CGS is a non-profit making limited company by guarantee founded with dual objectives of encouraging excellence in glass as a creative medium and developing a greater awareness and appreciation of contemporary glass world wide.

CGS open to anyone working in or interested in contemporary glass. A voluntary committee some twelve strong made up mostly from makers but also administrators and students, manage the society. At present we have connections with over 1000 artists, academics, galleries, and enthusiasts and a current membership of over 450.

Mission statement

' To Encouraging excellence in glass as a creative medium and to develop a greater awareness of Contemporary Glass world-wide'

The society aims:

. To develop a platform for the critical debates surrounding contemporary glass.
. To promote the cross flow of ideas, information and news regarding contemporary glass via web site, publications, conferences and workshops.
. To forge links and encourage membership by all those involved with glass in the artistic, technological, manufacturing and support capacity.
. To help to promote and rise the profile of its members, to involve students in all its areas of activity

LINK TO CGS WEBSITE WWW.CGS.ORG.UK

PHILIPPA BEVERIDGE

Artist’s Statement

The Ice Maiden Collection 2008 - 2009

“Philippa Beveridge’s work has to do with the personal, with feelings, with reactions to the past, and with relics of lost associations as metaphors for memory.” Dr Helmut Ricke, Curator at the Museum Kunst Palace, Düsseldorf

My work is concerned with time and memory: history and its associations, absence and displacement, the fleeting and transitory.

I work primarily in kiln-formed and surface-decorated glass combined with other materials and I frequently employ traditional printing techniques to produce my work.

In 1993 the 2,400-year-old body of a young woman from an ancient nomadic group of warriors was found in a burial chamber in Siberia. Renamed the Ice Maiden, her body displayed elaborate tattoos on her shoulders, arms and hands. Tattoos, an ancient form of body adornment, often depicted totem animals as spirit guardians and symbols which connected the traveller with home as well as providing a visual record of where they had been.

I have recycled the glass bottle to create three works inspired by the story of the Ice Maiden and history of tattoos. Using the imagery of old maps and ancient beasts, the collection reflects on the interpretation of memory, the journey and talismans.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Philippa Beveridge, London 1962

Beveridge holds an MA in Art in Architecture from the University of East London and a BA honours degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Greenwich. She studied sculpture, painting, mosaic and glass at the Massana Art School in Barcelona and advanced techniques in glass at the FCVB (Barcelona Glass Foundation).

Beveridge has taught courses at Urban Glass and The Studio at Corning, New York and, since 2001, has collaborated with Rene Culler in the setting up and running of international artists’ workshops. She currently directs the Syracuse University Abroad Visual Arts Programme, heading the glass department.

AWARDS

2009 Artist in residence, Atelier du Verre, Sars-Poteries, France.

2007 Catalan government grant for curating and exhibiting work abroad.

2006 ARTFAD (Association for Art and Design) Award, Barcelona. First prize.

2003 Jutta Cuny-Franz Memorial Award, Germany. Supporting prize.

2001 Elisa International Prize for Sculpture. Finalist.

SOLO SHOWS

2009 La Ventana Indiscreta, Museo de Arte en Vidrio de Alcorcón (MAVA), Spain.*

2008 The Custodian Of Memory, La Cripta del FAD, Barcelona.*

2004 Blind Faith, Artonivo, Bruges, Belgium.

2002 Cambres de la Memòria, Montcada Taller, Barcelona.

2001 Diàlegs en Vidre, Museu d’Arqueologia de Catalunya, Barcelona.

1999 Vaixells de Llum, Galeria Hipòtesi, Barcelona.

Vidre Íntim, Spring Design Biennale, Espai Vidre, Barcelona.

1995 Communication, British Council, Barcelona.

SELECTED GROUP SHOWS FROM 2000 ON

2008 Figures, Glass Inspiration Gallery, Switzerland.

Joyería Creativa, Museo de Arte en Vidrio de Alcorcón (MAVA), Spain.*

2007 Artmar, Mediterranean Biennale, finalists’ show, Museu Marítim, Barcelona.*

Side by Side, juried glass show, Devon Guild of Craftsmen, UK.*

One from the Hearth, curator and exhibitor, North House Gallery, UK.

