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Sparkling glass winners of concert presentation piece commission

There were two winners chosen to create glass thank you gifts for participants in a charity carol concert in December 2020 – Allister Malcolm, who designed a festive bauble, and Nancy Sutcliffe, who made shooting star paperweights.

The virtual carol service idea came about when glass collector and CGS Member, Mark Holford, heard that his City of London livery company, the Information Technologists, had decided to cancel its annual carol service. Mark’s wife Sarah is a trustee of City-based VOCES8 which is one of the world’s leading a cappella groups, so they decided to hold a virtual concert instead.

Things got out of hand when the Lord Mayor of the City of London decided to merge his carol service to create Carols for the City. Mark and Sarah had less than two months to organise it. Seven readers had to be found and recorded, as well as some of the music, plus a 30-minute introduction had to be filmed and edited by VOCES8. The ultimate networking exercise produced a distinguished list of participants, all figures with City of London connections, including the Lord Mayor, HRH Prince Edward, the Bishop of London, the Lord Lieutenant of Greater London and the Governor of the Bank of England. In addition, television personality Dame Mary Berry agreed to read one of the lessons; even she has a City of London connection, being an honorary Freeman of the Bakers’ Company!

On the night of 8 December, 3,000 people watched and the event exceeded its fundraising target of £50,000.

Mark wanted to thank all those who had taken part and decided that a fitting way to do this was to commission a piece of glass. Fifteen people responded, all of whom had great ideas. The two winners were Allister Malcolm and Nancy Sutcliffe. Alistair was commissioned to make 40 Christmas baubles, each one numbered and signed, that were given to the participants.

Commenting on the choice of Allister to make the baubles, Mark said: “Both Allister and Nancy had excellent but very different ideas. I chose Allister for the baubles because he is an honorary Freeman of the Glass Sellers’ livery company (of which I am also a Liveryman). It emphasised the City of London nature of the event. Generally, this was an excellent opportunity to promote studio glass to some very distinguished people. All of them were delighted.”

One of the baubles Allister Malcom designed.

Allister commented: “It was an unexpected privilege to be part of such an amazing event and a lovely festive commission to finish the year. I wanted to create a piece which encapsulated my style and celebrated the skills within our team. Applying precious metal leaf to the surface of molten glass at over 1000 degrees gives beautiful, unique results whilst challenging our skills to control the process. The limited-edition run was a joy to create and hopefully the recipients will cherish them for years to come.” You can see the making of the bauble in this short video.

However, Mark had also wanted to commission someone to make general thank you presents and Nancy’s idea perfectly met that brief. He explained: “A piece of glass of this beauty is much more interesting and certainly longer lasting than a bottle of champagne!”

Nancy Sutcliffe’s shooting start paperweight.

Speaking about her design, Nancy said: “This was my response to the challenge! An engraved optical glass paperweight gilded with a white gold leaf shooting star and sitting on a wooden base. I was delighted to be commissioned to make these pieces.”

Mark reported that he had received nothing but wonderful emails about the service, many of which contain the word ‘brilliant’. If you want to watch it, tickets are £5, all of which goes to four charities benefitting people throughout the UK. Go to www.carolsforthecity.org. The recording is available until 15 January 2021.

Dual artist in residence opportunity for Scottish Highlands and Berlin artists

Applications are invited from artists based in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland and Berlin, Germany, to take part in a dual artist in residence (AiR) placement starting in March 2021.

The placement will take place at North Lands Creative in Scotland and Berlin Glas in Germany. It is a project organised by Imagining Sustainable Glass Network Europe (ISGNE). North Lands Creative and Berlin Glas are collaborating on this initiative to improve and increase dialogue between an artist from the Highland & Islands region in Scotland and an artist based in the city of Berlin at a time when the mobility of artists has been badly affected by the pandemic.

The four-week interdisciplinary and collaborative residency will facilitate two artists’ exploration of new ways of thinking and working, based on the sharing of experience, knowledge and skills, both physically, at the artist-designated studio location, and virtually.

The organisers are particularly interested in hearing from artists or makers who wish to explore painting and mark making on glass and the technique of mould blowing. Each residency will be supported by the studios’ technical teams, therefore experience in glass making is not essential.

