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A QEST for glass training

For over 30 years the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) has funded craftspeople across the UK with grants for further training. Glass Network digital finds out how this support has helped glass artists develop their practice.

Are you a glass artist who would like to expand your skills with additional training or an apprenticeship? Is there a college course, vocational training, or one-to-one mentoring that would help you to develop personally, while at the same time keeping Britain’s long heritage in craft alive?

Twice a year, the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) invites practising artists and craftspeople to expand their knowledge through its grant scheme. In fact, since it launched in 1990, QEST has awarded £5 million to over 600 individuals working across the UK in 130 different crafts.

Next month (July 2021), QEST will open for the next round of applications, enabling glass artists to put their case for funds to broaden their talent with training and education.

While applicants can apply for up to £18,000 for their proposals, QEST looks to provide support that goes beyond the money, through publicising scholars’ work and offering participation in events that showcase their skills.

What is needed for a successful application? There are tips provided on the QEST website for those applying for scholarships and apprenticeships. Applicants need to be able to demonstrate excellence in, and a strong commitment to, their craft, as well as having a clear idea about how the training will advance their practice.

Although QEST can support transport, and other associated costs, the majority of the application has to be for the training itself. QEST needs to see how the training would help applicants contribute towards the craft sector in the UK.

How has QEST funding helped glass artists? Read on to hear more from previous successful scholars.

Timothy Harris

One of the first craftspeople to benefit from QEST support was Timothy Harris (Isle of Wight Studio Glass). He says, “In 1991 my QEST R. Twining & Company Ltd Scholarship enabled me to travel to the USA and study at Penland School of Craft in North Carolina and at Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State. This experience had an enormous impact on my work – 30 years later I still use the techniques I learnt there, and it instilled in me a ‘go for it’ attitude that has come into my work a lot ever since. The training is as relevant today as much as it was back then. I returned to Penland the following year as a technical assistant and learnt on the job – the best way possible.

Timothy Harris at work in the hot shop.

“I’ve attended a number of QEST events over the years and featured in exhibitions they have organised, including at Fortnum & Mason. It was great to be represented in QEST’s book, A Celebration of British Craftsmanship, in 2018 and they have been continually supportive. The scholarship was a golden opportunity that I would otherwise not have had and I greatly appreciate it.

“QEST has also put me in touch with other scholars and I collaborated with QEST Scholar Daniel Durnin to produce a set of six whisky glasses and a water jug for Prince Charles’ 70th birthday. It’s always good to work with other makers. Most recently, my work was exhibited in the Floris store in St.James’s, London, as part of the QEST Craft Trail for London Craft Week 2020.”

Celia Dowson

More recent QEST scholar, Celia Dowson, says, “A 2017 QEST Tom Helme Scholarship contributed a significant sum towards my MA in Ceramics & Glass at the Royal College of Art, supporting me through my final year while also contributing to material costs. This offered me the freedom to continue the exploration and expression of my work without bounds, projecting me forward with confidence into my career as an artist.

“QEST are often in contact. There has been continual support in the promotion of my work, including magazine features, and I’m now looking forward to exhibiting with them in their first year at Artefact, a new contemporary craft fair at the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour.

“I always enjoy seeing the team at shows or bumping into them at events. It is wonderful to be part of such a nourishing and supportive community of makers and patrons!”

Celia Dowson’s ‘Indigo Platter with Indigo Vessels’. Photo: Alick Cotterill.

Scott Benefield

Scott Benefield (Benefield Spencer Glass) also received funding from QEST in 2013. He explains, “For the past 25 years I have focused my practice on Venetian cane techniques, first developed on the island of Murano during the 16th century, and that I learned from studying with Lino Tagliapietra. I have spent many years designing and producing serial production using those techniques for the American and UK markets, as well as exhibiting unique pieces in galleries and exhibitions.

“Since 2004, I have regularly taught workshops that were grounded in those traditional techniques, but also explored innovative developments that built on that body of knowledge. Workshop teaching allowed me to travel to many different countries, and eventually brought me to the island of Ireland, where I have lived and worked for the past 10 years.

“My QEST scholarship in 2013 provided funding for me to study glass chemistry and learn the basics of formulating, mixing and melting coloured glasses. It’s a subject that has a long history in industry, but today is rarely taught outside of material science programmes.

“Doing your own chemistry was a feature of the early studio glass movement, where some basic information crossed over from ceramic glaze calculations, but most of that development stopped with the introduction of a wide palette of compatible colour rods in the 1970s. There is still a small coterie of glassblowers who started in the ’60s and still make their own colour, but that generation is retiring and a lot of their knowledge is being lost. It’s not an academic approach, or even scientific, but more like cooking: a practical, empirical, hands-on understanding of how to transform raw materials with predictable results.

Scott Benefield’s ‘Antrim Fields’ (2020).

“QEST is very good at continuing to network and stay in touch with its alumni, which can be quite valuable in terms of contacts and current information. They’re always active on social media. They offer regular opportunities for exhibition and public exposure – mostly London-based, but of a reliably high quality. They also hosted a programme of professional development webinars during the pandemic with extraordinary presenters, which was quite useful. I was flattered to be included in their publication, A Celebration of British Craftsmanship, which profiled 100 past scholarship recipients.”

