I came late to glass-making, by way of various occupations. I trained originally as a Pharmacist, and worked for a number of years in the pharmaceutical industry, before joining the Anglican Priesthood. A growing realisation that I wanted to spend my life doing what I wanted to do, not what I ought to do (a tendency that a friend calls "hardening of the oughteries") drew me to art and glass. My creative practice spans visual art and creative and critical writing. I have exhibited internationally and nationally, including at the prestigious British Glass Biennale in Stourbridge, and in Side by Side, a highly acclaimed exhibition organised in partnership with the Devon Guild of Craftsmen. I am chairperson for the Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) - one of only 60 regularly funded organisations by Arts Council, England. The CGS is dedicated to promoting excellence in glassmaking.
Selected Exhibitions:
2009
Reflexivity, Cambridge Galleries, Whittlesford, Cambridge
Glass and Ceramics - a four person show at the Pyramid Gallery, York
Glass Echoes 2, at the Crypt Gallery, St. Pancras, London
Tempest - a touring show at Creative Glass, Zurich, GAS Conference, Corning USA; Studio 34, Rochester USA; ISGB conference, Miami, USA; La Journee de la Perle de Verre, Sars Poteries, France.
2008
Glass Routes: Wolverhampton to China at the Bilston Craft Gallery, Wolverhampton
Tempest at the Ruskin Glass Centre, Stourbridge, West Midlands
Cheshire Open Studios exhibition at the StudioArt Gallery, Warrington
Northern Glass at the Platform Gallery, Clitheroe, Lancashire.
2007
Side by Side at the Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey, Devon.
100% Glass at the Three White Walls Gallery, Birmingham
The Batch 2007 at Oriel Ty Gorsaf, Llanfair PG, Ynys Mon (Angelsey)
Going Places at the Robert Philips Gallery, Riverhouse Barn, Walton on Thames, Surrey
New Designers at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London
C:arted in Ansdell 'A project that puts contemporary art where people are'. Ansdell, Lythan St. Annes, Lancashire.
Id:entity, the 11th Annual Exhibition by Women's Work at The West End Centre, Aldershot, Hants
MA All at Stroud House Art Gallery, Stroud, Gloucester.
2006
The British Glass Biennale at the Ruskin Glass Centre, Stourbridge, West Midlands.
The Batch 2006 at Holy Trinity Church, Amblecote, Stourbridge, West Midlands.
2005
A Haunting at The Statuary Hall, UMIST, Manchester
The Glass Sellers Prize Exhibition at The Glass Art Gallery, London
Inclusion Open Competition at the Qube Gallery, Oswestry, Shropshire
Short listed for the British Glass Biennale 2006
Overall winner of the Qube Open Competition, 2005
Short listed for the Glass Sellers Student Prize, 2005
Joint recipient of the 2002/2003 Benjamin Boothroyd Prize awarded by Staffordshire University
Education
MA, Art and Design (Glass), 2004-2006; Distinction. Wolverhampton University
BA, Art and Design (Glass); 2003-2004; transferred to MA (see above)
Foundation studies in Art and Design, 2002-2003; Distinction, Staffordshire University