Exhibition ‘Inspired by William Morris’
Online gallery
We invite all Members to create a 30cm square exhibition panel in response to the theme Inspired by William Morris. Your panel can be made with traditional stained glass techniques or with contemporary and experimental methods. We look forward to seeing your work, whether you are a professional, an enthusiast or a novice. If you are not already a Member you can join here to enter.
All work should be new and can interpreted the theme in any way you choose. We are hoping for a wide range of work that reflects William Morris’ varied creative, social and intellectual achievements. You can watch a free webinar that launched the project here.
Stained glass is an art form that takes time and thought to create. By studying the past we can look at the craft afresh and communicate it to a modern audience. We would like this exhibition to help inspire a new generation of people to work with stained glass and commission it for public buildings and homes as William Morris succeed in doing.
Entry to the online exhibition is free and work can be added until December 2025. You can submit up to three panels for the online exhibition by sending a high-resolution image to portfolio@bsmgp.org.uk. You must include your name, title, medium/techniques and up to 60 words about your piece.
We have commissioned a new display stand sponsored by Morris & Co to showcase 24 exhibits. A panel of experts from the Master Glass Painters, Sanderson and the The Stained Glass Museum made an initial selection of panels for the touring exhibition.
All panels for the tour MUST fit within an aluminium opening exactly 30cm square and 15mm deep. We recommend all panels, including fused glass, are made with a 12mm edge lead that can be trimmed to 297mm x 297mm if necessary. All work on tour is for sale and should be priced to include a 40% commission fee. We will change the panels on display periodically and sold work will leave the exhibition so there will be an opportunity for other panels to be displayed. There is a £30 selection fee to enter the tour. Please email portfolio@bsmgp.org.uk if you would like your panel to be considered for venues.
The exhibition launched at the International Festival of Glass in Stourbridge 23-26 August 2024 and then moved to the Stained Glass Museum in Ely. It is currently on display at the stunning Rochdale Town Hall where it will be open to the public until 21 April 2025. From Rochdale the exhibition moves to the beautiful medieval cathedral of Ripon in North Yorkshire where it will stay until 30 June. More venues may be announced later.
Enjoy the online exhibition. Just click on the image to scroll through the panels. We will add more as they are submitted.
Antique flashed glass, silver stain and sandblasted. "In 1942 an audio recording was made of a nightingale singing to the overhead drone of Lancaster and Wellington bombers passing across the night sky in Surrey, England. This image remains a very poignant and for many, a seminal audio and visual metaphor. I often visit isolated shorelines on the east coast of Britain to watch shorebirds migrating; often you will hear the sound of the skylark to the backdrop of a marauding fighter aircraft. Morris utilised silver stain to highlight detail, this produced an illuminating yellowy/green."
Cathedral glass and black opaque glass, leaded. "William Morris loved Iceland and its folklore. Iceland and nature are deeply connected. In its sagas and folktales Gods and creatures, like elves and trolls, become alive at night and are always found in nature. Odin One-Eyed, flanked by his two all seeing and all remembering ravens Huginn (Mind) and Muninn (Memory) mimic the blueberry bush and gaze at us."
Fused glass using powders, frits and cut bullseye glass, painted with enamels and Reusche stained glass paint. "A twist on Morris' style featuring my dog Eddie against a delicate background of swirls and acanthus leaves. The luxurious acanthus design is one of Morris's most beloved, with its intricate and dramatic scrolling."
Screen printed layered glass with wooden frame. "The five screen printed panels combine to display the beauty and complexity of the natural environment through 3D illusion. The Romanesco’s fractal form and colour inspired the layering of the printed images suggesting the delicacy, depth and infinity repetition in nature. This panel serves as a reminder to respect nature, echoing the sentiments expressed in the work of William Morris."
English antique glass, spectrum and flashed glass; painted, fused, enamelled and sandblasted. "My panel was inspired by William Morris’s wonderful and complex wallpaper and fabric designs, which show his love of nature and interest in its conservation. I was also inspired by his use of medieval designs. The William Morris quote that I have used in my panel is as relevant today as when he wrote it."
Leaded antique glass; Silver Stain and Fused Glass. "My panel is inspired by the beautiful stylised William Morris wallpapers which still feel fresh and contemporary to this day. Working with the design ‘Garden Tulip’ (1885) I have taken sections of the pattern and played with colour and scale. The use of Fused glass in the centre of the panel, adds a slight 3 dimensional quality to the piece."
