BSMGP_e-newsletter_summer_2023-180dpi

Issue 101 | Summer 2023 

Contents 

Martin Harrison lecture ‘Glass painters’ 

Lectures: Christian Ryan 

‘Back to the future’ and 

Peter Cormack ‘Charles 

Connick’, p. 2 

From the Chairman 

Dear fellow members, 

There’s quite a lot to report, with a series of 

excellent events taking part through the 

Summer. Firstly, many of you will know about 

and been involved in the development of a 

dedicated apprenticeship for stained glass 

craftsperson. Well, finally it has been through 

all of the approval procedures and will be 

launched very soon , delivered by the 

Swansea School of Glass (University of Wales 

Trinity St David) with end-point assessment by 

Icon (Institute for Conservation). We are 

delighted that one of our members and a 

great friend, Christian Ryan, is appointed as 

coordinator for the apprenticeship. 

Christian will deliver a Webinar on the 20th 

July at 7pm explaining all about the 

apprenticeship structure and costs. I urge all 

artists and craftspeople to attend and to 

learn how this qualification can help you, 

whether you are a one-person operation 

looking to take on an assistant or a larger 

studio. This is the culmination of years of hard 

work, so please attend the webinar, and 

please get on board and support the new 

qualification. 

Our discussion day at Glaziers’ Hall on 22nd 

September, by kind permission of the 

Glaziers Company, brings together architects 

and stained glass artists to debate 

commissioning of new works in stained glass. 

This is part of our drive to promote the Art 

and Craft of stained glass more effectively, 

which you our members identified as 

something the Society should do more 

effectively. Sign up, and come and join in the 

debate! 

Later in the year, on the 20th October, Peter 

Cormack will deliver an in-person talk at 

the Art Workers Guild, on Charles J. Connick, 

to coincide with publication of his muchanticipated 

book on this superb American 

artist in glass. An event not to be missed. 

See the website for details. 

(CONT. P. 2) 

Walk & Talk: Stourbridge, 

Discussion Day, p.3 

Autumn conference ‘Leafy 

Surrey’, p.4 

Review, p. 5 

Martin Harrison ‘Open 

windows 4’, p. 7 

DIARY DATES 2023 

Thursday 20 July: Webinar ‘Back to the Future’ by Christian Ryan and Patrick Whife, 7 pm 

Saturday 19 August: Walk & Talk: Stourbridge, 10 am; 12 noon; 2 pm 

Wednesday 30 August--2 September: Touring Conference 2023 ‘Leafy Surrey’ 

Friday 22 September: Discussion Day at Glaziers’ Hall, 10.30--4.30 

Friday 20 October: Lecture ‘Modern & Gothic: Charles J. Connick’ by Peter Cormack at the 

Art Workers Guild, 6.15 pm for 6.30 start 

Members’ news, p. 8 

Exhibitions, p. 9 

Events and workshops, 

p. 11 

1

President 

HRH The Duke of Gloucester, 

KG GCVO 

Chairman 

Steven Clare FMGP 

c/o Registered Office 

bsmgpchairman@hotmail.co 

m 

Hon. Secretary and 

Newsletter Editor 

Chris Wyard 

PO Box 15 

Minehead TA24 8ZX 

secretary@bsmgp.org.uk 

news@bsmgp.org.uk 

Hon. Journal Editor 

Sandra Coley 

c/o Registered Office 

journaled@bsmgp.org.uk 

Hon. Librarian 

Sally Rush Bambrough 

Hon. Treasurer 

Jacquie Reid 

Events emails: 

events@bsmgp.org.uk 

conference@bsmgp.org.uk 

walks&talks@bsmgp.org.uk 

Registered Office 

6 Queen Square 

London WC1N 3AR 

Registered in England and 

Wales 

www.bsmgp.org.uk 

Follow us 

Contributions 

Contributions for the next 

newsletter to Chris Wyard 

by 10 August 

news@bsmgp.org.uk 

Every effort is taken to ensure 

the accuracy of the information 

in the Newsletter, but the BSMGP 

cannot accept any liability for 

loss or damage of any kind that 

may arise from any errors. 

Opinions expressed are those 

of the individual contributors, 

and are not nexessarily endorsed 

by the BSMGP. 

Finally, you may have seen publicity 

regarding our major fundraising initiative 

‘The One Thousand Friends’ appeal. I will be 

contacting you all in the near future with 

more details in the expectation that you will 

support the initiative by disseminating 

details to all of your networks. 

Have a great Summer. 

Steve Clare MBE, FMGP, ACR 

Chairman 

What’s On 

‘Back to the Future: A Welcome 

Return of Apprenticeships’ by 

Christian Ryan and Patrick Whife 

20 July, 7 pm, Zoom webinar 

Given the recent ‘Red List’ inclusion for 

traditional stained glass makers and 

designers by Heritage Crafts, it is more than 

ever obvious that we need a stream of new 

professionals to maintain the vitality in our 

Art and Craft of stained glass. 

For decades, dedicated professionals have 

worked tirelessly to provide a solid basic 

training in the core skills that new and 

emerging craftspeople need to prosper, as 

individual artists or as conservators. 

We are delighted to announce that – 

through a joint effort by the British Society of 

Master Glass Painters, the Worshipful 

Company of Glaziers, volunteer senior 

professionals and the Institute of 

Conservation (Icon) – we finally have a 

dedicated apprenticeship for the stained 

glass craftsperson. The new qualification is to 

be delivered by the Swansea Glass School 

(University of Wales Trinity St David), with 

end-point assessment provided by Icon. 

It is essential that we put our support behind 

the team delivering the qualification, and to 

that end we are delighted to invite its 

coordinator Christian Ryan to explain the 

workings, aspirations and costs of the 

apprenticeship, with input from Patrick Whife 

from Icon. Other major contributors to its 

development will also speak. 

This is a highly significant moment – and as 

such this is an important and not-to-bemissed 

webinar – for aspiring professionals 

and for potential employers, whatever the 

scale of their operation. 

We urge the whole stained glass community 

to attend, and learn how experienced 

practitioners now have the means to pass on 

their skills for future generations. 

Join us on Thursday 20th July at 7 pm on 

Zoom. Members pay only £4.25 (£5.00 full 

price) so book now as tickets are limited. 

Cost: £4.25 (members) / £5 (nonmembers). 

Booking available on 

www.bsmgp.org.uk/events. 

Enquiries to the Secretary; email: 

secretary@bsmgp.org.uk 

’Modern & Gothic: Charles J. 

Connick’: autumn lecture by Peter 

Cormack 

20 October, 6.15 pm for 6.30 start , AWG 

Newtonville Library: R Frost Mending Wall (detail) 

When Charles J. Connick (1875--1945) began 

his stained glass career in the 1890s, America 

had become so besotted with the newly 

invented ‘opalescent’ windows of La Farge and 

Tiffany that the ancient traditions of the art 

form had all but been forgotten. Seduced by 

vulgar pictorialism, designers and 

craftworkers had ignored both the 

architectural dimension of stained glass and 

its essential qualities of light-infused colour. 

Reacting forcefully against this trend, Connick 

reasserted the values of the ancient craft, 

successfully persuading 20th-century 

Americans that the medieval tradition could 

inspire powerfully expressive modern 

windows. 

This lecture will trace Connick’s career from 

the 1890s in Pittsburgh, through to his first 

major commissions in the 1900s and the 

establishment of his own studio in Boston. It 

will demonstrate how Connick was profoundly 

influenced by Christopher Whall’s Arts & 

Crafts philosophy of stained glass, and how he 

collaborated fruitfully with leading architects, 

notably Ralph Adams Cram. It will illustrate 

many of Connick’s important commissions in 

some of the USA’s most impressive Modern 

Gothic buildings, such as Princeton University 

Chapel, San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral and 

New York’s Cathedral of St John the Divine. 

Connick’s regular visits to Europe, where he 

studied both medieval and modern glass, 

were a constant stimulus to his creativity, as 

were his friendships with major figures in 

other cultural spheres, such as the poet 

Robert Frost. This will be a comprehensive 

introduction to Connick’s life and work, the 

subject of Peter’s forthcoming book (to be 

published by Yale University Press in 2024). 

Entry from 5.30 pm; event ends at 9.30 pm. 

Lectures cost: £19 (£16.15 members); 

evening meal is £18 (£15.30 members). 

