About Us
Get to know a little bit about the team who are behind the Glass School
A History of Glass School
Glass School is the education hub of the parent company Warm Glass. Originally Warm Glass education started in 2008 as a studio and resource centre in one of our warehouse units. In 2012 Megan (our now Studio Coordinator) began teaching glass classes in the Warm Glass studio alongside local glass artists Claire Hall and Becky Wills.
These initial classes laid the foundation for us to develop a programme of Masterclasses - inviting international artists to travel to our Somerset studio and demonstrate their techniques. Consequently, Warm Glass has developed a working relationship with esteemed practising artists such teachers as Amanda Simmons, Bob Leatherbarrow, Nathan Sandberg, Richard Parrish and more.
As a result of the pandemic, in 2020, in-person classes were put on hold, and instead, Warm Glass launched our incredibly popular Live Online Masterclasses. This allowed us to not only expand our class sizes but broaden our horizons, welcoming both international teachers and international students who would have previously struggled to travel to join us in Somerset.
Since our expansion to include online teaching, Warm Glass Education moved buildings and we have rebranded as Glass School - with a focus on running online education with renowned glass artists and running personal studio days in our studio.
Meet the Glass School Team
Chloe
Chloe is our Education Programme Coordinator. She maintains the lively and action-packed program of online masterclasses and seminars - ensuring that all of our students get the most out of the learning content. Always on the lookout for new teachers and potential courses, Chloe ensures that the Glass School offers exciting fresh content every month.
Chloe has a Master’s degree in Ceramics and Glass from the Royal College of Art, and subsequently has an established sculptural ceramic practice that sees her regularly exhibit on an international level.
Megan
Megan is the Education Content Coordinator. Responsible for all things physical, she ensures that in-person teaching runs smoothly and that our students get to learn everything that they desire! Having completed a bachelor's degree in Creative Art Practice at Sheffield Hallam in 2011 Meg established herself as a practicing glass artist. Soon after graduating Megan joined the Warm Glass team and set about laying the foundations for the educational program that has flourished into what the Glass School is today.
As our primary glass technician, Megan not only assists our glass artists in the development of the live online masterclasses but teaches her own glass knowledge both online and in person through Personalised Days.
Helen
Helen is the newest member of the Glass School team and has recently joined us as our Online Course Facilitator. Helen will be on hand during any of our live Online Masterclasses to assist the teacher and provide our students with any extra information that they might need.
Helen is currently studying towards toward BA (Hons) Artist Designer Maker - Glass and Ceramics at the University of Sunderland.
Guy
Guy is the Education Systems Coordinator. Working in tandem with Chloe, Guy ensures that everything runs smoothly behind the scenes – building courses, managing the website and getting his teeth stuck into the Glass School administration.
Guy also studied for a Master’s degree in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art, graduating in 2019 and is currently studying towards a PhD in Ceramic practice at the University of Creative Arts.
Meet the Artists
Alice Benvie Gebhart
Rhode Island kilnformed glass artist and teacher Alice Benvie Gebhart is best known for her glass depictions of glass landscapes and trees.
"Being born into an artistic family, my father and grandfather were practicing artists, I continue the family legacy with glass. Glass is the media that reveals this natural vibrancy of mind and spirit to its utmost. I enjoy the technique kilnformed glass to create something that is both abstract and literal."
Artist's website: alicegebhart.com
Jane Bruce
Jane Bruce, who resides in New York City, is a self-sufficient artist and educator. Her professional journey seamlessly blends her roles as a creator and instructor. With a global presence, she imparts knowledge and showcases her creations across various countries, traversing Europe, the USA, and Australia. She earned her Master of Art & Design degree from London's Royal College of Art and pursued advanced studies at the NYS College of Ceramics at Alfred. Throughout her artistic tenure, she has been honoured with numerous international Fellowships, Awards, and Grants, and her creative contributions grace esteemed museum collections worldwide.
Her work examines the essence of object and form examining how composition, colour, light, proportion, and the juxtaposition of positive and negative space work within an object.
Ian Chadwick
Born on the Isle of Wight, Ian Chadwick's artistic journey led him from Gray's School of Art, Scotland, where he specialized in sculpture, to pioneering glasswork. After mastering stained glass, he delved into glass fusing and kiln-forming, establishing his own venture in 2003. Ian's evolution encompassed a diverse range of contemporary glassware, including Kaleidoscopes, Glass Bowls, and Wall Art. Inspired by optical art and sacred geometry, particularly mandalas, his creations embody intricate principles akin to cathedral glass designs. Meticulously crafted, his mesmerizing pieces reflect an op-art mosaic effect, achieved through precision assembly, kiln firing, and cold-working, resulting in exquisite, one-of-a-kind glass art.
Artist's website: ianchadwickglassart.co.uk/
Catherine Dunstan
Catherine Dunstan is a kiln-formed glass artist and educator based in Bristol, known for specialising in intricate pattern-making. A graduate of the University for the Creative Arts MA program, Catherine has exhibited throughout the UK and taught glass at professional venues since 2013. Her accomplishments include being shortlisted for the New Ashgate Gallery's Rising Stars Prize in 2021 and securing a spot in the prestigious British Glass Biennale 2022.
Catherine's artistic creations reflect her personal journey through new motherhood, where she explores themes of control and vibrant expression. Catherine is synonymous with the unique technique she developed during her Master's studies, Colour Blooming. This innovative approach has now gained global recognition through her teachings.