The opportunity may be of interest to painters, printmakers, designers, craft makers and also non-visual artists including writers and musicians, but applicants must have an interest in exploring the medium of glass in their work. The AiR concept encourages experimental strategies aiming to provide the residency artists with the experience of accomplishing something collectively.

The residency runs for one month, from 8 March-2 April 2021. The Highlands & Islands artist will be based at North Lands Creative. They will have access to the Alastair Pilkington studio facilities, a £900 materials budget and a £900 stipend. Artists who live too far from the studio location to commute can use accommodation at North Lands Creative.

The Berlin artist will be based at Berlin Glass, with access to the Berlin Glas studio facilities, a 1000€ materials budget and a 1000€ stipend.

ISGNE is a project funded by Creative Europe and led by North Lands Creative in partnership with Berlin Glas e.V. Germany, Ltd. Stikla Maja Latvia and National College of Art and Design Ireland. Its purpose is to lead to the development of support for artists, designers, curators and cultural workers working in the field of glass across Europe, through the provision of mobility visits, residencies, exhibitions, professional transnational classes and audience development initiatives, such as artist-led community workshops, symposiums and an annual forum.

For further details about the ISGNE Dual Air, and to apply, please visit the website . Deadline for applications is 31 January 2021.

How to get more sales in 2021

You have designed and created your unique artworks, but where are the buyers? Glass Network digital’s Editor, Linda Banks, suggests that an optimised website with great content can bring them straight to you. 

Anyone serious about making a success of their business knows that working hours should probably be divided into 90% on marketing activities and 10% on everything else. This is because, if nobody knows your beautiful products exist, nobody will buy them. 

So, once you have carefully created your product range, how do you make it visible to the right people and start making sales?

One thing the COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated is that you cannot, and should not, rely on selling in person. You must have a presence online. This means having your own business website, which is secure (https, not http). Websites that are not secure are penalised by search engines and may be blocked when people try to access them. This is not what you want.

 Who or what is visiting your website?

When designing your website you must consider your audience. You may be surprised to learn that over half of the traffic coming to your website is not human at all, but ‘bots’ and ‘spiders’. These visitors will not be interested in how pretty your images are or whether you have an attractive layout – they will be checking how often your website is being updated with new content and how relevant the content is to users. They use ever-advancing machine learning to ‘read’ your website content and decide whether it is valuable to humans. This means that the words on your website are hugely important – as is the frequency with which you update content. Useful blogs and content that are posted regularly to your website will be seen favourably by the machines and, as a result, your website will be moved up the search engine rankings and be more likely to be found by humans.

Search intent

The other part of your website traffic is humans. In order to attract them, you need to understand their ‘search intent’. Search intent can be divided into layers, depending on where the person is in the search journey. You need content that will catch visitors at all levels of their search, from the broadest, to the most specific. For example, if you want to buy a new lawnmower but do not know where to start, you may type into the search bar, “lawnmower”. This will bring up all sorts of results, but may not help you choose the type you want or need. You will also be faced with a lot of sponsored posts from companies trying to sell you lawnmowers. 

At this point, you may decide to define your search more cleverly to help pinpoint the types of criteria you want in the lawnmower. Perhaps you want one that is for a large garden, for example. So you type in a better description of your needs and find more relevant links. You discover a link to a blog about lawn care for large gardens that mentions a range of brands of mower that are suitable. You may be impressed by the informative content, which helps you to make your decision, and note that the same company sells a selection of lawnmowers via the website. You begin to see the company as trustworthy, with an easy path to purchase, and you are more likely to buy from it. This principle should apply to your own website design. In order to attract the widest spread of purchasers, you need to think like your customer and answer the questions they will be searching for at every stage, from a vague, initial search, to a specific query. You do this through having relevant words on your website and an active blog.

The home page of your website needs a succinct description of your business and what it is about, for the benefit of both humans and machines. People have short attention spans, so you need to be clear about what you offer. For the humans, you want it to look attractive, too, especially when your products are in a creative field. But make sure your images are web-friendly and not too large, or they will take a long time to load and your visitor may be frustrated and go elsewhere. 

