Archives: Online Exhibitions

“Cycles of Life”                                                  

Launch –             8^th April

Deadline –        26^th April

Live –                     6^th May

From the smallest microbe to the biggest animal on earth – the Antarctic blue whale – we all experience the cycle of life from birth through to death.  Shakespeare wrote about the 7 ages of man – the infant, the schoolboy, the lover, the soldier, the justice, the pantaloon and old age.  The rhythm of life has a powerful beat so show us your journey through the natural world – even your glass pieces go through a cycle of creation!

A new year is upon us and we can start to look forward to those longer days, light breezes and sunny days of Spring. Spring – a word that conjures up gambolling lambs, crocuses breaking through the earth, trees dressed in greenery so bright it almost dazzles the eye and a gentle rise in temperature.

Brightening up the gloomy months of winter, this online glass selling exhibition displays a riot of joyous colour and budding beauty as we celebrate the awakening of new life in 2024.

CGS challenged member glass artists to submit their interpretations of Spring!

Launched on 17th January 2024

53 CGS glass artists exhibit their work. Most work is for sale.

Please contact the artist directly in order to buy work.

“Wearable Glass”

Earrings, bracelets, rings, brooches and necklaces are just a few of the different types of glass that are wearable – they can be made in a range of glass making techniques and can be delicate, elegant, flamboyant, chunky or just crazy!

In this online selling exhibition, we wanted  to see the range of wearable glass that can be produced. This could be practical, everyday wearable pieces or exotic, avant-garde wear for that ultimate fashion statement.

24 Contemporary Glass Society members flaunt their wearable glass in all it’s forms.

Launched on 6th November 2023

High and Mighty!

Theme: Architecture/structural glass

We live in glass buildings – both commercial and residential. We are surrounded by glass as a building material. Typically it is used as transparent glazing material within the building envelope but we know what else it can be used for!

Windows, wall panels, ceilings, bar fascias, feature sculptures – all can transform their surroundings with colour, light, pattern, texture and design! A building is given personality, gravitas, exuberance or comfort by the inspired use of decorative glass. So in this online exhibition, we invited CGS Members to have the opportunity to flaunt their glorious architectural glass.

17 glass artists took part.

This is a selling show, so please contact the artists directly regarding purchases or commissions.

For show enquiries please email Nicky at info@cgs.org.uk

This Contemporary Glass Society online selling exhibition: ‘Small but Magnificent’ was launched on 3rd July 2023.

It features 61 CGS Member Artists who responded to the following:

“As the saying goes, “It’s quality not quantity that counts”. So artworks do not need to be large, dominant or take up space to be of value or to inspire. Smallness can be just as magnificent as a huge piece of sculpture.

This online selling exhibition is looking for little pieces of gorgeousness which are no bigger than 15cms in any aspect. They can be jewellery, beads, bowls, small artworks – really anything that is little, beautiful and inspiring. Flaunt that glass – let it be small but magnificent!”

Most work is for sale!  Please contact the artist directly.

Bordering on the Herbaceous.

Summer is coming! Those long days of sunshine and flowers when we spent so much time out and about. Imagine those beautiful sculpture gardens that you visit, those ornate structures peeking out from herbaceous borders or glass works positioned amongst the flowers and trees.

Our online exhibition is an invitation to share the gorgeous work that you have created decorating garden borders or acting as a sculptural focal point. We want to celebrate works that are designed and made specifically for the great outdoors. Almost all the work is for sale, so brighten up your garden.

Work is for sale! Please contact members directly to purchase work.

The pandemic was a frightening and challenging period for us all. For many it meant illness and the loss of loved ones, for others loneliness and isolation. However, there were those for whom lockdown gave the opportunity to stop and review both their lives and their creative practice. Out of misery there came a flowering of ideas and new work.

We asked members if they were one of those able to create something new and interesting during lockdown. As we launch into a new year, our first online selling exhibition of 2023 offers an insight into this flowering where darkness turned to light.

It is fascinating to not only see what they made but also to hear about their experience behind it.

(An exhibition for CGS members only.)

“Holiday Heaven” Online Exhibition

2022 has been a fantastic year for contemporary glass! Not only has it been the International Year of Glass but the Contemporary Glass Society also celebrated its 25th anniversary. In addition, the International Festival of Glass was held at Stourbridge for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.

To mark the Commonwealth Games being held in Birmingham in 2022, CGS decided to dedicate its exhibition at the Festival to the amazing countries and people of the Commonwealth. So over 100 glass artists took a magical mystery tour and produced postcards featuring the richness of countries ranging from Australia to Maldives, from New Zealand to Malta, from Singapore to Tanzania. Commonwealth countries are diverse – they are amongst the world’s biggest, smallest, richest, and poorest countries. We celebrated their sites, fauna and flora, sea world, agriculture, and industry and just their uniqueness in a small piece of glass holiday memorabilia.

Over 50 of these small and unique artworks from the original exhibition were sold but CGS still has a range of marvellous pieces which can be seen below.

All these Holiday Heaven pieces are for sale and looking for a home to fly to.

Please contact admin@cgs.org.uk if you are interested in becoming the proud owner of a piece of Commonwealth magic!

CGS is most grateful for the generosity of our sponsors for the event, Mark Holford and Alan J. Poole