Booking on www.bsmgp.org.uk/events. 

Enquiries to Sue Shaughnessy, email: 

events@bsmgp.org.uk. 

2

Walk & Talk: Glassblowing at Stourbridge 

19 August, 10 am, noon or 2 pm 

We are offering a unique and exciting 

opportunity to visit the Historic Glass 

Quarter of Stourbridge to watch a 

demonstration of traditional cylinder 

flat-glass making in the Red House Cone 

hotshop. This technique of creating 

mouth-blown window glass has been 

used for centuries. The Conservation 

Working Group is focusing this year on 

the risks threatening the stained glass 

community. Sadly, 2023 has seen 

‘stained glass window making (historic)’ 

added to the Heritage Craft Association’s 

Red List of endangered crafts for the 

first time. The risk of traditional skills 

and knowledge being lost is something 

which artists and craft workers are 

keenly aware of. Traditional glass 

blowing is one such craft. 

The demonstrations will be given by 

glass sculpture artist Elliot Walker 

(winner of the Netflix series ‘Blown 

Away’), and accredited conservator 

Laura Atkinson. They have been working 

on creating flat window glass, looking 

into preserving and evolving this art 

form for specialist use. 

Discussion Day: ‘Stained Glass and Architecture’ 

22 September, 10.30 am-4.30 pm, Glaziers’ Hall 

We are planning an exciting Discussion 

Day on Friday 22nd September at 

Glaziers’ Hall around the relationship 

between stained glass and architecture. 

We will focus on overcoming the threats 

to stained glass window making and 

how to maximise opportunities. 

Participants will not only be treated to a 

live demonstration but will also have 

flexible entry to the Glass Museum and 

the Red Cone Museum. Stourbridge has 

been a major glassmaking centre in 

Britain for over 400 years. The two 

museums explore this fascinating 

history and showcase a variety of glass 

objects. There will also be an option of 

an afternoon guided canal walk. The 

Stourbridge Canal was built to transport 

coal from coal mines at Dudley to the 

fuel the kilns at Stourbridge, and to 

carry fragile glass to market. This chance 

to explore ‘the glass mile’ will follow the 

landscape which helped shape the glass 

industry into what it is today. 

There are three ticket options 

available: 

10 am or 12 noon: glass blowing 

demonstration, entry to both museums, 

guided canal walk. Members’ price 

£63.25/student member £46.75 

2 pm: glass-blowing demonstration, 

entry to both museums. Members’ price 

£55.25/student member £38.25 

Students need to bring proof of their 

course on the day. The 2 pm tickets 

exclude the afternoon canal tour, so 

would suit people who can’t participate 

in the walking tour owing to reduced 

mobility, or who are unable to arrive in 

the morning. Holders of a group 3 ticket 

will be welcome to visit both museums 

all day. The formal event will finish at 

16:30 pm but there will be a social event 

happening afterwards. Details will be 

shared with participants after booking. 


Primarily aimed at students and those 

in the early stages of their stained glass 

careers, the Discussion Day is open to 

everyone with an interest in stained 

glass, from traditional to contemporary 

and from conservation to innovation. It 

is a chance to see some fascinating work 

and hear directly from the speakers 

about their practice. 

There is an opportunity to network 

with other practitioners and attending 

the event can lead to useful contacts 

being made. 

Tea and coffee are provided but not 

lunch. There are many wonderful places 

to eat in nearby Borough Market. 

The British Society of Master Glass 

Painters is very grateful to the 

Worshipful Company of Glaziers for 

hosting the event. 

Tickets £34 for members, £40 for nonmembers 

for the whole day. Book on 


Portfolio News 

Did you know that all Fellows and 

Associates of the Society are entitled to 

include six images of their work free of 

charge in the Portfolio section of our 

website? If you haven’t already done so 

we would love to hear from you. 

We are pleased to announce that 

professional practitioners can now 

showcase four images of their work on 

the Portfolio pages for an additional 

cost of £30 a year. 

If you are already a Member and want 

to join the Portfolio then you can submit 

your work and you won’t pay the 

additional £30 until your membership is 

renewed. So don’t delay, email 

secretary@bsmgp.org.uk to register 

your interest today! 

Another new feature is our ‘Past 

Fellows’ section. We would like to 

feature artists from our hundred year 

history. We are looking for volunteers 

with an interest in research to showcase 

some of our well-known Fellows and 

their work. Send your suggestions to 

secretary@bsmgp.org.uk and you will 

be sent guidelines of what we need. 

The Portfolio includes a search engine 

so viewers can find an artist by location, 

techniques and specialisms. The feature 

is used by potential clients and 

researchers so please help us to 

broaden the range of work we can 

showcase by getting involved. 

Publications 

Bronwyn Hughes ‘Lights Everlasting: 

Australia’s Commemorative Stained 

Glass from the Boer War to Vietnam’ 

This is a major new study of 

commemorative windows, telling the 

story of Australian men and women at 

war, within religious buildings, 

hospitals, school chapels and civic 

buildings, describing its rich artistic and 

architectural heritage and the artists and 

firms who created it. It is available 

direct from Australia Scholarly 

Publishing. Pb; ISBN 978-1-922669-82-7; 

price AU$ 69.95; webpage: 

https://scholarly.info/book/lightseverlasting/ 

Brian Sprakes ‘The Medieval Stained 

Glass of West Yorkshire, CVMA (Great 

Britain), Summary Catalogue 10’ 

The latest full-colour volume in the 

British CVMA series, a catalogue of glass 

found in medieval glass from Wakefield 

Cathedral, churches, secular settings 

and museums, excavations, and other 

sources. Pub OUP, £150; c. 480 pp, 950 

images; ISBN: 9780197267097; webpage: 

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/ 

the-medieval-stained-glass-of-westyorkshire-9780197267097?cc=gb&lang=en& 

3

Touring conference 2023 ‘Leafy Surrey’ 

Wednesday 30 August - Saturday 2 September 

This is a final call to memmbers who 

wish to book for this year’s touring 

conference, which will be based at 

Surrey University’s campus in the 

historic town of Guildford. The 

organizers have also announced that 

there are now some day places 

available; see details below. 

During the late Middle Ages, Guildford 

prospered as a result of the wool trade 

and the town was granted a charter of 

incorporation by Henry VII in 1488. The 

River Wey Navigation between Guildford 

and the Thames was opened in 1653, 

facilitating the transport of produce, 

building materials and manufactured 

items to new markets in London. The 

arrival of the railways in the 1840s 

attracted further investment and the 

town began to grow. The town became 

the centre of a new Anglican diocese in 

1927 and the foundation stone of the 

cathedral was laid in 1936. The Surrey 

Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty 

surrounds Guildford to the east, west 

and south so potential to expand is 

severely limited. 

Pevsner Surrey editions introduction 

states that Surrey doesn't have the set 

piece buildings (great churches, major 

country houses, cities) that are the 

normal diet of other counties. This is 

part of its appeal; what it specializes in is 

‘the small, the recherche' and the 

unexpected. Surrey was quite unique in 

England in being a county that had 

almost nothing to demand its inclusion 

in any national narrative of architecture 

until one extraordinary moment in the 

decades either side of 1900 when it 

would be possible to write the history of 

domestic architecture without having to 

refer to anything outside its border. 

Until the modern era Surrey, apart from 

its north eastern corner, was quite 

sparsely populated in comparison with 

many parts of southern England, and 

remained somewhat rustic despite its 

proximity to the capital. 

Communications began to improve, 

and the influence of London to increase, 

with the development of turnpike roads 

and a stagecoach system in the 18th 

century. A far more profound 

transformation followed with the arrival 

of the railways, beginning in the late 

1830s. The availability of rapid transport 

enabled prosperous London workers to 

settle all across Surrey and travel daily to 

work in the capital. This phenomenon of 

commuting brought explosive growth to 

Surrey's population and wealth. This 

resulted in many new neo-gothic 

churches being built in the towns and 

villages and with that a massive surge in 

the demand for 'medieval-type' stained 

glass. The middle of the nineteenth 

4 

century saw a huge increase in the 

number of firms producing such 

windows: Hardman & Co, Clayton & Bell, 

Heaton, Butler & Bayne, James Powell, 

Morris & Co, etc. 

The churches selected have a range of 

glass from these companies as well as 

others and offers the opportunity to 

examine, compare and contrast. The 

churches themselves are well regarded, 

with a number being listed Grade 1. 