Regular content creation

Your website blog is where you can really use your content marketing to draw in customers. Ideally, you should be adding new content once a week. This may sound an onerous task, but if you make a content plan for the year ahead, you will soon discover that there is so much you can say and content creation ideas will come readily. Blogs do not need to be long. Around 500 words is fine, but if you find you have more to say, then a piece of 2,000 words is great, too. 

Tailor content to the reader

When talking about your latest products, tailor your blog headings to what the reader may be searching for. For example, one of the stained glass services I offer is Tiffany lamp repairs and I write about them in my blogs. I use the words ‘Tiffany lamp repair’ in the heading and in the body text (naturally, not shoe-horned in), so the bots know my post is relevant to the topic and the humans searching for that service will be shown a link to my blog post and be tempted to visit my website. On my website they can read about the various repairs I have done and see photos of the work. They begin to understand that I am an expert in this subject and trust that I will do a good job for them. I freely share my knowledge of the processes involved, so they appreciate the complexities.

From there, it is a simple click on the contact form, a call or an email and the website visitor becomes a customer and is providing you with work.

If I had titled my blog post something like ‘Another project I have finished’, that tells the reader nothing useful and does not draw traffic to the website. You need to include the key words that are relevant to search. So, while my blog post headings may seem unimaginative, they are that way for an important reason. If you offer a niche service or unusual product, writing about it is an excellent way to publicise it and attract customers online. If you don’t tell people you do it, nobody will know where to find you when they want that service or product.

As well as talking about specific projects, think about broadening your topics to catch a wider range of searchers. Like the lawnmower company talking about lawn care, think about how you can link your products or services to interior design, tv shows or fashion trends, for example, that people will be interested in and searching for already.

Spread the net with eCommerce on your website

Another important part of your website is the shop. Yes, you can put your products for sale with online retailers like Etsy, Folksy and Not on the High Street, but these platforms are swamped with sellers and you have to pay their fees. You can also sell through galleries and shops (online or in person) but, again, they charge high commission for their services. You can continue to sell with them, of course, as it is wise to have a broad range of outlets for your products, but why not also sell through your website and bank more of the profits for your hard work? If you set up a WordPress website, you can easily add a WooCommerce plugin and have your own selling space. This also means that, when you are making all that effort with your blogs to draw customers to your website, they may look at different parts of your site and, if it is easy to buy with a click, they are more likely to make an immediate purchase. 

Again, you need good quality images that are optimised for use online so they load quickly. It is also advisable to have images showing the product from several angles and in a ‘lifestyle setting’ if possible. Think like the customer – what do they need to know about the product? Make sure you cover their questions in the product description. Include the dimensions and weight, as well as colour or size options. Who, or what type of occasion, is it suitable for? Depending on what shop setup you have, you may be able to add images of similar products nearby, to tempt the customer to additional purchases.

Build a loyal fanbase

Offering a sign-up to a newsletter via your website is an excellent way to build a loyal fanbase. Attract people with a free offer or a discount. Then, once a month (or however frequently you choose), you can send out links to the latest blogs and products you have for sale, perhaps with an exclusive offer for those subscribers. This method will bring hits to the website (good for traffic statistics and search ranking) and encourage them to look at other pages and products.

You can amplify your online presence with regular posts on social channels, too, of course. But, again, these are busy platforms and increasingly being monetised by advertising that drowns out anyone who doesn’t pay for promotion. If you maintain an active focus on generating content on your own website, visitors who come via social channels will be impressed by your offering. 

The goal should be to gain organic traffic from around the globe, tempt visitors with attractive products and useful information, provide a smooth buying process and, of course, excellent customer service. Remember, whether you like it or not, you are competing with Amazon for speed of delivery, and it is vital to keep the customer informed of any delays and respond to queries swiftly. 

Yes, a good website that works for you takes planning and ongoing effort on your part, but the rewards are there for the taking, 365 days a year. 

About the author
Linda Banks is the Editor of the CGS Glass Network digital magazine. She has an established stained glass business, Orchid Stained Glass, and has worked in publishing for over 30 years, as an editor and journalist on both print and digital publications. She also runs the content creation and editorial services business, Wordbanks, where you can read more of her blogs on business topics.