Kaja Upelj

One of the first glass artists profiled in Glass Network digital when it launched in 2020 was Kaja Upelj (You can read that feature here).

Kaja expands on the thinking behind her glass art: “My interest is to modify the perception the observer has about the material and highlight how very simple it is to create an illusion, through which one is enticed into different thinking and decision making. Firm perceptions of glass as being cold and fragile, along with fear of the material, dissipates by creating tactile artwork featuring soft lines and an iridescent flow within glass.

“With my works of art, I want to highlight the existence of ideology and the related problem of its ubiquity in today’s society. Everything that surrounds us on a daily basis is subtly wrapped in attractive objects, stories and ideas that entice us to trust them and follow them blindly. With my artwork, I want to draw attention to the importance of a realistic view of everything around us. In appearance, the soft and mystical glass objects invite you to touch the glass surface by the abstract image and flowing colours, thus distorting the true image of glass as a material that is still cold and fragile.

Kaja Upelj’s ‘Otherworldly Bodies’ wall piece (detail).

“I always strive to find methods and material that will correlate with my concept and my vision. This can often be quite challenging, but it leads me to discover new materials and ways of working.

“Innovative materials are highly priced or might not be easily accessible, factors which affect the costs of making. Therefore, being granted a QEST scholarship enabled me to continue my research by attending Corning Museum of Glass’s course in the United States. With the financial support I received, my focus was merely the exploration of glass and the results, without any worry about the costs of travel or materials.

“Not only am I very appreciative of this opportunity, but also of QEST’s ongoing support. They exhibited my work on their stand at Collect 2020, and it featured in the QEST magazine. As an emerging artist I am continually learning how to build my career, and when searching for advice I find support in the QEST community.”

Vivienne Kelly

As well as funding glass artists creating new work, QEST supports those wanting to follow careers in conservation. Vivienne Kelly is one such recipient. She says, “I am interested in both historical and contemporary Scottish stained glass and how its conservation can inform a resurgence of the craft form in a contemporary light. My own work comes from historic research, which is informed by my practice as a conservator.

Vivienne Kelly’s ‘Scottish Folklore Window’.

“My QEST Pilgrim Trust Scholarship has enabled me to advance my conservation practice and practical glazing ability through a scholarship to attend a two-year Masters course at the University of York on stained glass conservation and heritage management. This is the only course of its kind in the English-speaking world and has produced many leading conservators worldwide.

“Currently I am in year one of the MA and have achieved distinctions on several papers focusing on Scottish stained glass, one of which may help me gain funding for further conservation of a window I have written about. This May, I assisted ICON-accredited conservator Linda Cannon with the conservation of Douglas Strachan’s stained glass at the Scottish National War Memorial in Edinburgh Castle, overseen by Historic Environment Scotland.

“On 14 June 2021 I started a placement at world-leading stained glass conservation studio Glasmalerei Peters in Paderborn Germany, where my practical glazing skills and theoretical conservation knowledge will be put to the test.”

Grace Ayson

Another stained glass artist and conservator is Grace Ayson. She brings this review of QEST scholars right up to date, being one of two glass artists to receive funding in 2020.

Grace comments, “I have a deep respect for the traditions of my craft and have spent a great deal of my professional life restoring historically important windows using traditional materials and techniques. In my work as an artist, I always strive to push the possibilities of traditional techniques and materials to make new work and engage with the materials of stained glass in new and exciting ways. I firmly believe that the craft of stained glass in its traditional form can be reinvigorated and carried forward by looking beyond the usual parameters of conventional practice. I want to combine contemporary art and the innovative use of traditional craft. I like to combine the precision of line and spontaneity of brush stroke in my painting style.

“Due to the pandemic my scholarship activities have been delayed and are just about to begin. I’m so excited! However, since being awarded the scholarship, I have already felt the benefits of being a QEST Allchurches Trust Scholar in the interest in my work.”

Detail of painted stained glass panel by Grace Ayson.

Katherine Huskie

CGS members may have seen Katherine Huskie’s live presentation about her work as part of the series of CGS Talks on Wednesday evenings. Katherine is also well known as half of the Devereux & Huskie glassworks duo. Additonally, she was a successful applicant for QEST funding in 2020.

Katherine explains, “I have been a glass blower for over a decade and have such a passion and love for glass. It has taken me all over the world and I have worked with, and for, a number of incredible artists. I am drawn to texture, whether it is in nature or manmade, and my hot glass reflects this.

“In 2019 I took a course in neon and instantly realised I needed to know more. I began experimenting and soon knew that I needed formal training. I was awarded a QEST Company of Arts’ Scholars Scholarship to do a month one-to-one training with a neon master. I will begin my formal training this month (June 2021).

Katherine Huskie is exploring the use of neon and hot glass, as seen here in this close up of her work (2021).

“I am currently combining my passion for hot glass and neon by making large-scale neon wall art that has a hot glass panel. QEST is an incredible organisation – not only with the scholarship, but with the lectures and online support. Everyone wants to help and further your journey with them.”

Read more about each of these glass artists – and many more – in the Directory on the QEST website.

The next round of applications for QEST funding is open between 12 July and 16 August 2021. Find out more about what is needed for your application on the QEST website.

