the UK could be estimated using population statistics. The same approach was used to work out the volume and value of sales across the six main craft disciplines: ceramics; glass; woodwork; jewellery; textiles and metalwork (from ironmongery to fine silversmithing).
An important finding is that craft is no longer seen as a specialist interest – today it is in the mainstream. This is demonstrated by the rise in popularity of TV series like The Great British Sewing Bee and The Great Pottery Throwdown, alongside the public’s desire for authenticity, experiences, ethical and sustainable products, and a wish to escape electronic devices. All of these have resulted in a growing interest in making, and buying, handmade objects.
New selling routes have also had an impact, as digital platforms have increased, resulting in a rise in online craft purchases from “5% of buyers (332k people) in 2006 to 19% of buyers (3.2m people) in 2010 to 33% of buyers (10.3m people) in 2020”, according to the report.
While there is good news for the craft sector with the knowledge that 73% of the population is buying craft in 2020, (numbers in England buying craft rising from 6.9m in 2006 to 31.6m in 2020), the average price per object bought has decreased from £157 in 2006 to £124 in 2020.
This means that master craftspeople and established makers still face challenges in differentiating their skills to justify charging higher prices – an issue they also faced in 2006, according to the survey from that year.
The 2020 report states: “the majority of the market is dominated by more cautious, cost- conscious buyers. This needs to be recognised in the strategies adopted to promote craft and in the marketing approaches of makers.
“Demographically, compared to 2006, the craft market consumers in 2020 are younger, more ethnically diverse, less dominated by graduates and with lower specialist knowledge. Between 2006 and 2020 there has been an increase in the younger age groups, from 17% (1.1m) under 35 in 2006 to 32% buyers (9.1m) in 2020.”
Portfolio careers
Portfolio careers are reported to be common among makers in 2020, with less than half earning a living through sales of products alone. Many established makers supplement their income with teaching in formal settings or workshops. Less established practitioners rely more on non-craft-related employment.
Income levels for craftspeople remain low when compared to the median UK annual salary of £30,350. The majority of craftspeople, at all stages of practice, stated a profit of less than £30,000 from sales of work in the latest financial year. The report adds that even among master craftspeople [defined in the report as those established 5+ years and having shown work at international galleries or art fairs], only 16% had profits of over £30,000.
Where are craft buyers buying?
Across all ages and demographics, craft buyers’ top preference was to buy in person at a craft fair, even among the younger, digitally native buyers. Online, Etsy was the leading marketplace for buyers.
However, with over 220,000 UK makers reported to be active on Etsy currently, it is easy to understand why it may be difficult to be found as a seller in this marketplace.
Craft fairs are the most popular places for people buying craft in person.
Diversification
The general trend towards taking part in paid experiences is spilling over into the craft sector. The report highlights that “20% of the overall market for craft (7% definitely and 13% probably)” indicated that they would pay to attend a craft workshop in the future. Craftspeople also reported that the experience sector “has become a significant revenue stream for many makers”.
Another trend noted in the report among craft businesses that do not have time or space to provide hands-on courses, is to offer behind-the-scenes tours, giving insights into the making process. This appetite for greater understanding has also been seen more broadly in museums and galleries, with visitors wanting to know more about conservation and display processes.
While jewellery remains the most popular discipline for purchasers by volume, glass and metal were reported to have seen the most growth since 2006. By 2020, glass sales in England reached 3 million items, compared to 0.5 million in 2006 (an increase of 538%). In financial terms, glass sales in 2020 were valued at £473m, compared to £73m in 2006. The average purchase price per item in 2020 was up 2%, at £158.94, compared to £155.39 in 2006.
Who is buying?
The report divides consumers into nine sub-groups to assess their demographics, what they are spending, why and where. It goes into detail about the preferences and drivers behind the buying methods of the different groups.
In 2006, craft buyers were mostly ‘risk takers’ (67%). Risk takers are defined as creative people with independent tastes who do not look to popular endorsement for their purchases. In 2020, the number of risk takers had dropped to 41%, with the rest comprised of those prepared to take limited risks (42%) or who avoided risk (17%). This means most buyers today have more risk averse, cost-conscious attitudes and are ‘fashion-followers’ who want their purchases to conform to mainstream tastes and be admired by others.
Among the nine sub-groups, glass only featured once as one of the top three craft disciplines bought. It was bought by the ‘Adventurer’ persona, defined as someone who takes risk in buying work, has bought from a living maker and spent £70-£200 on their highest purchase.
Of Adventurers, 25% had a household income of more than £50k, 52% were female and 39% were graduates. They chose to buy from craft fairs (56%), craft markets (41%) and craft/design shops (37%) when making face-to-face purchases. A total of 40% bought craft online, 53% via Etsy, 32% from Not on the High Street and 21% from the maker’s website.
Among Adventurers, 66% had creative hobbies and 18% had taken part in craft workshops in the past 12 months.
Their motivations for buying were: admire human skill (62%); wanted a unique gift (60%); beautiful objects appeal (59%).
Exporting UK craft to the US
Data from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) for 2016 valued craft exports at £4.6b. The USA was the third largest market for UK craft in that year, taking 11% of the total. Therefore, the export potential for crafts to the US was also investigated in the craft report, with a focus on New York and Los Angeles.
Both cities had significant existing markets for craft, with 84% of adults in New York (12.8m people) and 86% of those of Los Angeles (8.8m people) having bought craft in the past or being people who would consider doing so. Overall, 23% of buyers in both cities had bought craft from a UK-based maker, suggesting plenty of potential for future sales from the untapped market.
The existing market for UK craft in the two cities was young, with half (51%) 16-34 years old. The potential market had an average age of 45, but more than half (53%) of these were under that age.
Existing US buyers who had bought craft in the past two years had bought jewellery (75%), ceramics (74%), woodwork (68%) and glasswork (66%). Their average recent spend on UK craft was $180, with farmers markets (38%) the most common face-to-face venue to buy it. As with the UK craft buyers, Etsy was the most used online marketplace, but US buyers had used a wider range of online sources, including Made by Hand (27%), and Made.com (24%), museum or gallery online shops (24%) and an individual maker’s website (23%).
Conclusion
The report found that the market for craft had grown significantly, fuelled by “younger, less specialist interest, less affluent, mass market buyers consuming many more products but at a more modest level”. It pointed out that “consumer preferences are driven in part by growing interest in sustainability, provenance and supply chain integrity”.
Makers were concerned about selling to this more mainstream market, which meant competing with high street stores and the easy fulfilment methods found with large online companies.
Therefore, to be successful, makers needed to help buyers “engage more deeply in craft, participate further, develop new knowledge of making and build their confidence in terms of what they like, purchase and collect”.
There is a lot more detail in the full report. Download it via this link: Market for Craft Report .
The organisations that partnered with the Crafts Council to commission this research were Arts Council of Wales, Contemporary Visual Arts Network, Craft Northern Ireland, Craft Scotland, Creative Scotland, Creative United, The Goldsmiths’ Company, and the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair/Great Northern Events.
This article was written by Glass Network digital’s editor, Linda Banks, based on information in the Market for Craft Report.
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Kaja Upelj is a Slovenian artist working between Slovenia and the United Kingdom. She holds a Masters in Glass from the Royal College of Art and has won numerous awards and scholarships to develop her original, luminous glass process safely. She was a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust Scholar and one of the global emerging young talents at New Horizons 2018 in China.