Visiones, 10th Anniversary Show, MAVA.*

2006 IV International Biennale for the Arts, finalists’ show, MAVA, travelling to Alicante, Castellón and Lugo, Spain.*

Avantcraft, Lugo, Spain, travelling to Paris, Ireland and Portugal.*

ARTFAD (Association for the Arts), finalists’ show, Convent dels Àngels, Barcelona.

House of Ours, RK Burt Gallery, London.

2005 Mujeres desde el vidrio, Centro de Artesania e Deseño, Lugo.

2004 La Piel. BAC! 2004 (Barcelona’s Fifth Contemporary Art Festival), CCCB, Barcelona.*

Inside/Out, Montcada Taller, Barcelona.

2003 Los Miedos. BAC! 2003 (Barcelona’s Fourth Contemporary Art Festival), CCCB, Barcelona.

Nou Vitrall, Col·legi d’Aparelladors, Barcelona.

2002 Views of Glass, Artonivo, Bruges.

Espai Vidre, Barcelona.

2001 The Studio at Corning, New York.

Vidre Float, Espai Vidre, Barcelona.

2000 Montcada Taller, Barcelona. Inaugural show.

* Exhibitions with catalogue

Her work has featured in many publications, including 500 Glass Objects (Lark Books), Glass and Print by Kevin Petrie (A&C Black) and New Glass Review. In 2000 she was nominated New Talent for the Millennium for her work in sculptural glass by GLASS Quarterly magazine. She has co-authored several books, including Warm Glass: A Complete Guide to Kiln-Forming Techniques (Lark Books) and Mosaic: Decorative Techniques (Barron).

Beveridge currently works from her Barcelona studio, La Ventana Indiscreta, on architectural glass and sculpture. She has undertaken architectural commissions in Europe, including work for a Paris-based exhibition by the Enric Miralles Practice and two glass walls for a private residence on Paseo de Gracia, Barcelona.

Qualifications

1997-99 BA Honours Textiles: Winchester School of Art U.K./ Rhode Island School of Design U.S.A.

Awards

2008 South Cambs District Council Built Heritage Award scheme: 1^st Place Contemporary Design sympathetic to the Historic Environment for ‘The Ark’

Artistic Experience

1998 Semester at Rhode Island School of Design, US, studying ‘liquid to Solid’ casting with Daniel Clayman

2004 Glass Techniques course with Helen Maurer, Central St.Martins College of Art, London.

2008 Glass Mouldmaking Masterclass with Fiaz Elson, Liquid Glass Centre, Wingfield.

2008 Glass Coldworking techniques with Fiaz Elson, Liquid Glass Centre, Wingfield.

2008 ‘Printing with Light’ course, London Glassblowing, Shelley James & Louis Thompson

2008-09 Rental of Large Scale photographic work to Marshalls Aerospace, Cambridge

Selected Exhibitions

Seeing the Light : Finch by Finch’ Solo Exhibition, Museum of Zoology, Cambridge

Selected Commissions

Various private commissions in Oils inc. ‘Balloon Flight over Africa’, Jo’burg, S.A.

2006 Allen & Overy Ltd, Bishops Square, London: Large Scale photographs, flora and landscapes of Italy, Spain, Holland and U.K

2008 Orchard St Investment Management, Cork St, London: Large scale photographs on Canvas

Access to Art and Design, University of Hertfordshire

During my last visit, I immersed myself in the raw energy of the country and found inspiration in the traditions of everyday life there - its splendour, power, and spiritual beauty.

Most of my recent work is sculptural. Pieces are made in different stages, and assembled hot. I concentrate on colour and surface texture and achieve these through a range of processes including sandblasting, carving and etching, creating details that capture the light and allow it to illuminate the piece.