Main feature image: London Craft Week 2020 glass by Timothy Harris, on display at British perfumers, Floris. Photo: Dan Weill.

And finally, if you are not yet a member of CGS, why not join today and get access to a host of glass artists and glass collectors providing informative and entertaining talks on video about their work and collections? This is just one benefit of becoming a member.

GAS invites proposals for Tacoma 2022

The Glass Art Society (GAS) is celebrating its 50-year anniversary in 2022 with an international conference. The event will be held at Tacoma, Washington, in the USA from 18-22 May 2022 and conference proposals are invited now.

GAS will explore the past 50 years of glass and discuss what the next 50 years could hold for making, collecting and educating.

So, if you would like to take part, why not submit your conference proposal now? All applications should support GAS’s mission to “connect, inspire and empower all facets of the global glass community”.

Presentations can be in the form of: demonstrations (up to 2 hours) featuring hot, cold, flame and neon glassmaking; lecture/demonstrations (1.5 hours) combining a lecture, with pre-made materials, and a live demonstration; lectures (1 hour) for anyone from emerging artists to educators, established professional and curators; panels (1.5 hours) presenting innovative and unique topics by artists, experts and educators; and other formats, such as film, performance and workshops (up to 1.5 hours).

You do not need to be a member of GAS to submit a presentation proposal and you can be located anywhere in the world.

All proposals must be submitted by the deadline of 11.59pm PDT on 18 July 2021.

Find out the full details and apply via this link on the GAS website.

Norwood Viviano: Charting change

Norwood Viviano’s glass work investigates the effects of industry and population shifts on the landscape over time. He uses digital 3D computer modelling and printing technology, alongside glass blowing and glass casting processes, to create his micro models of these macro changes. Glass Network digital’s editor, Linda Banks, finds out more.

What led you to start working with glass?
I have an undergraduate degree in Glass and Sculpture from Alfred University. Initially, it was the community and comradery of the hot shop that drew me to glass. I loved working with people to share in the creative process of making work. While I don’t always work in hot glass now, it’s the strong and supportive glass community that keeps me engaged with the material. I could also add that glass is unlike any other material. It certainly has its challenges, but rewards you with what it does with transparency, light, and colour.

What glass techniques have you used in your career and why do you have a preference for cast glass today?
I’ve spent my career working with multiple materials and processes, including glass. This includes metal fabrication, bronze casting, and digital fabrication. However, in the last 10 years, I’ve primarily split my time between working in hot glass and kiln cast glass. I’m drawn to working in glass by both the beauty of the material and the challenges of working it. Kiln cast glass affords me several opportunities to combine content or ideas and shapes together. I find the mould making process affords me several steps to consider how ideas will develop and play out within a piece.

‘Recasting Grand Rapids’. Each sculpture in the ‘Recast’ series combines imagery from a particular US city’s manufacturing past with the current architecture of the urban landscape.

Can you tell us something about how you developed your working methods? How did you come to combine digital 3D computer modelling and printing techniques with glass blowing and casting?
I’ve been teaching digital 3D modelling and 3D printing for nearly 20 years. I was drawn to working with this new technology early on by the accuracy and aesthetic.

I’ve always enjoyed the process of making moulds. These processes are now deeply embedded in manufacturing and foundry practices. Therefore, it was a fairly natural progression to working with the 3D computer modelling and printing techniques with glass – especially for someone who has a focus on casting.

Creating the mould for ‘Recasting Philadelphia’.

In addition to 3D computer modelling and printing techniques with glass, I also use LiDar 3wd scan data. Essentially, this is a 3D laser scan of the Earth, which provides a 3D model or snapshot of the landscape. The LiDar can be converted into a file for 3D printing, which, in turn, can be kiln cast in glass.

The finished piece, ‘Recasting Philadelphia’.

What is your favourite tool or piece of equipment and why?
There’s so many. I would initially say my hands, my brain, and my computer.

Beyond those, I have new Paragon Ovation kiln that’s been a good addition to my studio. It’s deeper than my other kilns, at nearly 57cm. This kiln gives me the opportunity to work deeper or create more complex pieces. It’s been a game changer and perfect for when I developed work for the new Recast Cities exhibition.

What messages do you want to covey to your audience through your glass work, such as the Recast Citiesseries or the Cities Underwater project?
The following direct quote from Sarah Darro’s essay for the Recast Cities exhibition, at Heller Gallery in New York, is a good answer:

“Recast Cities merges urban landscapes with the symbols of industry that have fueled their booms, busts, and builds. A gleaming combustion engine fuses with the bustling metropolis of Detroit. A set of Libbey Hobstar glasses support a hole-punched Toledo skyline. An undulating tree stump contains downtown Portland. A steel I-beam bolsters the golden triangle of Pittsburgh and its forked waterways. Manhattan’s imposing, iconic skyline rises out of a stack of newspapers. Norwood Viviano’s latest series is a lyrical, surrealist departure from the distilled aesthetic of data visualization that has come to define his oeuvre. It extends his decades-long conceptual project of charting change in cities and populations wrought by industry over time but encodes the works with newfound self-reflexivity. The nebulous boundaries between the objects at the base of the sculptures and maps at their surfaces make the viewer critically aware of the constructed nature of cartographic space, while the story of American industrialization told through each of his chosen cities is also materially embodied by the works, which are themselves made from technologies, processes, and materials born out of those industries.”