New courses for CGS members
If you want further help with improving your digital skills, the CGS will be offering two courses exclusively for members in early 2021. The ‘Introduction to Social Media’ course will run from mid-February to mid/end-March 2021. This will be followed by the ‘Sell More Online’ course, from the end of March/early April onwards for six weeks. If you are not a member yet, please join now to enjoy these, and many other, benefits.

Expand your glass skills with QEST funding

Whether you want to improve your glass ability with a traditional college course, vocational training or one-to-one mentorship from a master craftsperson, the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) could provide a grant to help you realise your dream.

QEST’s mission is to sustain vital skills in traditional and contemporary crafts and contribute to excellence in the British craft industry. It does this through awarding scholarship and apprenticeship funding to talented and aspiring craftspeople. Several glass artists have benefitted from the scheme over the years, including Scott Benefield, whose ‘Pinwheel Vessels’ are featured in the main image, above.

QEST has two application rounds each year (in January and July) and the next is open from 11 January – 15 February 2021. Each scholarship is worth up to £18,000 and, in addition to training costs, can cover costs directly related to training, such as transport, equipment, materials and accommodation, as long as it is proportionate to the grant request.

The scholarships are open to any individual UK resident, aged 18 or older, who would like to improve their craft skills. QEST wants to support excellence in British craftsmanship, so is looking for established makers who are planning to stay in the UK and contribute to the craft sector.

QEST encourages applications from a broad range of crafts and is excited by contemporary craftsmanship and innovative applications of traditional craft techniques. To see the types of craft QEST has funded, and the standard of excellence needed, view the QEST Directory of alumni.

QEST is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2020. Since 1990 it has awarded nearly £5 million to 600 individuals working in over 130 different crafts.

More details on how to apply are on the QEST website: www.qest.org.uk

CGS glass artists showcase at prestigious Biscuit Factory gallery

The Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) is delighted to announce a year-long association with Newcastle’s Biscuit Factory gallery during 2021. As a result of this collaboration, CGS glass artist members now have the opportunity to submit applications for ‘The Best of the Best – a Selected Show’, where selected makers can exhibit their best work.

Each quarter in 2021, between six and eight CGS glass artist members will be represented through between three and five pieces per artist, both in the gallery and online. The first exhibition is scheduled to commence in March 2021 as part of the gallery’s Spring exhibition. At the moment, owing to the pandemic, exact dates for the show are not finalised and it may be moved back to April in line with the Gallery’s headline show for the season. This will be confirmed later.

The Biscuit Factory is the UK’s largest independent contemporary art, craft and design gallery, set in the heart of Newcastle’s cultural quarter. Housed in a former Victorian warehouse, beautiful gallery spaces are set over two floors, displaying a range of contemporary fine art, sculpture, original prints and jewellery, quality craftsmanship and design-led homewares from over 200 artists every season.

The Biscuit Factory will add its commission of 40% plus VAT to artists’ prices. Because of the problems caused by the pandemic, CGS is not adding commission to any sales. However, if you sell your work and feel able to, please contribute 5% commission (or what you can afford) towards CGS fund raising. The entry fee for each quarterly exhibition is £15 per artist (a reduced charge because of the impact of the pandemic on CGS members).

All pieces submitted with their images for consideration must be of the actual pieces presented for inclusion.

The gallery welcomes submissions of all scales, sculptural as well as functional forms, both wall hung and plinth work. It is particularly looking for contemporary examples of glass making, whether in technique, form or aesthetic.

The Biscuit Factory has several airy exhibition spaces.

The exhibitions will be promoted by the gallery via its website, social media and newsletter, and will be shown on the CGS website and shared on its social media.

CGS members who wish to take part in the first quarterly exhibition should apply by downloading the application form here: CGS at the Biscuit Factory 2021- Application for 1st Quarter FINAL 07.12.2020 and submitting it by the deadline of midnight on Monday 13 January 2021. Selections will be made, and artists notified, by Monday 1 February 2021. Work must be delivered to the gallery on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 February. Artists are responsible for sending work and collecting unsold work from the gallery (in person or by courier).

Information to keep is available to download here: THE BEST OF THE BEST EXHIBITION, NEWCASTLE 2021 – Information to Keep (preliminary) – FINAL

Feature image: Cube Gallery, first floor at the Biscuit Factory. Photographer: Graeme Peacock.