There are also a number of sites with 

'ancient glass' including Abbot's 

Hospital, Stoke D’Abernon and Ockham. 

20-21st century glass includes windows 

by Moira Forsyth, Pippa Martin, Rachel 

Mulligan, Paul Woodroffe, Caroline 

Benyon, Lawrence Lee, Rosemary 

Rutherford, and Mark Angus. 

On the first evening there will be a 

keynote lecture. On the second evening 

we will enjoy an illustrated overview of 

new commissions from our artist 

members. The last evening will include a 

reception and our Conference Dinner. 

We look forward to meeting friends old 

and new on what promises to be an 

enjoyable and stimulating journey in 

Surrey. Our expert speakers will be our 

guides. 

Accommodation is at the Surrey 

University Campus. Each room is part of 

a flat and has ensuite facilities. The full 

conference price includes Wednesday & 

Thursday dinner, Friday Conference 

Dinner and reception, bed and 

breakfast, lunch on Thursday and Friday 

and all donations, entry fees and coach 

journeys. 

There are some day places available, 

as follows: 

Thursday 31 August only 

Cost £135 for members when paying by 

bank transfer or cheque. Online price 

£165 non-members / £140.25 members 

The one-day price includes lunch, 

dinner, evening lecture, expert guides, 

coach travel and entry into all venues. 

Friday 1 September only 

Cost £145 for members when paying by 

bank transfer or cheque. Online price 

£175 non-members / £148.75 members. 

The one-day price includes lunch and 

Conference Dinner, expert guides, coach 

travel and entry into all venues. 

Note that spaces for single day trips 

are strictly limited. 

To book your place, please complete 

and scan/print/cut out the form in the 

spring newsletter, returning it via email 

to: conference@bsmgp.org.uk 

or by post to: Richard Hennessy, 65 

Park Road, Woking, Surrey, GU22 7BZ. 

The form can also be downloaded from 

the Conference page of the society 

website. You can pay on our website, by 

BACS or by cheque. Spaces are limited 

so book early to secure your place. You 

must be a member to pay by BACS or by 

cheque. You can join the society at: 

www.bsmgp.org.uk/membership. 

We also remind members who have 

paid a £50 to reserve their place but not 

yet sent the balance that this is due by 

15 July, as we need to confirm final 

numbers with the university venue on 

that date.

Event Reviews 

‘Glass painters’ lecture by Martin 

Harrison, AWG, 16 June 2023 

On June 16th more than forty BSMGP 

members and friends were able to 

assemble at The Art Worker’s Guild to 

hear Martin Harrison, keen observer and 

renowned writer on so many ART and 

ART/Craft-connected subjects talking 

about ‘Early Victorian Stained Glass’. 

Almost all of us know him from the 

brilliant book he wrote about a young, 

relatively unknown artist (Brian Clarke), 

which he completed in 1981 thus 

enabling Brian to gain the interest and, 

indeed, the enthusiasm of architects 

who had previously regarded ‘Stained 

Glass’ as a hopelessly outdated craft. 

Martin’s ability to understand and 

portray artists and their art in a cogent 

manner also informed his later books, 

his most recent being ‘Inside Francis 

Bacon’. 

For us (about 50) members of the 

BSMGP, Martin’s lecture gave us the 

long-withheld enjoyment of physically 

existing for a while in the unique space 

of ‘The Art Workers Guild’, hearing and 

seeing the speaker and catching up with 

news while eating a picnic supper. 

Martin’s talk covered the early years of 

stained-glass window making in 

England, an area of expertise mostly 

controlled by conservators rather than 

historians. The glass is still there, 

someone commissioned it, but certain 

knowledge of its aesthetic history and 

construction is missing. ‘Who were these 

people?’ as Martin put it! 

His visuals were really very good. They 

were large and clear, beginning with the 

14th-century window by ‘Thomas Glazier 

of Oxford’ who had worked for William 

of Wickham making windows at 

Winchester and Merton College. Moving 

on, Martin mentioned several other sites 

where this early glass could still be seen, 

and these included Long Melford church 

in Suffolk, the Beauchamp Chapel in 

Warwick and Clopton Church in 

Northamptonshire with its Flemish 

influence. Helpfully Martin focused on 

the important personalities, the 

influencers of the crafts, among them 

Robert Braithwaite Martineau, Charles 

Winston, George Hedgeland and William 

Burgess who were closely involved in 

new work for ‘their’ Churches. 

Indeed, Burne-Jones worked out his 

own version of the ‘Spirit of Medieval 

Piety’ that he loved, for the windows at 

St Frideswide’s Church, while William 

Burgess loved the clarity of the 13th 

century vision. Artist Henry Holiday’s 

methods were quite different: a 

painter’s personal representation of 

Biblical scenes and his fabricators Lavers 

& Barraud worked with him under his 

own close supervision. However, the role 

of the craftsmen was very insecure and 

in 1889, at the height of the enthusiasm 

for Church embellishment, a ‘Glass 

Painters Union’ was formed. While the 

‘Georgian’ era was dominated by 

painters whose work could be rendered 

in glass (see Fulham Palace and New 

College Oxford), the High Victorian era’s 

(left) ‘Detail of the head of St John from a ‘ 

Pieta ’ in the Church of St Peter and St Paul, 

East Harling, Norfolk (15th Century); 

(below) ‘Our Lady of Pity’ in The Holy Trinity 

Church, Long Melford, Suffolk (15th Century); 

images from ‘English Stained Glass’ Thames & 

Hudson 1960 

massive production of new work had 

been created by quite a limited number 

of ‘Firms’ who dominated the market, a 

burst of energy that had undoubtedly 

been encouraged by the fashion for 

stained glass ‘memorials’ for loved ones 

inside the church, rather than a stone 

memorial outdoors. Martin closed the 

story with some tales of female 

endeavour, as determined women 

began to create their own windows. 

These included Margaret Pearson (1743- 

1823) whose work can be seen in Fulham 

Palace and Emma Cons (1838-1912) who 

made windows with Powells’ studio, 

before assisting with the founding of The 

Ladies Co-operative Art Guild. This was a 

tonic of a lecture and a stimulating start 

to holiday adventures that must surely 

involve visits to several or at least some 

of these fascinating early works by our 

hard-working ancestors in the craft. 

Caroline Swash 

EAG glass stocks 

After publication of the new Red List of 

Endangered Crafts, with mouth-blown 

flat glass making listed as extinct and the 

knock-on effect on stained glass window 

making and conservation listed as 

endangered, we have since heard from 

English Antique Glass, who were keen to 

stress that they have a large stock of 

mouth-blown flat glass available. They 

have around 600 sheets of flat glass in 

stock with an average size of 0.35 m² 

comprising clear and creamy whites, 

streaky whites, streaky and flashed 

colours. The colour range includes 

amber, blue, green, pink, ruby, opal, 

white, aubergine, violet plus others in 

single colour or combinations. So 

members can avoid having to purchase 

from France or Germany at elevated 

prices. 

EAG melt glass from raw materials in 

pelletised batch form, and distribute the 

batch in the UK to around 40+ glass 

companies and can also produce madeto-order 

Norman slabs. Details are at 

www. englishantiqueglass.co.uk. You can 

order/enquire via email (orders@ 

englishantiqueglass.co.uk) and request 

images of specific colours or make an 

appointment; open Monday to Friday, 

8.30 am to 5 pm. The address is: 

21–22 Avenue One, Station Lane. Witney 

OX28 4XZ. 

AURAVISIONS is recruiting 

Ashdon, Saffron Walden, CB10 2LZ 

Stained glass repairs, restoration, 

conservation & new designs 

A leaded light glazier is required to fit 

into our small but perfectly formed team 

Site work is a must. Other skills are a 

bonus but not necessary 

Entry levels of experience are required 

and training will be provided for 

improvement 

Salary is based on skills and experience 

Email your CV to Susan McCarthy : 

auravisions@gmail.com. Phone for a 

chat: 01799 584108 or 07747 773399. 

5

2023 outreach initiative 

In January this year, members of the 

Society took time to complete our 

Centenary Survey. It was the perfect 

opportunity for us to take stock and to 

better understand individuals’ interests, 

challenges and vision for the future of 

the Society. We asked how we might 

ensure that, in 2121, the membership will 

say that our generation played our part 

in keeping the craft relevant in the digital 

age and protecting the skills handed 

down to us. 