‘Recasting Pittsburgh’. “A steel I-beam bolsters the golden triangle of Pittsburgh and its forked waterways” – Sarah Darro.
‘Recasting Pittsburgh’ – work in progress.

Do you have a favourite piece you have made? Why is it your favourite?
In the Recast series, ‘Recasting Detroit’ stands out. Not only was it the first experiment that led to a new, larger body of work, but it also pushed me to learn a lot more about kiln casting. It’s also a bridge piece between my older Mining Industries kiln cast glass series and the new Recast series. I made this piece while working as a fellow at Wheaton Arts in Milleville, New Jersey. Recasting Detroit started out purely as an experiment and turned into a solo exhibition four years later. Over the last decade, residencies and fellowships have given me the time to experiment and explore new ideas.

Where do you show and sell your work?
For the last 10 years, my primary dealer has been Heller Gallery, New York, NY. I recently opened my fourth solo exhibition there in March 2021. My work can also be found in the collections of the Corning Museum of Glass, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Shanghai Museum of Glass, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery.

‘Recasting Toledo’. “Libbey Hobstar glasses support a hole-punched Toledo skyline” – Sarah Darro.

Do you have a career highlight?
The four-person invitational exhibition at the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery in 2016 was a career highlight. Not only was my work shown alongside that of other incredible artists, but it gave my work the broadest audience to date. This exhibit was a springboard for several opportunities since.

Having Global Cities acquired by the Corning Museum of Glass was a career highlight as well. When I was a student at Alfred University, I visited Corning several times a year, drawn by the quality of the collection and the fact that it was only a one-hour drive away. When this project was acquired, it was hard to believe that my work stood up to the strength and quality of the other pieces in the museum.

Who or what inspires you?
Landscape and people always amaze me. Much of my work explores the landscape in some way, but it’s so much about how people influence and change the landscape. For the last 10 years, my work documents the power dynamic between industry and community and how it played out over time.

‘Recasting Portland’. The city stands on an undulating tree stump.

How has the coronavirus pandemic impacted your practice?
The pandemic was challenging in so many ways. I’m very fortunate that I haven’t known many people who were sick with Covid. I was prepping for my solo exhibition at Heller Gallery as the pandemic hit. Making work, having assistants in my studio, and sourcing materials was pretty challenging. The pandemic forced me to be resourceful and try some new ways of thinking about processes. Early on in the pandemic, I had to develop work on a smaller scale so that I could handle it myself. I also had to reorganise tasks for my studio assistants to do without being in the same physical space. In the end, I’ve felt more productive during the pandemic, but it has made me rethink a lot my process and strategies for working with glass.

Norwood Viviano during his residency at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.

About the artist
Norwood Viviano received a BFA from Alfred University and an MFA in Sculpture from the Cranbrook Academy of Art.

He is an Associate Professor and Sculpture Program Coordinator at Grand Valley State University.

Work from his installation ‘Cities: Departure & Deviation’ was shown at the 2014 Architecture Biennale in Venice. In 2015, he had a solo exhibition at the Grand Rapids Art Museum and his work was included in the MFA Boston exhibition Crafted: Object in Flux. In 2016, he had a solo exhibit at the Chrysler Museum of Art and his art was included in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery exhibition, Visions and Revisions: Renwick Invitational.

His pieces are held in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; DeYoung Museum, San Francisco, CA; Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY; Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague; John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI; and the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA, as well as in private collections.

Find out more about Norwood Viviano and his work via his website.

Photographs: All professional images by Tim Thayer/Robert Hensleigh. Process images by Norwood Viviano. Main feature image: ‘Recasting Detroit’ by Norwood Viviano.

Glasgow graduates’ Art of Glass exhibition

Recent graduates from The City of Glasgow College will be presenting a curated collection of thought-provoking glass at the Art of Glass exhibition in Stirling, Scotland, this June.

The show is hosted by the Made in Stirling Store and presents work from the college’s HNC Art & Design/Art Glass course of 2019-2020.

The mixed media nature of the course led to a display of art combining traditional techniques and experimental craftmanship. Stained glass, kiln formed glass, casting and painted glass are all represented.

The exhibitors hope to inspire others to consider glass, in its many forms, as a new medium of artistic expression and increase awareness of the course nationwide.

Alongside the physical exhibition there will be an online tour and IGTV specials presented on Instagram via @madeinstirlingstore.

Made in Stirling Store is a show-and-sell concept shop and part of an award-winning charity arts project produced by its umbrella charity, Creative Stirling. Paul Jenkins, lead creative and curator, said, “We’re so happy we can finally provide the recent graduates with a dedicated, designed space within our store to showcase their artworks. It has been brilliant to see the exhibitors and our team in store become energised once again.”

Graduate Shonah Escombe, whose work is pictured, commented, “With such an abrupt end to our course and when it all finished without celebration the way it did, for obvious reasons, we did not realise how much this show meant to us until we started working with the team at Made in Stirling Store.

“Now it feels like we are having the end-of-year show we should have had. We are all excited about seeing each other again and getting that final push onto our individual artistic paths.”