Glass characters share important recycling message

Hannah Gibson is known for her iconic cast glass figures, called Sweet Nothings, which she uses to start conversations about recycling and sustainability. Here she explains to Linda Banks how her practice has evolved, through a range of glass techniques.

What first piqued your interest in glass and working with glass?

I first became interested in glass while studying Geology at Edinburgh University. I found the concept of an amorphous solid fascinating.

Why did you choose to focus on cast glass in particular?
I have worked with glass for over two decades now. Initially, I made stained glass windows at Edinburgh Stained Glass House, before moving onto fused glass, then lampworking.

In 2015, I discovered casting. I took several courses, the first with Helga Watkins Baker at The Glass Hub, followed by others with Joseph Harrington and Max Jacquard. It was love at first sight, because I was able to combine my passions of geology and glass. It felt like alchemy to be able to interweave the two.

I studied for an MA in Glass from 2015-2017 at The University for The Creative Arts in Farnham, Surrey, returning as Artist in Residence from 2018-2019. Soon after I started my MA, I discovered that my interest lay with the glass itself. By keeping the cast shape the same, I was able to focus purely on the materiality of the glass.

As I am passionate about recycling and sustainability, I began exploring the opportunities for casting with recycled glass. I am equally passionate about showing that recycled glass can be cast and, ultimately, coldworked to a high cerium polish, which can often be time-consuming and problematic. However, I love the challenge.

Through The Looking Glass. Made from 100% recycled television screens. Photograph: Simon Bruntnell.

You are known for your ‘Sweet Nothing’ cast glass pieces. How did you decide upon their distinctive design?
My aim was to choose an immediately identifiable shape, one that hopefully brought people together, and, with it, associations of nostalgia and childhood. Keeping the figures the same meant that people soon saw beyond the shape and began to see, and question, the material itself. Each figure is called a ‘Sweet Nothing’. A pair are ‘Sweet Nothings’, because they are often found in twos, Whispering Sweet Nothings to one another. What are they whispering? “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot. Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” (Dr Seuss, The Lorax). 

You are keen on sustainability and recycling. How are these reflected in your work?
My focus is on predominantly recycled glass – from car windscreens to television glass, Marmite jars to Bombay Sapphire bottles, to glass from bus shelters and mobile phones. The opportunities for casting with recycled glass are endless.

Love it or hate it? Made from 100% recycled Marmite jars. Photograph: Simon Bruntnell.

In 2015 I started working on my current project, Recycling Narratives, Whispering Sweet Nothings. I hope the Sweet Nothing figures open a dialogue about the recycling process that makes us question where the material comes from and the transformations it goes through.Through the project, my intention is to bring people together, sharing my passion for glass, sustainability, and recycling. I have given talks in schools, universities, glass societies and craft groups, inviting guests to question and contemplate glass as a material that can be recycled again and again. If they leave with a new insight into glass, I have succeeded.

Recycling Narratives, Whispering Sweet Nothings. Photograph: Simon Bruntnell.

Do you have a favourite tool or piece of equipment?
My Kilncare kiln. A TLA 65.

What opportunities have helped you in your career in glass? 
A year as Artist in Residence at The University for The Creative Arts was an incredible opportunity. To have access to the studio space and equipment, and to be able to work alongside the students, was an amazing experience.

Who has inspired you and why?
I am incredibly fortunate to have met so many inspirational people. The world of glass is a community. Everyone is so generous with their time, knowledge and advice.

The list includes Adam Aaronson, Dawn Bendick, Robin Bussell, Ed Byrne, Ian Chadwick, Laura Donefer, Hannah Facey, Richard Glass, Max Jacquard, Naomi Jacques, Beth Jade Wood, Jon Lewis, Joanna Lloyd, Roberta Mason, Paul Musgrove, Sullen Parker, Thomas Petit, Sue Purser Hope, Marlene Rose, David Reekie, Morag Reekie, Frederik Rombach, Colin Reid, Bruno Romanelli, Opal Seabrook, Bailey Shooter, Angela Thwaites, Gemma Truman, Jane Vincent, Elliot Walker, Colin Webster…all truly remarkable inspirational artists.