Leaded stained-glass window, glass painting, acid etching and silver stain including Lamberts flashed glass. "William Morris' dual passions—creating beauty and hatred for modern civilization—have inspired this work. As technology, including AI, increasingly infiltrates our lives, its profound impact on the art world is not quite evident. Let's ignite "The Talk" to explore the delicate interplay of artistry and technology, as we spiral away from nature and risk descending into a technocratic dystopia devoid of human creativity."
Antique glass, painted and leaded. "Morris' words 'Three qualities: beauty, imagination and order' seem as good a starting point for inspiration today as when he wrote them. Engage the eye and allow associations to follow."
Hand painted and enamelled onto engraved hand blown glass, plated and leaded, with a borrowed sketch by Cosmo Rowe added by water-slide vinyl. "The image of the Green Man is universally recognised as a symbol of spring, new hope, the abundance of nature and the natural cycle of rebirth. To portray William Morris as a Green Man, adorned with the nature inspired patterns of his own design, is to honour his legacy and influence over our own art and craft."
Etched mouth-blown glass. "Troubled by the Industrial Revolution; visionary artist and environmentalist William Morris, sought to reconnect the general public with nature through his art and craft. Today we are at similar crossroads, with the choice to either steward our natural environment or completely destroy it and ourselves. I wanted to capture the same wonder of nature, but not without acknowledging our shortfalls."
Leaded panel, clear glass and tracing black. "This panel acknowledges my consumption of the Worlds resources, the colourless strawberry sits in the heart of my chest, this consumption has been integral to my existence, my journey as a Human."
Leaded panel, clear glass and fired tracing black. "Here the colourless strawberry is indicative of further depleted global resources since the time of William Morris."
Leaded panel, clear glass and fired tracing black. "Here we hold up our hand in acknowledgment that the colourless strawberry is indicative of us furthering the depletion of global resources since the time of William Morris."
Fused glass textures with hand painted and enamelled embellishments, then leaded. "Inspired by William Morris’s concerns for our natural environment. The Tree of Life, portrayed by both William and his daughter May Morris, is under threat from global warming. His eloquent poetry gives us a sober warning."
Fused Bullseye glass and powders. "My mood board reflects Fibonacci’s sequences in nature, influenced by William Morris’ highly detailed floral designs. My inspiration comes from artwork that involves pattern, colour, and texture. This fills me with joy allowing me to explore the living world creatively through shapes and forms. The mathematical connection between art and nature, enables me to create something of beauty."
Mid-blue antique glass, grisaille, enamels. "Inspired by Morris’s Trellis design, this panel uses chicken wire and the climbing evergreen Akebia Quinata to reflect the evolution of materials and aesthetics in stained glass. The resilient, adaptable Akebia respects Morris's organic forms, while industrial chicken wire underscores the blend of past and present, beauty and functionality—honouring Morris's legacy while embracing modernisation."
Lamberts blue flash, selenium orange flash, English antique streaky & Norman slabs. Hand drawn, painted, sand carved, etched, leaded and copper foiled. "Weaving together a pattern from the Great Mosque in Isfahan with a William Morris design. Within the arch we see a tree inspired by Morris’s tree of life tapestry with a Hoopoe bird (from the Conference of the Birds) in the branches and a river below as a nod to the Thames, in News from Nowhere. The small inner column is inspired from a medieval book of hours."
Blue on Turquoise Lamberts flash glass, hand drawn, sand carved, etched & painted, double plated copper foiled and leaded. "Weaving together a pattern from the Great Mosque in Isfahan with a William Morris design. As William Morris himself said in 1882 'To us pattern designers, Persia has become a holy land, for there in the process of time our art was perfected, and thence above all places it spread to cover for a while the world, East and West.' East meets West harmoniously."
Enamelled and painted bottom layer. Painted, gilded and part glazed top layer. "Beyond the broken gothic windows, the mass-produced glass walls of the towers of Mammon loom. Although glass remains a prominent feature of modern architecture, the traditional craft of glazing that Morris championed is threatened. But there is hope: a few glass fragments remain on the gothic windows. The lead resembles figures emerging, reaching up towards a stained glass rebirth."
Flashed glass, sandblasted, painted, enamelled and gilded. "The Sweet William flower represents William Morris. Its roots are embedded in golden soil. Alongside, the horseshoe nail, familiar to glaziers, breaks into it. The panel symbolises the conflict Morris faced when promoting traditional crafts for us and by us, the people. But realistically, only the privileged few could and can make and buy it."
Painted, enamelled, gilded, broken and bonded leaded light. "Morris valued craftsmanship. Here the tools of our stained glass trade are celebrated as a pattern on the wall. But cracks appear. How?"