Made in Stirling Store is at 44 King Street, Stirling FK81AY, Scotland. The Art of Glass exhibition runs from 7 June to 4July 2021. It is open daily from 10am-5pm, with free admission.

Image of glass by Shonah Escombe as part of her ‘Gin & Tonic’ collection. Photo: Made in Stirling Store. 

Three glass crafts join HCA’s ‘critically endangered’ list

The UK’s Heritage Crafts Association (HCA) has added 20 traditional crafts to its ‘critically endangered’ category in its Red List of Endangered Crafts 2021.

The craft skills listed in this section are those deemed to be on the verge of extinction in the UK. Skills under threat in the glass field include glass eye making, brilliant cutting and mouth-blown sheet glass making.

Glass eye making

Glass eye making is the making of prosthetic eyes from cryolite glass. While glass eyes were once widely made in the UK and were the standard choice, most are now made from PMMA (poly methyl methacrylate), also known as acrylic glass.

Cryolite is a specialised white glass which becomes translucent at high temperatures. It has been specially developed for artificial eyes and is produced by specialised glassworks. The coloured parts are added in coloured glass.

There are some who argue that glass eyes are better for some patients and that they look more like the natural eye.

There are three practitioners in the UK, including one trainee.

Brilliant cutting

Brilliant cutting involves cutting a pattern into flat glass with a rotating stone wheel. The cuts are then smoothed with polishing powders using a felt wheel. The process was common in the UK in the 19th century, with most towns boasting cut glass craftsmen, gilders and signwriters. Brilliant cut glass is associated with traveller and fairground culture and communities, as well as with the British pub and pub culture.

Learning brilliant cutting is labour intensive and the materials are expensive. There are fewer than 10 professional practitioners in the UK.

Mouth-blown sheet glass

The technique of producing mouth-blown glass sheets dates back to the 12th century. It remains popular today for stained glass and for restoration projects.

Molten glass is gathered on the end of a blowpipe and coloured by rolling it in intensely coloured globs of glass, known as frit. The glass is gradually blown and shaped into a bulb shape during continuous reheating. Once the right shape is achieved the hot glass is cut open at both ends, making it an open cylinder or tube, which then has to cool and anneal. It is then cut along its length and reheated, while being carefully flattened out to become a sheet of coloured glass.

The last remaining company that makes mouth-blown sheet glass in the UK is English Antique Glass, which has one master craftsman and two trainees who are learning the trade.

Definition of critically endangered crafts

Critically endangered crafts include those with very few practitioners, few (if any) trainees and a lack of viable training routes by which the skills can be passed on. Often, they serve very niche markets, and craftspeople cannot afford to step away from production to train their successors for fear those markets will disappear.

However, no new crafts have become extinct in the past two years, and some have seen an upturn in their fortunes. In many cases, this is because of a new-found appreciation of the handmade and the need to support small businesses during the pandemic. In others, it has been due to direct HCA grant support, which has distributed 27 grants of up to £2,000 each, as part of its Endangered Crafts Fund, set up in 2019.

The Fund was established to ensure that the most at-risk heritage crafts in the UK are supported to thrive. It is used to support makers and trainees who wish to develop or share their skills in the crafts identified as most at risk.

For the purposes of this research, a heritage craft is defined as “a practice which employs manual dexterity and skill and an understanding of traditional materials, design and techniques, and which has been practised for two or more successive generations”. The research focuses on craft practices taking place in the UK today, including crafts which have originated elsewhere.

Mary Lewis, who led the research on behalf of the HCA, supported by funding from The Pilgrim Trust, said: “COVID-19 has been tough on everyone, not least the craftspeople who possess our most fundamental craft skills. Society is rapidly changing around us, and it is more important than ever that we are aware of the cultural assets still available to us, so that we can have an informed debate about what we want to safeguard as a resource for the future. If we allow endangered crafts to disappear then we seriously diminish the opportunities for future generations to create their own sustainable and fulfilling livelihoods, based on these skills.”

According to the HCA, whilst the UK has been a world-leader in the preservation of tangible heritage (museum collections, buildings and monuments), it has fallen behind when it comes to the safeguarding of intangible heritage (knowledge, skills and practices).

Of 193 UNESCO members, the UK is one of 13 that have not yet ratified the 2003 Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage, and government responsibility for heritage crafts falls in the gap between agencies set up to support arts and heritage.

The HCA Red List of Endangered Crafts 2021 edition is available to view online via: https://heritagecrafts.org.uk/redlist/

Have your say at Making Futures 2021

Plymouth College of Art is inviting you to contribute to the next edition of Making Futures, an international biennial conference that explores contemporary art, craft, design-to-make and other forms of artisanal production.

The event investigates and promotes sustainable and socially engaged practices and maps the emerging trend towards locally-embedded and environmentally responsible production and distribution.

This ninth Making Futures event has an overall theme of ‘Re-crafting the Local-Global Maker Relationship’ and will take place online on 16 September 2021. It will consist of three, thematically linked sessions, each of two hours’ duration. Each session will be led by a facilitator and a keynote speaker.

Contributions lasting no more than ten minutes are invited on the three themes. Session one is titled ‘Re-crafting the Local-Global Maker Relationship’; Session two is ‘Life Cycles of Material Worlds’, and Session three is ‘Resilience Through Leadership and Organisational Form’.