The team at London Glassblowing (Peter Layton, Bruce Marks, Cathryn Shilling, Anthony Scala, Louis Thompson, Tim Rawlinson and Layne Rowe) have all been inspirational, as have the incredible Katherine Huskie and James Devereux at Devereux and Huskie.

K T Yun and Helga Watkins Baker have been mentors and inspiration to countless students, including myself.

The world of glass is a community, where everyone wants to share their passion. To have the opportunity to meet other artists at Northlands Creative was truly inspirational.

Have you had to adapt your practice as a result of the coronavirus? If so, how?
As with most people, I have had to adapt as a result of coronovirus, especially as I am on the official shielding register. But, as a glass artist, I am used to pivoting and evolving. It was just another challenge.

Where do you sell your work?
I sell my work at these galleries: Gallery Ten in Edinburgh; The Pyramid Gallery in York; London Glassblowing; The Habatat Gallery in Florida and The Habatat Gallery in Detroit.

Have you won any awards for your work?
I was commended for a cast glass figure made from recycled mobile phone glass in the 2017 CGS New Graduate Review. I also won The Judges’ Award at the Just Glass exhibition, ‘Recollection, Memories in Glass’ in 2020, for a piece made from recycled milk bottles and upcycled watch parts.

Time & Tide wait for No Man. Made from 100% recycled milk bottles and upcycled watch parts.
Photograph: Simon Bruntnell.

What advice would you give to glass artists starting out in their careers?
Unless you truly want to, you do not have to rethink, reskill and reboot. Life is too short. Follow your passion. For me, that passion is glass.

Main feature image: Hannah Gibson with some of her recycled glass figures, part of the Recycling Narratives, Whispering Sweet Nothings project. Photograph: Simon Bruntnell.

Be part of international film festival celebrating glass

Following the success of the ‘Glass, Meet the Future’ film festival, hosted in July 2020 online by North Lands Creative, applications are now invited for ‘Glass, Meet the Future 2021’.

This second film festival will include both the work of female glass artists using film and glass in their work, or documentary-style films about glass, making and materials.

The event will take place in two parts, the first online in March 2021, and the second a live event to be held in Japan, in October 2021.

The digital part of the film festival, hosted by North Lands Creative, will take place from 5-21 March 2021 and showcase a cross-section of international, diverse and engaging short films curated and directed by female artists and filmmakers with glass as the predominant feature.

The live part of the ‘Glass, Meet the Future’ film event will be held in October 2021 at the Toyama Glass Art Museum. It will showcase the 2020 and 2021 programmes, plus a screening of the ‘The Soul of a Statue’ by Martin Janecky and Tom Hogben, as well as a series of documentaries featuring artists across the Creative Europe ISGNE network. [ISGNE stands for Imagining Sustainable Glass Network Europe and is a project that is filming artists behind the scenes in furnaces and studios across Europe, in order to provide insight into the tradition of glass and the lives of glass artists and organisations.]

Applications are now open for female artists/ filmmakers who wish to participate in ‘Glass, Meet the Future 2021’ (deadline: Monday 22 December 2020).

Primary content should be glass based and films must have been made since 1 January 2017. The films submitted must be short (from a few seconds long up to a maximum of 15 minutes, including credits, although films should preferably be no longer than 10 minutes).

Please complete the application form .

This project has been supported by the UK in Japan Programme, British Council Scotland, Creative Scotland and British Embassy in Tokyo, and runs in cooperation with Toyama Institute of Glass Art, Toyama Glass Art Museum.

Located on the North-East coast of Scotland, North Lands Creative is a centre for the study and development of glass as an artform, supporting artists from all over the world. It actively encourages the participation of visual artists, architects and designers wishing to explore the technical and artistic potential of glass, either on its own or in combination with other materials.

Call for artists for the European Prize for Applied Arts 2021

Glass artists working in the field of applied arts and craft design are invited to submit work for the upcoming European Prize for Applied Arts 2021, which will be held at the Ancient Abattoirs venue in Belgium.

This competition is open to all artists working in the field of applied arts and artisanal design and residing in a European country (including non-EU members).

The works selected for the competition must be innovative and of a high standard, both technically and aesthetically.