The Survey provided us with 

information on what members value 

from their involvement and it also told 

us that the majority hoped that the 

Society would take the lead on 

promoting good practice and 

maintaining high standards of design 

and workmanship in stained glass. 

Notably, many respondents also said 

that they wanted the BMSGP to 

encourage more young people to 

choose stained glass as their medium of 

choice, so that it is not a dying art. 

Further, 70% of members said that they 

wanted to see the profile of stained 

glass art raised amongst the general 

public and amongst architects and 

interior designers who specify stained 

glass – increasing the number of 

commercial projects. 

As an incoming Council member with 

a background in marketing, I am 

passionate about the need for the 

Society to increase awareness of the 

craft and to inspire new generations to 

both join the profession and to drive a 

renaissance of stained glass 

commissioned in secular buildings. The 

vision is for a virtuous circle – more 

demand for the skills of stained glass 

artists encouraging more professionals 

to take on apprentices and more young 

people enrolling in courses. There 

should also be a shorter-term benefit for 

Society members from this activity on 

the pipeline of works and the value of 

those commissions. 

So, for the next two years, I have 

undertaken to start this outreach 

initiative for the Society. The start point 

being to better tell the story of where 

the craft is today – (declining) with 68% 

of practitioners over 40 years old and 

the potential that many of traditional 

skills will be lost as we retire. The 

initiative will therefore involve being 

more active and vocal on representing 

the BMSGP’s areas of expertise across a 

range of media and educational bodies. 

In 2023, stained glass is seen by so many 

as an art of a bygone era and simply a 

medium for churches or doors in 

Victorian properties! My job therefore is 

to inspire professional specifiers 

(architects and interior designers) to 

look again at its potential. In this digital 

era, telling stories to inspire means that 

we need ready-made ‘content’ – assets 

to stimulate interest initially amongst 

features editors who decide what will 

appear in their publications/websites 

and the exhibition directors who are 

deciding what to showcase. 

There is also a plan to stage an Open 

Studio event where professional 

specifers can meet artists and learn 

more about the craft and its application. 

Rome will not be built in a day but I’m 

encouraged that there seems to be a 

hightened interest in traditional crafts 

almost as a counter to the digital age 

(much like the Arts & Crafts movement 

was motivated by the industrial age). 

Favourite primetime TV includes Sewing 

Bee, Pottery Great Throw Down and the 

Repair Shop underlining this trend. The 

appetite for restoration and 

conservation is high – we need to 

encourage people now to create new 

work (just like Burne-Jones and Morris). 

This vision for our craft can only be 

realized with the help of active members 

of the Society providing the content 

assets that can be used for PR. I would 

therefore ask all those interested in 

helping with this drive to email me – 

projects@bsmgp.org.uk with 

stories/ideas and importantly to tell us 

whether you are happy to be part of an 

Open Studio showcase with professional 

specifers this year. 

Deborah Parkes 

‘Inspired by William Morris’ 

William Morris c.1868 ‘Musician 

with Dulcimer’ Hessisches 

Landesmuseum, Darmstadt 

Following the success of the Centenary 

Touring Exhibition in 2021-22 and the 

‘Inspired by Burne-Jones’ exhibition in 

2019, we have decided to follow on with 

an exhibition of new stained glass panels 

that have been Inspired by William 

Morris. 

This new initiative will be part of the 

outreach programme of events that are 

planned following the announcement of 

the endangered craft status by Heritage 

Crafts. We are inviting all our Members 

to create an exhibition panel for a new 

online exhibition on our website. Entry 

for the virtual exhibition is free and all 

work should be new, created specially 

for the ‘Inspired by William Morris’ 

exhibition. There is no restriction on 

techniques or materials, provided glass 

is involved, and any aspect of life and 

work of William Morris can inspire the 

piece. Each panel should be 30 cm x 30 

cm (outside size). 

Some of the panels will be selected to 

visit the Ruskin Centre in Stourbridge for 

the International Festival of Glass in 2024 

and a number of other venues (to be 

confirmed following discussions with the 

William Morris Society and Sanderson, 

which owns Morris & Co). There will be a 

hanging fee for any work selected for 

our flagship exhibitions. 

We will be launching the event with an 

online lecture about the life and work of 

William Morris in the autumn. The 

deadline for submissions will be 

announced then but it is anticipated that 

the touring exhibition will go live around 

March 2024. More details will follow. 

Deborah Parkes 

Prizes, Awards and Calls 

Woshipful Company of Glaziers 

The Company has announced that its 

2023 Award winners are: 

Natasha Redina, Lever award 

Izzy Davies, Ashton Hill award 

The winners of the 2023 Stevens 

Competition for emerging glass artists 

are: 

First Prize, Design and Panel: £1300: The 

Brian Thomas Memorial Prize: Cathy Lee 

Second Prize, Design and Panel: £650: 

Hannah Gregory 

6 

First Prize, Design only: £1300: Polly 

Thomas-Colquhoun 

Second Prize, Design Only: £650: Bethan 

Yates 

The John Corkill Prize for Presentation: 

£650: Anne-Louise Sibley 

The Evelyn and George Gee Prize for 

Craftsmanship: £1000: Cathy Lee 

The Elaine Brown Memorial Prize for 

Best Entrant from outside the UK: £500: 

John Luka Doherty 

The commission for the 2023 Stevens 

Competition is by the Worshipful 

Company of Mercers, and the 

Commission itself was also won by Cathy 

Lee. 

Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust 

QEST awards fund scholars/apprentices 

working in a range of skills including 

stained glass by up to £18,000. In 

addition, it is launching Emerging Maker 

Grants this month to support earlycareer 

craftspeople in their training. The 

training can take many forms, from 

traditional college courses to vocational 

training with a master craftsperson, or a 

bespoke programme of short courses. 

Makers with up to 4 years professional 

practice can apply for up to £10,000. The 

next application round is open from 10 

July to 14 August. For details/form see 

the webpage: www.qest.org.uk/apply. 

:

Open windows 4 

Richard King, detail of Crucifixion, 1954–57, Our Lady 

of Mount Carmel, Faversham, Kent; photo Dan Barrett 

The strange world of Twitter 

occasionally throws up pleasant 

surprises. Recently ‘Dan B’ tweeted an 

image of a window by the Irish artist, 

Richard King, at Our Lady of Mount 

Carmel, Faversham (above). It is one of a 

series that King made for the church in 

1954–57. His work is scarce in England, 

and consequently he has been 

overlooked here; in her excellent 

monograph on King (2020), Ruth Sheehy 

redresses this, and incidentally 

acknowledges the crucial help of our 

lamented Hon Fellow, Nicola Gordon 

Bowe. King’s story is instructive. He 

joined the Harry Clarke Stained Glass 

Studios in 1928 and took over as chief 

designer on Clarke’s death in 1931. He 

stayed with the Studios until 1940, during 

which time his stained glass designs 

(though not his paintings) were 

conspicuously indebted to Clarke’s 

example, and perhaps also to Michael 

Healy. By 1949, when King returned to 

stained glass, he had evidently become 

aware of Mainie Jellett’s cubist paintings 

and Evie Hone’s stained glass. In the 

example shown here, the boldness and 

simplicity also recall Rouault, its intense 

colour the only residue of Clarke’s neo- 

Byzantine intricacy. It represents a 

radical departure from the style of his 

master, emphasizing how the abrupt 

hiatus of the Second World War acted as 

a watershed in stained glass in Britain 

and Ireland, a catalyst in the conscious 

striving for contemporary modes of 

expression. 

Recently, as chief editor of The Estate 

of Francis Bacon Publishing, I 

commissioned a book about John and 

Myfanwy Piper, by Tom Hanbury and 

Jessica Piper, young writers who will do 

justice to the creative spirit of the Pipers. 

It occurred to me that John’s first stained 

glass commission, for the three apse 

windows of Oundle School Chapel, was 

contemporaneous with Richard King’s 

windows at Faversham. The two 

John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens, detail of apse window, 

1954–56, Oundle School Chapel, Northamptonshire 

schemes differ in many respects – the 

sinewy frontality of Piper’s figures was 

mainly inspired by the Romanesque 

sculpture he admired, their vibrant 

colour by the early glass at Bourges and 

Chartres – but they share the ‘primitive’ 

directness that had marked out one 

strand of modern art since Picasso and 

Derain. The stimulus of African art was a 

topic in a panel discussion on 

Modigliani’s sculpture in which I took 

part in April; did Modigliani’s elongated 

heads resonate, directly or indirectly, 

with Richard King? 