Reflecting the online format, those that include visual presentations are encouraged, and moving image/audio-visual content is welcome.

Contributions can be delivered ‘live’ at the event or recorded and made available on social media before and after the event.

If you wish to take part, please provide an abstract of not more than 350 words outlining your contribution, together with a short biographical statement (5-6 lines), email contact details, institutional affiliation (if any), whether the contribution will be live or recorded and whether you wish to include moving image or audio-visual content.

Contributions should be emailed to: makingfutures@pca.ac.uk by the closing date of 30 June 2021.

Curated by Malcolm Ferris since 2009, Making Futures has become acknowledged as one of the leaders in its field, with editions taking place in China, South Korea and the Philippines.

Main image: Delegates attending Making Futures 2017, which took place at the Mount Edgcumbe estate. Photo: Dom Moore.

Simone Crestani: Capturing the clash between man and nature

Italian flameworker Simone Crestani melds tradition and innovation to create contemporary glassworks that juxtapose fragile, yet hard, contours with elegant design. Linda Banks finds out more from this talented glass artisan.

What led you to start working with glass?
I started to work for a glass factory back in 2000 when I was 15. It was supposed to be just a summer job. However, I immediately knew that it was my ‘cup of tea’ and decided to stay. So that’s it… a summer that has lasted for 21 years!

What glass techniques have you used in your career and why do you have a preference for flame worked glass today?
I have dedicated all my career to flameworking, working with borosilicate glass exclusively. I believe it’s important to focus on a single technique to get great technical results.

Can you tell us something about how you developed your glass working methods? Do you draw your designs out or dive straight in with the materials?
I usually do a lot of research before starting a new work/collection, but then I go straight to the material. Somehow, that works easier than drawing for me. Also, this approach leaves space for improvisation, which is something I really enjoy.

Simone Crestani at work in his studio.

What is your favourite tool or piece of equipment and why?
This is an interesting question for me because it makes me think how much my way of working has changed over the years.

I learned to work glass in a factory where we used only a few tools to make everything. For years I worked with just an old torch, a pair of tweezers and some pieces of graphite.

But, as my work has become more refined, I have added new items of equipment. Now I have many tools that I cannot live without, which I was not using before.

What message do you want to covey to your audience through your glass work? What is the thinking behind your trophy pieces, for example?
All my sculptural works aim to investigate the relationship between humans and nature. I am fascinated by moments in which nature and man connect, meet and merge. Sometimes our impact on it is sustainable, but most of the time is not. That’s what I want to say – I want to teach people to respect our beautiful world.

Your bonsai pieces are magical. What led you to make this series?
My father is an amateur bonsai grower, and I grew up surrounded by all his little trees. When I first started to make them in glass, I probably didn’t realise how closely they related to my own philosophy.

Simone with his work ‘Teschio’.

I admire the power of nature. Man uses a great deal of energy to control, conquer and bend it, but nature always finds a way of having the last word. In this continuous search for equilibrium, opposing forces fight; strength against fragility, impetuousness against steadfastness, planning against spontaneity. I don’t care who wins the fight; my goal is to immortalise the clash, the exchange, the fight.

‘Sakura’ (2018) by Simone Crestani. Photo: Alberto Parise.

Can you tell us about your collaborations with other designers? What are the benefits of working with them?
I have collaborated with other designers a few times in the past, but I cannot say that I enjoy the experience. However, I find it very interesting to collaborate with other artists or craftsmen that use different materials to mine. Somehow that makes me think outside the box and sometimes it results in some nice ideas.

Do you have a favourite piece you have made? Why is it your favourite?
I don’t think I have a favourite one, but I still love some of my earliest pieces, because they have some spontaneous imperfections that I would ‘t be able to replicate today.

Where do you show and sell your work?
I sell and show my work all over the world, but mostly in the US. Recently, my work has moved more and more online.

‘Glass Bonsai’ (2020). Photo: Alberto Parise.

Do you have a career highlight?
Last year I was awarded the title of ‘Master of arts and craft’ from Fodazione Cologni, which is the Italian institution for crafts. That meant a lot to me.

Who or what inspires you?
Nature, of course. I spend a lot of my time outdoors and I love to observe the life around me and translate it into glass.

How has the coronavirus impacted your practice?
I would say that it has changed my practice in a positive way. It slowed down my way of working and improved my online market. Both of these are changes that I want to maintain in the future.

About the artist
Simone Crestani, born in 1984 near Venice, is an Italian glass artist and designer, based in Vicenza (Veneto). He started to work glass at Massimo’s Lunardon factory when he was 15 and opened his own studio, Atelier Crestani, in 2010. Here, he developed his own ways of working borosilicate glass with the torch, which he terms the Hollow Sculpture technique.

In the last 10 years he has exhibited at many prestigious places around the world. He is also an instructor and visiting artist at some of the most important international glass centres.

Find out more about Simone Crestani and his work via his website.

Main feature image: ‘Aesthetic Tension’ (2019).

UN approves 2022 as International Year of Glass

At the May 2021 meeting of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, the International Year of Glass (IYoG2022) was approved for 2022.

This means that thousands of glass-related events will be held around the world to highlight glass in 2022. The plan is to hold congresses and seminars, industrial fairs and glass school exhibitions, plus features in the main scientific magazines in the sector.