The Prize was initiated in 2009, in a partnership between the City of Mons and the World Crafts Council Europe, and supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. This fifth edition will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the association.

There will be two prizes, one of €3500, awarded by the Ministry of Culture of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, and €3500 awarded by WCC-Europe

The successful entries will be displayed in an exhibition at the Grand Hall of the Ancient Abattoirs in Mons, Belgium, running from 12 December 2021 to 13 March 2022. There will also be an award ceremony on 11 December 2021.

Entries must be submitted by 29 January 2021. Entry information is available here: https://www.becraft.org/event/european-prize-for-applied-arts-2021 and the online application form is here: https://www.becraftcall.org

Image: Artist: Nicola Kelly; Untitled (2018). Photo: Tomasz Madaczak

Bristol highlights glassmakers with Ken Stradling Collection exhibition

In a bid to defy Covid and celebrate handmade glass, Bristol’s Ken Stradling Collection is hosting the Fire and Ice exhibition, which will be viewable from the street, this December.

Passers-by will be able to enjoy the vivid coloured glass of Britain’s famous Whitefriars glassworks, alongside the bold, ice-white forms of mid-century Scandinavian glassmaking. The display will use the facade of 48 Park Row and will be on show from 15 December until 28 February 2021.

Fire and Ice showcases glass from the 1950s to the 1970s, a period of bold experiments which took glassmaking to new levels of sparkling originality. The Whitefriars factory became famous in the 19th century and is associated with William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement. Its mastery in the field of colour saw the firm attain new heights of success in the 1950s, feeding the appetite for bright, optimistic colours in post-war British homes. In contrast, the glassmakers of Scandinavia took a different path, seeking inspiration from the frozen landscapes of their homelands.

In 1948 Ken Stradling joined the Bristol Guild of Applied Arts and began sourcing and selling new and innovative furnishings and objects. He also started a personal collection of 20th and 21st-century objects, including furniture, glass and ceramics. This collection, now managed by the Ken Stradling Trust, is housed at 48 Park Row, as is the Design Study Centre. On the ground floor, the Stradling Gallery hosts a regular programme of design-related exhibitions.

Visit the website: http://stradlingcollection.org

Glassblowing at Bristol Blue Glass. Photo: Steve Fearn.

Other glass attractions in the city include glassblowers Bristol Blue Glass, who have revived the traditional art of creating the famous Bristol Blue glass, and Catriona R Mackenzie Glass, featuring sanctuary-inspired FRITH glassware. See more at:  CatMacKGlass.

Eryngii Jars by Catriona R MacKenzie Glass.

Main image: a mixture of glass from the Ken Stradling Collection, including pieces by Fulvio Bianco (blue/red stripes bottle); Ronald Stennett-Wilson (green candleholder); Pukeburg (clear candle holder with face) and Tamara Alladin (blue angular vase). Photographer: Stella Man.

Flameworked Folk and Fairy Tales

Lucie Kovarova-Weir’s detailed glass canework and jewellery evolved from her fascination with beadmaking and a background in animation. Here she explains her glass story, which started once upon a time in the Czech Republic and ends happily ever after in Canada.

I was born in a small town in the Czech Republic. My family is full of teachers, chemists and engineers, and I am the only anomaly, having chosen art as my profession. Growing up, I always loved working with my hands and building things – anything from sculptures to dolls’ houses. I always loved to draw and paint. My mum taught me how to knit and sew very early and I have been making my own clothes since I was 12 years old.

Folk tales and history are a strong influence on Lucie’s work.

My early years education happened under a Communist government, which seems quite surreal to me now. Thankfully that introduced me to national folk art and folk fairy tales, topics that strongly resonate with me to this day. Most of my work is inspired and influenced by folk and outsider art. I often look to art history as a source, too.

I attended the Art High School of Vaclav Hollar and then The Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, earning a Masters degree with a major in Animation. On paper, this means I am an independent filmmaker/director. For my graduation project I picked a Cherokee fairy tale, and made all the puppets for the film out of hand-dyed silk and seed beads.

Around this time, my friend asked me to help in her new bead store at Prague Castle. Being a broke filmmaker, and loving beads, I took the job. This is where I was first introduced to handmade glass beads and glass jewellery. I was fascinated by the small objects of glass, with flowers inside. We had no idea how the beads were made but we dreamt of finding a torch and learning how to make them.

