Centenary exhibition
Online gallery
To celebrate the Centenary of the British Society of Master Glass Painters, we are inviting all Members to create an exhibition panel measuring 30cm x 30cm (outside size). There is no theme and no restriction on techniques or materials, provided glass is involved. Entry for the virtual exhibition is free for Members and all work should be new, created specially for the Centenary year. Send your high-resolution image to portfolio@bsmgp.org.uk. Accompanying text should include, in this order, Name, Title, Media/Techniques, and up to 40 words about the inspiration for the work. We look forward to receiving your entries here.
We have selected 60 panels to exhibit in our Centenary Exhibition tour, which launched at The Stained Glass Museum in Ely and has visited Winchester Cathedral, All Saints Church, Bristol and the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea. It is currently in Lichfield Cathedral. Check opening times and tickets before visiting.
You can watch an ITV news item about the exhibition here.
Centenary Exhibition Tour:
Ely Cathedral 17 September – 31 October 2021
Winchester Cathedral 4 – 25 November 2021
All Saints Church, Clifton, Bristol 1 December 2021 – 30 January 2022
National Waterfront Museum, Swansea 5 February – 8 May 2022
Wells Cathedral 17 May – 10 June 2022
Worcester Cathedral 14 June – 22 June 2022
Oxford Festival of the Arts 24 June – 17 July 2022
Lichfield Cathedral 19 July – 23 August 2022
International Festival of Glass, Stourbridge 26-29 August 2022
Manchester Cathedral 2 September – 24 November 2022
(dates and venues subject to change)
There may be space to join the exhibition later in tour. Email portfolio@bsmgp.org.uk if you would like your panel to be considered. There is a £90 hanging fee and a commission of 40% on any sold works.
Enjoy the online exhibition. Just click on the image to scroll through the panels, and there are more on the following pages.
News
Shortly before the first Lockdown in March 2020 some of us were lucky enough...
Enamels. Glass. Lamination. 'Guided by spontaneity. An intuitive work.'
Painted and stained etched flash glass. Framed within a mechanism which allows the two layers to rotate in opposite directions. 'The turning circles create a kaleidoscope effect of movement and colour. Theme is the Memento Mori tradition of remembering death as inspiration to live.'
Painted and leaded glass. 'You know that social distancing is getting to you when you look at some trees and imagine them dancing at a ceilidh. Longing for what will again be but far from possible at the time of making.'
Stained glass painting. ‘The theme is transmutation and the interwoven historical roots of glasswork and alchemy. The images were inspired by three pieces, the woodcut of glass workshops by Jost Amman (Frankfurt 1586), The Flammarion wood engraving and the oil painting of 'An old man holding a pilgrim bottle' in the National Gallery London (circa 1650's) both by unknown artists.'
Plated flash glass and 2mm float glass with etching, engraving, vitreous glass paint, enamels, jean cousin, copper and silver stain. 'The inspiration for this piece came from the dismay of witnessing a succesion of divisive events taking place. With this social backdrop, Metamorphosis explores the personal quest for freedom set against predators and scavengers plotting from the shadows.'
Painted, silver stained and leaded antique glass. 'My last sight of the sea before lockdown was from the top of the 199 Whitby Abbey steps looking out over the harbour. This is a fantasia on that moment by a landlocked midlander!'
Etched, flashed red on clear and a variety of coloured glasses painted and fired. 'The theme alludes to the night time passage of ships, with the glow of their lights. The shapes painted on the coloured glass are taken from seaweed forms and almost envelop the ships, the aim to make the whole moody and mysterious!'
Painted and leaded antique stained glass. 'An abstract interpretation of decorative elements found in the natural landscape.'
Pen drawing using vitreous pigments and oils, with an abstract selection of antique glass pieces dry glazed into a semi-opal glass unit. 'This experimental piece is my response to living through the pandemic, which has touched us all and left a surreal collection of memories and emotions to contend with.'
Painted, fired-polished antique glasses. 'I only met Ros Grimshaw a couple of times but was lucky enough to be inspired by her instinctual collage-based approach to glass, something that seemed to offer unlooked-for surprises and a re-connection with play and creativity. In lockdown I spent time trying this and learnt that nothing is ever wasted, even the regret of not knowing someone better, if only I let it speak to me in a new way.'
Printed and Reusche and Debitus painted mouth blown glass. 'The Long Man of Wilmington is a giant chalk hill figure on Windover Hill on the South Downs he is an iconic symbol in the local area, you get the feeling of being watched and dwarfed as you walk the footpath winding around and above him.'
Stained and painted antique glass. 'We live close to Loch Leven in Fife and on a bright winter morning with the sun breaking through the mist, bare trees, over the water- it is rather magical'
Stained glass panel using English Antique and Lamberts flashed glass, engraved, painted, silver stained and leaded. 'This panel was inspired by my country walks during lockdown in 2020 and the lifecycle of creatures that live in or near our streams and ponds. Their lives continued oblivious to the interruptions to our world.'
Acid etch, Reusche glass paint, silver stain, leaded antique glass. ‘For all the human and animal sacrifice who gave their today for our tomorrow.’
Sandblasted, engraved, hand-filed enameled flash glass, assembled with lead and copper foil. 'The piece was inspired by what one might hallucinate whilst in isolation.'
Mainly Wissmach glass, glass paint and silver stain. 'Peter’s vision on the roof of a house near Joppa of ‘unclean’ animals descending accompanied by a voice saying ‘what God hath made clean call not thou unclean’.'
Stained glass leaded panel with textured glass, silver stain and acrylic paint. ‘My aim was to make a painterly piece which “united” fragments of glass; from Norman Slab to Bullseye glass using old and new processes to reflect the diversity of stained glass in the 21st Century.’
Tatra glass and float, hand painted. 'Imagining mythologies and celebrating nature. During lockdown I have been inspired by traditional folk art, as well as the celebration of nature and green space, which have been so important for our well being.'
Antique glass, paint and silver chloride, diaper technique, staining, firing and plating. 'The panel evolved out of thoughts on climate change and coming across an article in which the elephant was referred to as an Environmental Engineer.'
Glass gilded with gold, lemon gold and white gold. 'My love of feathers, eggs and nests prompted me to investigate that over the last 100 years there have been 23 species of British birds which have either been reintroduced, in recovery or under threat. I have chosen to document this in my gilded panel.'
Original Clayton & Bell painted glass leaded together. 'Fragments of damaged glass from Charterhouse school are held together with spiralling lead. Creating something new from 150 years old glass.'