In issue 99 of Stained Glass, I 

mentioned Harry Stammers and his 

pupil Harry Harvey among significant 

post-war stained glass artists in Britain. 

Their ‘figurative modernism’ was quite 

distinct from that of Piper and King, and 

more acceptable to mainstream 

ecclesiastical patrons. It is difficult to 

describe their idiosyncratic drawing 

styles, in which the figures are semigeometricized, 

rather in the manner of 

playing cards, and frequently set on 

clear white grounds. Although 

Stammers and Harvey did not train with 

him, it can be traced back to certain 

modernistic elements that emerged in 

the work of Martin Travers in the 1930s. 

In Travers’s east window at Woodbridge, 

Suffolk, of 1939, the Magi, in particular, 

anticipate the graphic contours of 

Stammers and Harvey (above right). 

Playing cards were, of course, printed 

material, and Travers’s monochrome 

book illustrations necessitated economy 

of line, which informed his stained glass. 

In the BSMGP Journal, 1965, Travers’s 

long-serving assistant, John E. Crawford, 

posited a ‘Travers School’ of stained 

glass; certainly. the trajectory of his 

career places him at the origin of many 

of the modernist developments in glass. 

Travers taught stained glass at the Royal 

College of Art from 1925 to 1948. Among 

his pupils who achieved distinction in 

their own right were Francis Spear, 

Harcourt Doyle, Moira Forsyth and 

Lawrence Lee. In 1946, Lee became 

Travers’ assistant, and when Travers 

Martin Travers, detail of east window, 1940 

(fixed 1945), St Mary’s, Woodbridge, Suffolk 

died in 1948 Lee succeeded him as head 

of stained glass at the RCA; the windows 

made at the RCA by Lee, Keith New and 

Geoffrey Clarke for Coventry Cathedral 

would become influential milestones in 

the medium. 

Lastly, I want to revert to one of 

Travers’s least well-known pupils, Frank 

Barber (1904–1932). Barber’s oeuvre was 

inevitably tiny, for he committed suicide 

aged twenty-eight – it was said he was 

depressed by the lack of stained glass 

commissions. His St Michael, 1928 

(below), Romanesque/Byzantine via 

Picasso, is not currently on display at the 

V&A Museum and is probably unfamiliar 

to younger members. It helped secure 

an appreciative article in Arts and Crafts 

magazine, June 1929, and the support of 

Bernard Rackham (who oversaw the 

panel’s acquisition by the V&A), but 

scant patronage. The only other 

survivors I know of are four small panels 

in the crypt chapel at Newcastle 

Cathedral; as a sad postscript, they were 

unfinished when Barber died and were 

completed by Jane Gray and Lawrence 

Lee. 

Martin Harrison 

Frank Barber, detail of St Michael, 1928, Victoria & Albert Museum 

7

Members’ News 

From Nathalie Liege 

In August, St Mary’s Shrewsbury will 

host a festival ‘The past, present and 

future of St Mary’s stained glass’ 

celebrating the history of the church and 

stained glass collection. It is part of the 

Shrewsbury Festival Arts Trail. 

Events include: 

Friday 11 August Stained Glass Painting 

workshops by Nathalie Liege: Four 5— 

minute sessions at 11 am, noon, 2 pm 

and 3 pm, ages 13+. Cost £10 p.p. 

Wednesday 16 August Stained Glass 

Festival Art Sessions: drop-in free 

sessions for adults and accompanied 

children (4 years+). 

From Surinder Warboys 

An invitation to see works by Surinder 

Warboys, on exhibition: not in a gallery, 

museum or cathedral ... but free 

standing in a wild flower meadow! 

The works in the meadow show how the 

stained glass panels interact with the 

surroundings. Light and its changeability 

fascinate me: the stained glass 

transmits, reflects and absorbs light that 

has travelled ninety-three million miles 

and that is continually being renewed. 

The panels are subtly faceted producing 

changing angles of refracted light. 

My back ground in fine art and the 

conservation of stained glass has given 

me a dual understanding and approach 

in my work in which I have adapted 

medieval techniques of painting and 

staining to explore new approaches to 

painting on glass. 

Since the 1990s I have been 

commissioned for a medley of buildings 

in the UK and USA, from Suffolk 

8 

churches, hospices, schools, country 

homes to a farm cottage on Sanday in 

the Orkneys. My large experimental 

paintings on glass have twice been 

selected for exhibition in t,he British 

Glass Biennale. However, all these 

works have been architectural projects, 

installed and experienced in a building. 

So when invited to take part in a group 

exhibition by Waveney and Blyth Arts, in 

the wild flower meadow, at Sandlings 

Sculpture Park in Suffolk, I accepted 

knowing that presentation of stained 

glass could be a challenge: to have 

dispensed with the supporting structure 

of buildings and to boldly stand in an 

open field alongside giant oak trees 

imbued with life-affirming qualities. I 

am delighted to present these works in 

the open, otherwise I would never have 

realised their full potential, embracing a 

new way of experiencing the science and 

poetry of stained glass. 

These are unique and complex works, 

with all the processes very carefully 

documented to the present day. The 

works were first started in 2004 with the 

support of the Arts Council of England 

and first modified to install out in the 

open in June 2023. 

As a part of my practice I also provide 

courses in many aspects of stained glass 

at my studio in Mellis, Suffolk, where 

students come from many parts of the 

world; Mellis is a conservation area and 

has the largest grazing common in the 

country. A collaborative stained glass 

window with Rowland Warboys can also 

be seen in the East Window of Mellis 

Church; also it is where Roger Deakin, 

naturalist and author of ‘Waterlog’ lived. 

I will be there in person on Thursday 

13th and on Sunday 16th July 2023 

between 2 pm and 4 pm to welcome 

anyone who makes a visit. 

For further information please visit: 

www.myglassroom.com 

From John Corley AMGP 

My stained glass panel ‘The stormy sea’ 

has been included in the Royal Academy 

of Art 2023 Summer Exhibition. This 

panel was previously included in the 

BSMGP Centenary Touring Exhibition. It 

is the first time a stained glass panel has 

been selected and exhibited in the Royal 

Academy Summer Show. 

From Caroline Swash 

Norman Atwood passed peacefully 

away on 5 May after a long, wonderfully 

active life in stained glass, chiefly as a 

freelance glass painter working with 

different firms and individual artists. 

Amanda Blair remembered that he’d 

worked with Burlison & Grylls, Frederick 

Cole and Ron Page as well as Goddard & 

Gibbs, retiring in 1992. He then worked 

as a freelance, helping others with their 

panels and windows. He never retired. 

Norman was renowned for the verve 

and accuracy of his rendering of other 

people’s drawings on the cartoons he 

worked from. While gifted with this 

capacity, he also had a lively, quite 

‘wicked' sense of humour which brought 

him many friends as well as enlivening 

the studio and people he worked with. 

This characteristic also fired his 

translation of the designer’s drawings 

into the irreversible clarity of the kilnfired 

medium of painted glass. 

It so happens that a rather splendid 

window, designed by John Lawson with 

Goddard & Gibbs, can be seen in St Giles 

Church, Cripplegate within the Barbican. 

It features the actor manager Edward 

Alleyn (1566-1626) along with details of 

the theatres he founded and the church 

(St Lukes) that he attended. 

In painting the glass depicting these two 

sites, Norman did a wonderful job of 

rendering the architectural features of 

the building (above). He also enlivened 

the foreground, in which two boys have 

been shown slouching along and a child 

chatting to her mother as they pass the 

church, each within single pieces of greygreen 

glass! Furthermore, ‘The 

Playhouse’ section of the window has 

been sharpened up, with Norman’s wellknown 

sense of humour enriching and 

individuating the people in the audience. 

This is Shakespeare’s audience. Here a 

group of bearded, pipe smoking, 

inattentive men are all very much alive 

through Norman’s quick wit and 

competence. 

