To celebrate the Centenary of the British Society of Master Glass Painters, we invited all Members to create an exhibition panel measuring 30cm x 30cm. There was no theme and no restriction on techniques or materials, provided glass was involved.

We selected 60 panels to exhibit in our Centenary Touring Exhibition, which launched in the autumn of 2021 at The Stained Glass Museum in Ely. The two display stands housing the work then visited Winchester Cathedral, All Saints Church, Bristol, the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, Wells and Worcester Cathedrals, Oxford Cathedral and Lichfield Cathedral. After briefly stopping at the International Festival of Glass in Stourbridge the exhibition reached it’s final venue in Manchester Cathedral and finished in November 2022.

You can watch an ITV news item about the exhibition here.

Enjoy the online exhibition. Just click on the image to scroll through the panels, and there are more on the following pages.

James Cockerill 'London in Recovery'
Silk screen in tracing black, bonded antique glass on float. 'Walking through London in 2020 with Covid cases rising and Brexit looming evoked complex emotions. The normally vibrant city was empty, and there was an undertow of tension passing the few people out and about. There was sadness in the emptiness, but the potential of human activity and a re-opening was tangible. Ploughing steadily up the Thames through the heart of the city a boat named ‘Recovery’ signalled its intentions.'
Tamsin Abbott 'Rewilding'
English Antique glass, Reusche Best Black, Dremel engraving. 'After a year of lockdowns, fear, continuing climate crisis and social inequalities I wanted to derive some hope from the fact that so many people have found solace in nature. After reading Isabella Tree’s book ‘Wilding’ and following many rewilding movements I have found a new hope for the future of our wildlife, climate and communities.'
Grace Ayson ‘Summer Stain’
Layered glass, hand painted with stains and a blue enamel. 'The memory and heat of summer 2020 - Isolation spent within the confines of a wild garden filled with sunflowers. Waiting for the sunbursts of warm bright colours against blue to repeat the show this summer, as tall flowers spring forth from the fallen seeds hibernating on winter ground.'
Michael Stokes AMGP ‘Night vision’
Painted and leaded antique stained glass, Rockingham tracing and shading black plus yellow enamel paint. ‘Inspired by a dream in lockdown, of a December night-time walk in the Peak District.’
Mary Corkery 'Overthinking It'
Engraved, painted and fired leaded panel using mainly Oceanside glass. 'This panel illustrates how lockdown has intensified my tendency to overthink and over analyse my work.'
Annie Ross ‘Passing Ships in the Night’
Etched, fused and leaded flashed St Just glass. ‘The theme is abstract, but alludes to both boat shapes and the intersection of two overlapping circles in the Vesica Pisces.’
Isobel Brunsdon 'The South Downs Way'
Printed and Reusche and Debitus painted mouth blown glass. ' I long to walk further afield on The South Downs Way, with far reaching views of vast rolling fields and gentle undulating curves. The larks always singing their joyous song far above.'
Claire Cornish 'Winter Geese'
Stained glass (painted and leaded mouthblown Polish glass) 'Inspired by the geese which fly in great skeins over the house every autumn and spring on their way to and from Morecambe Bay.'
John Barzallo 'Walking Through the Woods'
150 year-old Clayton and Bell glass re-leaded. 'The glass has survived two fires at Charterhouse school. I used three different windows to make this reclaimed panel. The figure reminds me of lockdown walks in the woods in Surrey.'
James Cockerill 'Remember Me Please'
Multiple layers of screen printed and hand painted enamels and paints onto antique glass. 'From head hunting trips to the British museum, Museum of London, V&A, Herculaneum and the Sainsburys centre for visual arts.'
John Corley AMGP 'The Stormy Sea'
Painted, stained and leaded ‘antique’ mouth-blown glass. 'My Lockdown walks along the Kent coast observing the power of the sea inspired me to paint a series of watercolours in my studio. From these paintings I developed the colour, movement and drama of the sea in this painted glass panel.'
Isobel Brunsdon 'The Cuckoo Trail'
Printed and Reusche and Debitus painted mouth blown glass. 'Walking in my beautiful home county of East Sussex was like an antidote to lockdown, as it was for many. Connecting with nature opens the mind and nurtures the spirit. This walk is at the bottom of the road where I live and work. It is a disused railway line that I walk daily. I constantly observe the passing seasons and the way it shapes the trail, the trees making tunnels harking back to its original use.'
Sophie D'Souza ‘Many Happy Returns’
Double layer glass with 6mm deep heart lead throughout. Sandblasted, flashed glass, painting. ‘Although there was no theme to this exhibition, with it being in celebration of the BSMGP centenary, birthdays came to mind. When using tallow I am always reminded of our craft's link to the past.’
Rachel Phillips AMGP 'Window Parade'
Painted, stained and enamelled glass plated with various sandblasted and fired-polished antique glasses. 'This panel celebrates the relationship of stained glass with the window and its role in enlivening everything from the most humble to the grandest of environments. It's hard to imagine what our world would be like without stained glass? Duller for sure. The windows are presented in the manner of a go on a fruit machine- a frozen moment in what is a continuously evolving art form.'
Sally Pollitzer AMGP 'Caged cabbages’
Stained and painted Polish, German and English glass. 'This panel was inspired by the Bath allotments, an important factor in improving our lives during Lockdown. I have emphasised the cage of the cabbages, being a symbol as well as a design element.'
Nóra Nagyváradi 'East & West 1'
Painted and leaded antique glass. Debitus and Reusche glass paint, silver stain, leaded antique glass. 'The simplicity of beauty reveals the attraction of opposites without words. Beauty is diverse and complements each other well. It is a representation of the moment that has gone unnoticed and without a time limit over the past centuries.'
Min Edmonds ‘Unknown Pleasures’
Painted and stained glass. ‘This has been a very difficult year, but music, books and nature have helped me cope with the challenges. The lyrics of Isolation by Joy Division have never seemed more apt as the world has dealt with fear, self preservation and isolation.’
Marilia Carvalho '1500 Miles'
Etched, painted and leaded stained glass. 'The ever changing scenery of my long, daily walks inspired the making of this panel.'
James Cockerill 'A Day Out'
Sandblasted German and French antique flashed glass. 'A collage of images taken December 2nd 2020. A day out in London on the first day out of lockdown.'
Phillipa Farrell-Fowler ‘In Search of the Worm’
Traditionally painted, enamelled and leaded glass. ‘Inspired by the myths and legends of the rugged Welsh landscape and the poetry of the glass as it sings in its own unique language.’
Refia Sacks - Silverglass Studios ‘Memories of Akmene’
Etched, painted and stained glass. ‘Akmene is a small town in Lithuania with a museum known for its impressive butterfly collection. It is also the town where my great-grandmother lived and died, escaping the holocaust by dying in her 90s just before it began. All her children left - or I would not have been here to make this panel!‘
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