Efforts towards this goal began in 2018, backed by the support of more than 1,500 organisations and institutions from 78 countries on five continents. Universities and research centres, societies and associations, museums, artists and educators, manufacturers and companies from all over the world promoted the idea. The International Commission on Glass (ICG), the Community of Glass Associations and ICOM-Glass worked together towards this outcome.

Professor Alicia Duran, President of the ICG said, “I have to thank from the heart the enormous effort made by the Spanish Mission at United Nations, which has led the project. My ambassador, Agustín Santos Maraver, and Ana Alonso, have struggled and advanced through the difficult twists and turns of diplomacy in such arduous times.

“Also, to all the national organisations, societies, museums and companies that have responded to this call. I have to cite some special persons as David Pye and John Parker, without forgetting the many experts and colleagues that collaborated to write the splendid documents that justified our project and all that were always available to connect with your Foreign ministries and UN Missions to ask for support.”

Read more about some of the activities planned in our previous news story and visit the IYoG2022 website.

Julie Light: Art under the microscope

Pate de verre artist Julie Light likes to represent aspects of the human body in unconventional ways. In this interview with CGS Glass Network’s digital editor, Linda Banks, she explains the evolution of her glass practice and how she adapted her methods to complete a contemporary glass commission with a scientific theme, despite the constraints of lockdown.

It’s been a difficult year for many artists – what have you been working on?
I’ve been very lucky from that point of view. Days before the first UK lockdown started, I visited labs at Leeds University, in the UK, having won a commission to respond to research to discover whether membrane-disrupting peptides could be used to develop new cancer treatments. The commission is destined to be displayed in the Clinical Research Facility at St James’ University Hospital in Leeds, where patients take part in research trials.

My studio is at home, so over the next nine months of lockdowns and the closure of the labs, I was still able to collaborate with the Leeds-based scientists at home via Zoom and to experiment in my studio to create the final piece, Diorama 1. Trying to show people samples and textures over Zoom is a real challenge, as a webcam doesn’t convey the details well at all, but we managed to find ways around that using images and screenshares.

The isolation of the lockdowns allowed me to work on developing a style of pate de verre which incorporated different textures of glass, to mirror some of the phenomena that informed the team’s research work. I also experimented with other techniques and ideas. It was a joy for me to be involved in creating a piece that celebrated research into treatment for a pervasive and life-threatening disease, but it was also a blessing that the disease was not Covid, because that was dominating everything else at that time.

Diorama 1 (Z Stack Detail), Photo: Robyn Manning Photography.

I have not been able to take the artwork to Leeds yet, owing to the travel and hospital restrictions, but I am delighted that I have been able to show Diorama 1 as part of a virtual international online exhibition of glass art created during the pandemic. You can see the show now at www.viralglass.org.

A lot of your work deals with scientific themes. What message do you want to convey with your art?
As soon as I began making glass art, I started to explore themes around medicine and the body, and this interest continued to develop until I found myself studying for an MA in Art & Science at Central St Martin’s College a couple of years ago. I am extremely interested in how medical technologies allow us to experience our bodies visually in different ways, and so my artwork is often centred on unconventional representations of the body in health and disease.

A lot of us come across medical images in relation to our own health and wellbeing. When I had this experience myself, I began to ask, what does it mean to see yourself from the inside out, as we do with x-rays and MRI scans? How easily can we tell if a scan is actually of our own body? (I can tell you from experience that sometimes it’s not easy at all!) And what happens when we see our cells through a microscope? Do we know what we’re looking at?  I would love to think that my artwork helps stimulate conversations and contemplation around these types of issues.

Cellscape (Detail), Photo: Julie Light.

I am also very interested in how forms and structures within our bodies influence our physical experiences. For example, the different shapes of some mutations of blood cells can create a variety of health conditions related directly to the shape of the cell.  That is what inspired my Blood Morphology Series.

Blood Morphology Series, Photo: Robyn Manning Photography.

How did you get started with glass?
I came to work with glass by complete chance. I had been in a corporate job for many years and was feeling a bit stifled, but then I heard about a Norwegian artist, Nico Widerberg, who uses cast glass. Despite the fact that I hadn’t made any artwork for a very long time, I knew I would love to try casting glass myself, so I signed up for a weekend to learn the basics. I was lucky that the course was taught by Fiaz Elson, who is a gifted teacher as well as an amazing artist.

I never looked back. Within a few weeks, I had found a studio space and a kiln and was practising casting small pieces. I continued to learn from other wonderful teachers, developing my skills at evening classes with Max Jacquard and then Angela Thwaites at Richmond Art School. I have also been lucky enough to participate in a couple of masterclasses at Northlands Creative. My first casting – of a human vertebra – was made about 12 years ago and I am as excited to experiment with different ideas and techniques now as I was back then.

Snow Wheels, Photo: Robyn Manning.

What techniques are you using at the moment?
I still do some casting and coldworking, but recently I have been focusing much more on pate de verre. The work I did creating Diorama 1 has led to a whole new set of pieces using the different pate de verre techniques I developed for that piece, incorporating different textures and applying external decoration.

Sea Creatures (work in progress). Photo: Julie Light.