Caroline Swash and Amanda Blair @ 

Abinger Stained Glass

Exhibitions 

Labyrinth by Jonathan Cooke 

Journeys Teithiau 

Holy Trinity Church, Rotherhithe 

provided a further venue for this 

exhibition of small stained glass 

artworks by six stained glass artists, 

where they were joined by talented 

illustrator Sandra Doyle. It was planned 

to coincide with a special concert by 

Musica Antica on 17th June, when the 

stained glass also 'sang' in the glorious 

midsummer evening light through the 

clear glazed south windows. 

The concept and offer to curate this 

venture came in a rash moment back in 

2018: originally intended to begin in 

2020, it was interrupted by covid 

restrictions, went online, and in 2021 was 

invited to Ely's Stained Glass Museum, 

from there to St Mary's church in 

Barnard Castle, as part of a two week 

Windows to the World festival, and for 

the Open Heritage weekend that year, to 

St Helen's church, Denton, home to an 

important window by Henry Gyles. 

The logistics of working with our 

wonderful hosts and keeping six 

talented artists to ensure ongoing tight 

deadlines are met can be challenging - 

but the results are hugely rewarding 

and, perhaps remarkably, we remain 

friends! 

In late 2021, as part of the ongoing 

Journey, a piece of hand made aqua 

glass made by English Antique Glass, 

generously donated by Dennis Eckersley, 

was cut into six equal parts, and lots 

drawn to allocate a piece to each artist. 

They responded to the glass individually 

and separately, creating rich 

transformations, brought together and 

seen for the first time at Rotherhithe in a 

unique celebration. Rachel Phillips sums 

it up so well: 

‘It's so wonderful to see the personalities 

and creative voices of each artist in their 

pieces - from the beautiful response to 

aspects of glassiness and material to the 

painterly use of the tones in these 

wonderful pieces of glass. What a joy to be 

a part of this.’ 

Ruth Cooke 

‘I would have preferred any of the other 

five pieces. I saw a huge L-shaped streak 

in my portion, whereas the others seemed 

to flow. Every time I looked at it, it 

appeared to thumb its nose at me. I had 

no ideas - and too many - simultaneously. 

Some areas within the glass were 

fascinating but I struggled with it as a 

whole. I resisted the temptation to cut it to 

mitigate the unwanted shapes. My ideas 

changed constantly; it was like picking my 

way through a maze. Chancing on Borges’ 

‘Labyrinths’ around this time triggered a 

train of thought, the drawing process grew 

and then extended into the creation of the 

sculptural frame, an idea I had first played 

with over a decade ago. 

I wanted to retain an area of pure 

unpainted glass, but those straight lines 

dominated unhelpfully. Having considered 

modifying them with stain and enamel, I 

happened on a piece of Hartley Wood 

streaky which almost exactly achieved the 

desired effect. I took the decision to plate 

my piece. Having worked with a difficult 

piece of glass - rejection and failure to 

complete were not options! - I hope to 

explore further the 3D element in some 

more new work. The ‘collaboration in 

isolation’ aspect of the project was an 

additional interest - although I had 

collected other artists’ pieces to take to 

London before I completed mine, I did not 

unpack them to avoid being influenced, 

even unconsciously, so hanging the 

exhibition at Rotherhithe was a very 

special event.’ 

Archangel Raphael helps a Traveller 

in Trouble by Catrin Davies 

‘I loved the subtle movement the glass 

conveyed from the moment I held my piece 

to the light. I might have chosen that 

particular piece myself!! It is airy and 

subtle, with a bit of variation, evoking 

action, movement and poignancy. 

It took a while for me to decide that I 

would more or less halve the piece in order 

to give balance to the movement within the 

glass. For me the two pieces were asking to 

frame the wings of the Archangel Raphael. I 

used an ink drawing as the basis of this 

design. I like the immediacy of the 

drawings, and I strive - but often fail - to 

retain this immediacy in the glass. 

I also knew that I wanted to incorporate 

complementary colour as well as subtle, 

varying shades of the turquoise to my 

panel (and that I would always want the 

glass to retain its glassiness). I engraved 

the glass in a basic way with a drill, 

polished it in the kiln and then added 

pigment; I fired the finished piece in the 

kiln with some silver stain. Such challenges 

as the aqua glass project are always 

positive. It’s a balance…material and art. 

One hopes it works but it’s not always the 

case! NOW I might have thought twice 

about breaking the piece! I love that 

everyone in the group approached their 

glass it in such differing ways. What holds 

the collaborative work together is the one 

medium …one sheet of lovely glass.’ 

Aqua Spring Buds by Nicola 

Kantorowicz 

‘The pieces I’ve been making recently have 

been inspired by garden themes, 

landscapes, abstract seed heads, petals 

and leaves. This delicate aqua antique 

glass is a little out of my comfort zone 

colour wise; so initially this seemed like a 

rather daunting project. 

I wanted to maintain much of the glass 

character, its streaky lines and soft tones 

and at the same time weave into the 

surface my characteristic painted details. 

Continuing the garden theme, I began 

with a very sketchy idea. I developed the 

cutlines to flow with the streaky texture of 

the glass, introducing a few small accents 

of red and yellow. I adapted my design as I 

cut each piece, responding to the curve 

and flow of the glass. The irregular 

finished shape was the result of trying to 

use as much of the glass as possible. 

Seeing the six finished pieces all back 

together at Rotherhithe was really 

inspiring. It’s amazing to see how different 

each piece of glass looks and the variety of 

techniques being used. A brilliant project!’ 

9

Across the Sands by Elizabeth Lamont 

Fan of Life by Rachel Phillips 

Seek his Face by Christian Ryan 

‘As glass itself is often a starting point for 

my work and I enjoy exploring variations 

on a theme, Jonathan Cooke’s idea of 

presenting the six artists in the ‘Journeys’ 

group with a piece of glass to interpret in 

their own way was a dream project for me. 

I had originally planned to paint a 

fountain on my piece of glass, making the 

most of the bubbles and the flow of colour, 

but I soon realized that the structure of the 

fountain was too static. Mesmerized by 

the aquamarine, watery depths and the 

very unusual oval bubble at the base of 

the glass, I recalled a short sequence 

captured by a film-maker friend – footage 

of his little girl Mira, half-running, halfdancing 

across shining wet sands. 

I revisited the film and faced the 

challenge of translating a lyrical but 

starkly graphic, photographic image into a 

glass painting. The concentric arcs of 

pigment around the oval bubble jarred 

with me so I created a pattern of wave 

ripples in sand, which cut across and 

camouflaged the challenging areas. These 

undulating, textured lines enabled me to 

reveal as much light as I could find 

throughout the glass and to create a 

setting for a gleaming pool. And so the 

scene developed with its own perspective 

and mystery; the variations in the glass 

itself helped me to capture something of 

the atmosphere and dynamism of a 

moment of pure joy caught on film in a 

very different medium.’ 

‘A Great Light’ Brian Clarke exhibition 

Newport Street Gallery, SE11 6A J 

This amazing exhibition of Brian Clarke’s 

recent work can be seen in the 

magnificent space of the Newport Street 

Gallery just a short walk away from 

Lambeth Bridge. Previously occupied by 

a carpentry and scenery production 

company (since 1913), the building was 

converted into an Exhibition site by 

Damian Hurst in 2013. Situated on two 

10 

‘I love streaky English Antique Glass and 

aqua tones, so I was very happy and totally 

enamoured with the premise of this project. 

I struck lucky with a lovely whorl, like a big 

fingerprint. I wondered if I could do 

anything to improve on what was already 

an entrancing piece of glass and I left it 

alone for some time. I eventually 

abandoned that paralysing feeling and 

responded to the glass by using the thicker 

flash layer to create deep, low-relief 

sandblasting and adding stains and 

enamels to modulate the original colour 

with their own subtleties. 

The ‘Tree of Life’ theme has interested me 

for many years. This piece was inspired by a 

19th-century painted example in the form of 

a fan, with gilded arches holding a 

wondrous array of flowers. It reminded me 

of a scene from the opening of The Muppet 

Show and mosaics from Ravenna all at the 

same time and that heady mix was enough 

to make me want to translate it into glass. 