Using adapted kitchen implements and plumbing tools I mould and sculpt the molten glass – creating imaginary moments of Africa'.

“Peter Layton and Friends” – World of Glass, Merseyside; Hub, Centre, Lincolnshire, National Glass Centre, Sunderland, CCAA Gallery, Cologne, Germany, Delamore Gallery, Devon, UK

'I have been working with glass for twenty-five years now, experimenting with many

different techniques. For me it is the most fascinating material. Glass inspires me again

I am moved by the change glass undergoes in my work: the transformation of clear sheets to saturated coloured shapes, or the translucent melting structures with linear textures or expressive patterns. It is exciting to catch the light and bind it up, to weave it into a cloth of colour, air and light."

1975-80 University of Applied Science Munich, Degree in Industrial Design (Dipl. Des. FH)

1983-84 Production Designer for Theresienthaler Krystallglas- and Porzellanmanufaktur, Zwiesel, Germany

1980 One Year Scholarship of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in England

I fell in love with glass for its metamorphic nature and its transparent and translucent properties. I am greatly influenced by light and space. Particularly the void within the object. Glass is the perfect artistic medium as it allows the viewer to see into and sometimes through the object.

Although I find inspiration in geometry and symmetry, I like to work spontaneously and intuitively, allowing the unconscious mind to guide the conscious act. My work is almost always compromised in some way as a metaphor for the uncertainty of life.

I am Chinese by origin, born in Malaysia, and now live in England. Initially, I trained and worked successfully as a potter and sculptor I was inspired to work with glass in 2005 initially drawn by the combination of form coupled with the possibility of vibrant colour. Currently, I am taking a Masters Degree in Applied Arts at University for the Creative Arts, Farnham specializing in glass.

As an artist I work in different medium. Besides using glass and ceramic, I am also a printmaker specializing in monotype prints.

My first body of work takes its inspiration from the English canal system and its juxtaposition of industrial and natural environments. The fascinating contrast of colour, texture and density found in these early creations of the industrial revolution have always intrigued and inspired me, especially where the wood of the lock gates meets the water of the canal. Here, the taming of natural elements by epic endeavours of engineering is most dramatically revealed. And it is this revelation that my first creations seek to capture and celebrate.

As part of this process I have drawn on the harmony and balance that exists between wood and glass. I have used wood from the lock gates and directly from nature, combining these with glass to create a sense of interplay between the solid and the liquid.

From the central theme of industrial objects in a natural environment, I now want to focus more on the industrial objects themselves – objects that have often been discarded or no longer have a use. I am keen to explore what these objects can mean to us, such as the fragility of the once strong metal that has been corroded by the elements and rusted over time. This work is also about memory – the memory of the object itself which may no longer be used and the historical footprint of the fabrication process itself. I am committed to preserving these small histories through the medium of sculpture.

I work predominately with a casting technique taken directly from large scale industrial components – bolts, rivets, lengths of chain and metal rings used for mooring ships whilst in dock – which I reproduce in glass. I then marry these new glass forms with pieces of wood, either in its natural state from fallen trees perhaps, or pieces that have been worked by hand, such as remnants from old buildings or wooden components from long forgotten contraptions. Working with discovered objects often allows the object itself to dictate the direction of the work, which then grows and develops organically.

In creating this dialogue between the past and present – between glass and wood – my burning aim is to make people think, in a more abstract way, about the past and how it is changing and sometimes being lost. Ultimately I would like to be involved in urban regeneration projects, returning my work to the environment from which it was inspired.

Mission statement

The society aims:

Vidre Float, Espai Vidre, Barcelona.

Qualifications

Awards

Artistic Experience

Selected Exhibitions

Selected Commissions

Access to Art and Design, University of Hertfordshire

‘The Stellar Awards’ contracted to design & construct glass awards for pupils in West Lothian

JO NEWMAN

DAVID REEKIE

Birmingham City Museum & Art Gallery

CATHERINE HOUGH