The result is the series of ‘fantasy sea creature’ vessels that I am making at present. These have a ‘backstory’ that the creatures evolved as hybrids between sea slugs and the plastic bottles that pollute the oceans. I’m still working on what the final installation might look like, as well as on perfecting the pate de verre process for creating them – and I am having enormous fun in the process.

Sea Creature (work in progress). Photo: Julie Light.

Where do you show and sell your work?
Some of the work I make can be quite challenging and is not what everyone wants in their living room, although I have been surprised – and delighted – to find that some people do!  Most often, I show my science-based work in exhibitions with a relevant theme or at institutions with a science focus, or it has been made as a specific commission.

A couple of online galleries stock my work, and I also find that a significant proportion of enquiries about sales come via my website. My next step is to create a dedicated shop page so that people can see what I have available.

I have just finished a five-year term as Chair of Just Glass, a group of more than 60 glass artists who have come together through learning warm glass techniques via adult education. Until the recent restrictions, we were holding shows regularly, and it has been a wonderful experience to exhibit my work with that of fellow members, as well as to help organise and curate these shows.

Find more of Julie’s work at www.julielight.co.uk or follow her on Instagram or Facebook as Julie Light Glass.

About the artist
Julie Light was born and brought up in London. After a career at the BBC, during which time she gained a Masters and PhD in Media, she started casting glass in 2009. As part of her training in glass she studied for an HNC in 3D Craft Design at Richmond Art School and went on to receive a distinction in her MA in Art & Science at Central St Martins, University of the Arts London.

Julie has exhibited her work across the UK, at galleries, gardens, museums and hospitals. She often creates work collaboratively, and has completed a number of projects making and curating artwork with scientists, policy makers, and fellow artists, notably at The Royal Society, Kings College, London, and Imperial College, London.

Julie continues to serve on the committee of Just Glass, and works from her studio at home in Surrey.

Main feature image: Julie Light with Diorama 1, commissioned by Leeds University. Photo: Ernesto Rogata.

John Piper stained glass cartoon in Henley exhibition

Henley-on-Thames’ River & Rowing Museum reopens on 20 May 2021 with a new display in its John Piper Gallery, entitled ‘Painting in Coloured Light’.

The centrepiece of the exhibition is John Piper’s vibrant cartoon for a stained glass window for All Saints Church, Farnborough, West Berkshire. The work was made in memory of the renowned artist’s close friend and collaborator, Sir John Betjeman, in the mid-1980s. It was the last stained glass window Piper designed before he died in 1992.

Piper and Betjeman (1906-1984), the Poet Laureate, writer and broadcaster, shared a close friendship, along with a love of the British landscape and churches, embarking on many a ‘church crawl’ together.

Butterfly and moth collage on gouache and ink background: detail from the Farnborough cartoon for All Saints Church, West Berkshire, by John Piper. © The Piper Estate / DACS 2021.

The window design features fish, a tree and butterflies. The central ‘Tree of Life’, with its brightly coloured fruit and flowers, suggests resurrection and eternal life. It was created in Piper’s barn studio at Fawley Bottom near Henley-on-Thames, where he created large-scale designs for stained glass windows and the theatre.

John Piper in his studio at Fawley Bottom, cutting the design for a stained glass window commissioned for Arthur Sanderson and Sons Ltd, 1959. Photo: Elsbeth Juda. With kind permission of Siobhan Davies. © The Piper Estate / DACS 2021.

The cartoon hung in Piper’s home there for many years and was loaned to the River & Rowing Museum by the Piper family in late 2018.

The cartoon has been expertly conserved, bringing its rich colours back to life and offering a close-up view of Piper’s techniques for creating stained glass windows.

His lifelong interest in stained glass began as a boy, when he traced the stained glass windows near his home in Surrey and on family holidays. This interest led to Piper designing more than 60 stained glass windows during his career, using a blend of ‘traditional’ early stained glass and modernism. His work is found in locations from local churches to major cathedrals, including Coventry and Liverpool.

Talking about how them medium of glass had captured him, Piper remarked, “Stained glass is a great leader astray of anyone who works at it – designer and craftsman alike. In terms of colour and form it is eccentric. Colour is abnormally bright, since the light comes through the material instead of being reflected from the surface; tone is usually dictated by bounding leads or area joints of some kind. The whole thing is imprisoned within glazing bars that form an inexorable grid and are structurally necessary. This is its proper splendid discipline.”

The Gallery highlights Piper’s lifelong passion for stained glass and his exploration of this medium, influenced by the medieval windows he encountered from childhood. It opened in 2016 and features works from private and public collections that demonstrate Piper’s artistic versatility, ranging from drawing and painting to stained glass and ceramics.

A general admission ticket to the River & Rowing Museum includes entry to the John Piper Gallery and the ‘Painting in Coloured Light’ exhibition. The Museum is open Thursday to Monday (10am-4pm) from 20 May 2021. Pre-booking is essential and tickets are on sale via this link. Booking is available up to 21 June 2021 in the first instance, but future dates will become available on a rolling basis.

Main image: Detail from stained glass window at All Saints Church, Farnborough, West Berkshire, featuring symbols of The Resurrection: fishes; tree of life; butterflies. Designed by John Piper and made by Joseph Nuttgens. Photo: Andrew Loutit. © The Piper Estate / DACS 2021.