I wanted to communicate a sense of joy 

and verdant life. I cut the original 

rectangular piece square to allow the 

design to run off each edge unchecked into 

ever-greater fruitfulness. I sandblasted and 

engraved the glass in a low-relief, sculptural 

way, as I like my glass to be felt as well as 

seen. Nearing completion, I realized that I 

wanted to add visual breathing space and 

used some beautiful amber and deep-blue 

antique glass to add calmness. This is 

authentic to how I work, so I don't feel I 

wasted this beautiful piece of glass. Phew!’ 

floors, it’s a perfect space for large scale 

work, enabling the stupendous range of 

Brian’s work to be comfortably 

appreciated and his passion for colour 

enjoyed. His vision is far from cosy. While 

‘life’ is here in glorious abundance, so is 

‘Death’. Brian’s unique and enthusiastic 

way with colour can be appreciated here 

and he has positively revelled in the 

sumptuous ‘Liney Gold Pink’ and ‘Flashed 

Blue’ glasses, along with the super 

verdant ‘Green’ glass pioneered by that 

great artist and teacher Christopher 

Whall in the 1900s. These tints are 

enjoying a revival today, largely thanks to 

Brian and his commissions. While 

influenced in youth by the vision of those 

two great Post War German artists, 

Ludwig Schaffrath and Johannes 

‘The piece for the exhibition is a 

continuation of the ‘Journeys’ theme from 

our previous exhibitions, where my 

personal theme has been concerned with 

conveying a spiritual journey. My panel 

uses symbols and text from scripture to 

explore the passage between the seen and 

unseen, the journey from darkness to light 

and links between the physical and the 

spiritual world. 

On seeing the aqua glass, I decided to 

use my collage approach that allows 

spontaneity and surprise in its 

composition. This is a technique I use 

when creating some of my smaller pieces 

which gives a certain freedom when 

compared with creating a design and 

cartoon that is usual for commissioned 

work. I cut the aqua glass into squares and 

started to work on various motifs from my 

sketchbook by etching through the aqua 

layer and painting on each piece 

individually. I also started to introduce 

other coloured pieces, to modulate the 

colour and add contrast. When I felt happy 

that I had enough pieces to work with, 

which conveyed the theme clearly enough 

for me, I began to collage on the light box, 

layering the glass and assessing each 

piece’s relationship to each other until I 

was pleased with the composition. 

This resulted in all of the pieces being 

plated, which is a technique I’ve sometimes 

used, more so for technical reasons. 

However, having made this small panel, I’ll 

be looking to use this approach more 

widely in my work, having seen the 

potential for creative spontaneity!’ 

Schreiter, Brian has his own vivacious 

way of working in this beautiful medium 

and his own story to tell in this spacious 

gallery. Don’t miss it. Check the opening 

times and go. Closes 24th September.

Events Diary 

nr Bristol, Warm Glass UK 

24 Aug ‘Spatial Perception: A New Visual 

Language in Glass’ - Live Online Seminar by 

Helen Slater Stokes. 5:30-7 pm. £25. 

Details/booking on website: 

https://www.glassschool.co.uk/courses/helen-slater-stokes-sp 

acial-perception-seminar-august-23. 

Ely, Stained Glass Museum 

Until 1 Sep Petri Anderson exhibition: 

‘Woodland scenes’. 

Details tel: 01353 660347; email: 

admin@stainedglassmuseum.com; website: 

www.stainedglassmuseum.com. 

Ireland, Dublin, 

Until 20 Aug ‘Ireland Glass Biennale 2023. . 

Coach House, Dublin Castle. Dublin. IRL. 

Website: https://visualartists.ie/advert/opencall-national-college-of-art-and-design-irelan 

d-glass-biennale-2023/. 

London, Burlington House 

Until 20 Aug ‘Summer Exhibition 2023’ 

mixed media svent, Royal Academy Of Arts. 

Tel: 020 7300 8000; website: 

www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/summ 

er-exhibition-2023. 

London, Truman Brewery 

Until 16 Jul ‘The Show’, MA Glass & Ceramics 

degree student exhibition. 

Details tel: 020 7770 6001; email: 

events@trumanbrewery.com. 

Stourbridge, Red House Glass Cone 

Dudley 

19 Aug Glass-blowing demo, entry to Glass 

Museum & Red Cone Museum, & canal walk 

along the ‘Glass Mile’; 1 2 noon and 2 pm. 

Details on p. 3. 

Suffolk, Buckenham Galleries, Southwols 

Until 15 Jul ‘Sumptuous summer’, CGS open 

members exhibition. Tel: 01502 725 418; 

email: admin@cgs.org.uk; website: 

buckenhamgalleries.co.uk. 

Sunderland, National Glass Centre 

Until 3 Sep National Glass Centre collection; 

Until 10 Sept ‘Confluence: ceramics–glass’. 


sarah.rothwell@nationalglasscentre.com; 

website: www.nationalglasscentre.com. 

Sussex, NHS Sussex Prairie Gardens nr 

Henfield 

Until 15 Oct ‘Expressions of nature’, mixed 

media external exhibition. inc: Isobel 

Brunsdon, Emma Butler-Cole Aiken, and 

others. Details tel: 01273 495 902; website: 

www.sussexprairies.co.uk/art-exhibitionexpressions-of-nature/. 

Wales, St Elvans Church Aberdare 

12 Aug, 26 Aug, 9 Sep, 23 Sep Deanne 

Mangold AMGP stained glass 

demonstrations & solo mixed media 

exhibition. Tel: 07951 536 372; email: 

deannemangold@gmail.com. 

Belgium, St-Jean-Geest, The Enchanted 

Garden 

Until 15 Oct ‘E)Motion’, exhibition inc: Emma 

Butler-Cole Aiken. Tel: 00 32 10810614; 

website: www.the-enchanted-garden.info. 

France, La Verrerie De Biot 

7 Jul–31 Dec ‘Verriales 2023: Focus’. Galerie 

International Du Verre À La Verrerie De Biot. 

Biot. Tel: 0033 493 650300; email: 

serge@galerieduverre.com; website: 

www.galerieduverre.com. 

Luxembourg, Asselborn 

17–20 Aug ‘10th International Glass 

Festival/Glass Symposium Biennale, 

Contemporary Art In Glass’. Atelier D'Art Du 

Verre. Heppchesgaass 2, L9940 Asselborn. L. 

Tel: 00 353 997 458; email: remering@pt.lu. 

Switzerland, Romont Vitromusee 

Until 27 Jan ‘Dans le Labyrinthe: un voyage 

liminal’. Vitromusée Romont. Romont. CH. 

Tel: 00 41 26 652 1095; email: 

info@vitromusee.ch; website: 

vitromusee.ch/en/exhibitions/upcomingexhibitions.html 

Online 

Richard Meitner: ‘Magic-Alchemy (Science + 

Art + Magic)’. Details on website: 

https://talkingoutyourglass.com/richardmeitner/ 

Courses and workshops 

Berks/Bucks/Oxfordshire, Reading/High 

Wycombe/Henley /Wantage/Maidenhead 

Stained glass and glass painting classes with 

Nicola Kantorowicz FMGP. 

31 Jul–5 Aug Summer school, Oxford; 

Sept (tbc) Stained glass, Maidenhead; 

21–2 Oct (tbc) Stained glass leaded panels, 

Wantage; 

24 Nov, 25 Nov Stained glass lanterns, 

Wantage. 

Details: www.nicolakantorowicz.com; 

www.adultlearningbcc.ac.uk; 

www.ardingtonschool.com. 

Bristol, Creative Glass Guild 

Workshops in stained glass, glass painting, 

enamels, fusing, slumping and frit: 

6–7 Jul Stained glass 2-day; 

13 Jul, 15 Sep Stained glass 1-day; 

13–14 Jul Fusing/slumping 2-day; 

20 Jul Stained glass painting 1-day; 

21 Jul, 1 Sep Fusing 1-day; 

27–8 Jul, 21–2 Sep Stained glass painting 2- 

day; 

7–8 Sep Fusing 2-day; 

14 Sep Copper foiling 1-day; 

18–20 Sep Masterclass with Opal Seabrook. 


info@creativeglassguild.co.uk; website: 

www.creativeglassguild.co.uk. 

nr Bristol, Warm Glass UK 

Live online masterclasses and personal 

tuition days (up to 2 people): 

3, 10, & 17 July ‘Collage in glass’ online 

masterclass w. Silvia Levenson; 

12, 19, & 26 July ‘Powder potential’ online 

masterclass w. Morgan Madison; 

Learn at your own pace projects (video 

learning courses) – ‘Powdered landscapes’, 

‘Feather pattern’, ‘Bullseye reactions’ and 

‘Metal inclusions’ w. Megan O’Hara; Artist 

Course w. Evelyn Gottschall Bakers ‘Glass 

leaves with pate de verre bowl’/ 

Details/booking tel: 01934 863344; website: 

www.warm-glass.co.uk. 