Finally, a friend from the glass studio at school showed me how she made beads in her kitchen. This experience made me feel like I’d just walked on the Moon.

Shortly after that I moved to Toronto in Canada to join my husband in the animation studio where he worked. All the time I was doing animation I could not stop thinking and talking about how I was going to make beads.

Lucie in her studio, creating new cane work.

My husband bought me a $2 hot head torch at a garage sale. “Hey, this might work,” he said. I discovered that Nortel (a Canadian torch manufacturer and glass supplier) was located in the north of the city, and made a pilgrimage on public transit (three hours one-way) to buy my first batch of glass. I set my plumber’s hot head torch up in a tiny basement room and made my first beads. No kiln, no ventilation, no instructions.

After a month I went back to Nortel to buy more glass. I also bought a Minor torch and a Cindy Jenkins book on how to make glass beads. I was completely immersed. I went to the office four days a week and spent weekends flameworking, with the book on my lap, following the exercises step by step, from the first page to the last, and then again and again. This was in around 2002, when there was little information on flameworking available.

One of the last examples in the book was a simple letter cane, with a very brief description of how to make it. I did. I was completely blown away, because I discovered you can build this gather with a pattern inside and pull it into a bar. It shrinks on a scale, with the design remaining intact. I almost fell off my chair. I did a couple of letters, fish, a flower, my first face, and soon began incorporating them into beads and pendants.

Lucie specialises in creating highly detailed stories in flameworked glass.

At this time, I still did not have a kiln. I was flame-annealing all my work, up to a size of a small egg, then periodically I packed up my piles of beads and took them to a friend’s to batch anneal everything at once. When I finally bought a tiny kiln, it improved my cane practice greatly. My designs could be bigger, with more components and details.

I stopped animating and, while waiting for my immigration paperwork to go through, I started Lunacy Glass. I outgrew my tiny basement studio and found a studio space in an old factory building. It was about 500 square feet and all mine! It accommodated proper ventilation and a fairly large torch. Ontario winters last from October until May, which was fine by me; I was sitting behind the bench learning all this glass stuff, completely happy.

Eventually I decided to venture out to my first conference. I was so excited to meet all these other canemakers. I was surprised to find that there really are just a handful of artists that do this type of glass work behind the torch. Most of the canework is done by glassblowers on a much larger scale, and with much less detail. At the conference I met Loren Stump and decided to take his class. It was 2006 and the Corning Museum of Glass awarded me a scholarship to work in the studio. This was a very important experience for me, visiting Corning for the first time and spending time in the studio. I saw how much more I could learn and do.

When I first arrived in Toronto, I started attending Toronto Bead Society meetings and selling my first beads through their enthusiastic member base. In the spring and summer, I began selling my beads and jewellery at arts and craft fairs – small ones at first, then bigger, more serious ones. I was building my client/collector base and growing relationships with galleries. I participated in several group shows and applied for grants and government programmes, some of which I got.

I love working with glass as the material forces you to learn a new thing or two every day. I look forward to kiln opening at the end of its cycle to see what I have made.

Frida Kahlo recreated in a bold, floral bangle.

Over time my work has changed, partly due to customer demand. Initially, I was making 800 spacer beads a day and selling them to jewellery designers. Then I began making larger beads and pendants, which evolved into jewellery. Nowadays my jewellery features just cane on its own. Recently I have been casting some of the large murrine cane pieces into panels and dishes but, as this is a time-consuming process, I do not expect to have any presentable pieces for a couple of years.

A sketchbook showing the planning of the skeleton canes.
Glass panel featuring skeletons, fruits and flowers.

My source images are intimate, narrative and dreamy, and my work has a sense of humour and lightness of spirit. I have sketchbooks full of inspiration that will last me for the next 30 years.

Anniversary necklace, 2001-2020, featuring murrine cane coins set in silver.

I sell my work through several galleries in Canada and the USA. I have an Etsy store for chipped cane and smaller items and sell collector murrine cane coins through my website.

Even though I have not really made beads for a few years, everything I know I owe to beads. I am a flameworker, but I am a beadmaker through and through.