Cambridge, Art Makers. 

Glass courses with Jill Fordham: 

15 October Traditional fired-on glass 

painting cost £70 approx. materials incl. 

6 Lintech Court, Linton, Cambridgeshire. 

Details: tel: 01223 890 308; email: 

cambridgeartmakers@gmail.com; website: 

www.cambridgemakers.org/ cambridge-artmakers/art-courses-overview/glass/. 

Cheshire, Frodsham 

Stained glass /fusing short courses. 

Bradley Farm, Bradley Lane, WA6 7EP. 


info@cheshireschoolofglass.co.uk; website: 

www.cheshireschoolofglass.co.uk. 

11

Dorset/Somerset/Yorkshire 

Stained glass short courses w. Jackie Hunt. 

Details email: 

jackiehunt083@btinternet.com. 

East Midlands 

1-day glass painting workshops. Details 

email: jane@janelittlefieldglass.co.uk; 

website: www.janelittlefieldglass.com. 

Ely, Stained Glass Museum 

Workshops: 

7–8 Jul, 27–8 Oct Stained glass 2-day w. 

Claire Hart; 

14 Jul, 2 Sep, 6 Oct Glass painting 1-day w. 

Derek Hunt FMGP; 

27 Jul, 21 Oct Leading and glazing w. Claire 

Hart; 

1 Sep, 28 Oct Fusing 1/2-day w. Louise 

Haselgrove; 

14 Sep Copper foiling w. Claire Hart; 

15 & 16 Sep Screenprinting w. James 

Cockerell; 

23 Sep Fabulous feathers w. Jane Fellows; 

20–1 Oct Glass painting 2-day w. Derek Hunt 

FMGP. 

Cost: £190 2-day/£95 day/£49 1/2-day/£10–15 

children’s 1/2-days. Details tel: 01353 660347; 

email: admin@stainedglassmuseum.com; 

website: www.stainedglassmuseum.com. 

Gloucestershire, South Glos & Stroud 

College 

10–14 Jul Stained glass design in nature, 

summer school w. Ruth Adams. 

from 7 Sep Stained glass mosaic; 

from 28 Sep Stained glass weekly various 

levels w. Ruth Adams; AIM award stained 

glass. Details from Claire Bagnall-Hunt tel: 

01453 761213 ext: 1213; website: 

www.sgscol.ac.uk/study/art. 

Leicestershire, Limelight Studios 

Day courses w. Derek Hunt FMGP. 

In-person courses: 29 Jul, 28 Oct 1-day glass 

painting £195; 

23 Sep, 25 Nov 1-day leaded glass £225. 

Online courses: glass painting 101. £135. 


derek@limelightstudios.co.uk; website: 

www.limelightstudios.co.uk/courses. 

London, Adult Learning Lewisham (ALL) 

Day and weekly classes w. Jane Ross and 

Pippa Stacey: 

from 17 Jul ‘Alice through the looking glass’; 

from 19 Sep Glasswork – ‘inspired by The 

British Museum’ 

from 19 Sep Glasswork – introduction – 

beginners; 

from 21 Sep Glasswork – build a sketch book 

or portfolio of ideas for glass; 

from 21 Sep Glasswork – workshop; 

from 25 Sep Glasswork – drawing with glass 

- tell a story; 

from 2 Oct Glasswork – screen printing 

12 

onto glass. 

100 Granville Park, SE13 7DU; email: 

maria.turner@lewisham.gov.uk; website: 

www.lewisham.gov.uk/cel/subjects/ 

glasswork. 

London, Morley College 

3–7 Jul Summer class: fusing intro; 

from 12 Sep Stained glass evening 

workshop; 

from 21 Sep Advanced glass workshop; 

from 22 Sep Intro – stained glass; 

from 22 Sep Stained glass intermediate; 

from 25 Sep BTEC Level 2 Certificate in Art & 

Design: Glass; 

from 25 Sep BTEC Level 3 Certificate in Art & 

Design: Glass; 

from 9 Oct Evening glass – explore & make. 

For details email the Head of Glass: 

Maria.Zulueta@morleycollege.ac.uk; 

website: www.morleycollege.ac.uk. 

London, Perivale / Brent 

Stained/kilnformed glass weekly classes: 


info@brettmanley.co.uk; website: 

www.glassacademy.london. 

London, Richmond and Hillcroft Adult 

Community College 

Stained and fused glass, contemporary and 

traditional beginners/intermediate advanced 

weekly courses: 

from 20 Jul Studio glass summer school; 

from 12 Sep Stained and fused glass – 

traditional and contemporary intermediate; 

from 15 Sep Advanced practice workshop; 

from 19 Sep Contemporary and traditional 

stained glass – beginners; 

from 20 Sep Creative glass – beginners; 

from 20 Sep Creative glass – intermediate; 

21 Sep Creative glass – intermediate/ 

advanced workshop; 

21 Sep Creative glass – kilnforming 

masterclass w. Monette Larsen; 

from 22 Sep Beginners mosaics. 

Art School, Parkshot TW9 2RE; tel: 020 8891 

5907; email: info@rhacc.ac.uk; website: 

www.rhacc.ac.uk. 

London, South Thames College 

Weekly evening classes, all levels, in stained 

and fused glass, traditional and 

contemporary, professional skills: 

From 18 Sep LE stained and fused glass – 

traditional and contemporary, all levels; 

from 18 Sep Stained and fused glass – 

traditional and contemporary professional 

skills. 

Wandsworth High Street, SW18 2PP; tel: 020 

8918 7741; email: james.yorke@stcg.ac.uk; 

website: stcg.ac.uk/south-thames-college. 

London, Working Men’s College 

From 18 Jul Glass art: stained and fused 

glass techniques and projects (mixed level); 

from 24 Jul Glass art: kiln fired glass fusion 

techniques and projects (mixed level); 

from 19 Sep Glass art: stained and fused 

glass techniques and projects. 

44 Crowndale Road, NW1 1TR; tel: 020 7255 

4700; email: enrol@wmcollege.ac.uk; 

website: www.wmcollege.ac.uk. 

Suffolk, Mellis 

Architectural stained glass/painting/staining 

courses with Surinder Warboys. Tel: 01379 

783412; website: www.myglassroom.com. 

Sunderland, National Glass Centre 

3 Jul, 13 Aug, 18 Sep Stained glass and 

copperfoil; 

9 Jul Stained glass leaded technique, 

beginners. 


sarah.rothwell@nationalglasscentre.com; 

website: www.nationalglasscentre.com. 

Surrey, Godalming 

Day and weekend classes in engraving and 

painting techniques: 

1/2 day classes: 11 Aug 

1-day classes: 5 Jul, 7 Jul, 15 Jul, 17 Jul, 14 Aug. 

Details tel: 07970 052104; website: 

www.rachelmulligan.co.uk. 

Sussex, West Dean College 

3 Jul Glass engraving intro w. Tracey 

Sheppard; 

4 Jul Stained glass beginners w. Carole Gray; 

16–21 Jul Mosaics w. Emma Biggs; 

4–10 Aug Stained glass – inspired by West 

Dean w. Carole Gray; 

24 Aug Make a fused glass panel w. Martin 

Cheek; 

24–7 Aug Mosaics for beginners/improvers 

w. Martin Cheek; 

31 Aug–3 Sep Flame and fused glass – torch 

and kiln crossover w. Katrina Beattie. 


short.courses@westdean.org.uk; website: 

www.westdean.org.uk. 

Wales, Swansea UWTSD Architectural 

Glass Centre 

Masterclasses w. Jonathan Cooke ACR in 

Glass painting and Silver stain & enamel: 

19–22 Sept Glass painting £310 

23–5 Sept Silver stain & enamel £330 

Architectural Glass Centre, UWTSD, The Alex 

Design Exchange, Swansea College of Art, 

Alexandra Road, SA1 5DX. Booking tel: 07769 

210127; email: agc@uwtsd.ac.uk. 

Wiltshire, Trowbridge 

Classes in stained glass painting, 

enamelling, leaded work and copper foil. 


annie@anniemulholland.com; website: 

https://anniemulholland.com.

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