Artist's website: catherinedunstanglass.co.uk/
Evelyn Gottschall Baker
Evelyn started off her professional career as a Graphic Artist and Illustrator, creating detailed paintings and drawings for the Department of the Army. Having received a Bachelor of Arts Degree, she then went on to becoming a Test Engineer for a U.S Defence Contractor.
On the side Evelyn pursued a part-time career in stained glass – opening the door to her passion for fused glass. She has gone on teach her techniques in various global locations and garnered an ‘Highly Commended’ place in The Glass Prize 2020.
Her initial simplified style was well suited for stained glass, however, after discovering glass fusing, she started to re-introduce detail and realism into her work. Her glass art is inspired by and captures the beauty of her local surroundings in Colorado.
Artist's website: glassfractions.com
Claire Hall
Claire's passion for glass began during her years travelling across the United States when she met a small community of glass artists in the mountains of West Virginia and started to learn the basics of glass fusing and torchwork.
Originally trained as a sculptor working in wood and steel, the material of hot glass easily translated into her work. It was at this time Claire also started designing and creating glass jewellery, making glass beads over a hot torch and fused glass jewellery in a kiln.
Since then she has moved back to the UK and now works from her studio in Brockley, near Bristol. She has won several awards for her glass jewellery and exhibits nationally. Last year she was selected to showcase her sculptural vessels and jewellery at The National Glass Centre in Sunderland. Claire has been teaching classes at Warm Glass since 2012.
Artist's website: clairehall.co.uk
Saman Kalantari
Saman Kalantari was born in Shiraz, Iran, receiving his Bachelor of Arts at Azad University in 1994. He left his country of birth in 2004 and since then has been living in Italy. Saman completed a two-year course at Vetroricerca Glas & Modern in Bolzano in 2007, where he discovered glass as a new medium. Through working with glass, he was able to express his social experiences of life in both Iran and Europe. Saman has exhibited and taught across the world, receiving multiple awards and winning The Glass Prize in 2018.
"I think of waste as an artistic material, the presence of something residual and processes of things that happened or have been. I use found objects, recyclable materials, organic forms and then I transform them into artwork."
Artist's website: samankalantari.com
Joshua Kerley
Joshua Kerley is an emerging artist, designer, and educator specialising in kiln-glass. A recent graduate from the MA Ceramics & Glass programme at the Royal College of Art, Joshua’s practice is characterised by an experimental and progressive engagement with materials and process. Joshua studied BA Contemporary Crafts at Falmouth University, graduating in 2011, later returning to hold a position as senior technician. In 2018, Joshua won the Academic Gold Award at the Emerge Glass Prize and subsequently exhibited with Bullseye Projects at Collect 2019 and Collect 2020.
Joshua currently works from a studio in rural Wiltshire and holds the position of glass lecturer at University of the Creative Arts Farnham.
Artist's website: joshuakerley.com/
Bob Leatherbarrow
Bob Leatherbarrow established Leatherbarrow Glass Studio in Calgary in 1988 and has created original kilnformed glass ever since. Known for his innovative styles, techniques, and designs, Bob has taken an experimental approach to developing unique textures and colour palettes using glass powders. His kilnformed glass bowls and sculptures explore the subtle hues and delicate beauty of naturally occurring textures and encourage the viewer to ponder their origin.
In 2008 Bob moved his studio to Salt Spring Island, British Columbia where he now makes glass art and writes e-books on his signature techniques. Bob has been a popular guest instructor on both the national and international kilnformed glass scenes.
Artist's website: leatherbarrowglass.com
Silvia Levenson
Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Silvia Levenson emigrated to Italy in 1981, during the "disappearances" of the Dirty War. In 2004, Levenson received the Rakow Commission Award from the Corning Museum of Glass in New York, and in 2008 she was shortlisted for the Bombay Sapphire Prize. Her work has been exhibited around the world and is part of the collections of the Corning Museum of Glass in New York, the Toledo Museum of Art, the Museo del Vidrio in Argentina, the Museo del Vetro in Italy, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas.
"I explore daily interpersonal relationships through installations and objects that state firmly what is usually felt or whispered. My work is centralised on this unspeakable space which is often so small, located between what we can see and what we feel. I use glass to reveal those things that are normally hidden."
Artist's website: silvialevenson.com
Alison Lowry
Alison Lowry is a glass artist living and working from her studio, ‘Schoolhouse Glass’ in Saintfield, Northern Ireland.
In 2009 she graduated from the University of Ulster with a First Class Honours degree in Art and Design. Since then, she has won numerous awards including the Warm Glass Prize in 2010 and 2011 and more recently the Bronze Award at Bullseye Glass’ ‘Emerge’ exhibition. Alison exhibits internationally and her work is held in several public collections, with the National Gallery of Ireland recently acquiring a large Pâte de Verre vessel for the ‘Contemporary Craft Collection’ and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland recently having made a fourth purchase for their collection.
She employs a range of techniques to create her sculptures, working with cast glass, silk screen-printing and Pâte de Verre.
Artist's website: alisonlowry.co.uk
Morgan Madison
Morgan Madison, an artist from the Pacific Northwest, found his artistic calling while growing up in Denver as the middle child among three brothers. Early on, he embarked on a quest to discover his unique path, ultimately discovering his passion for art.
His initial infatuation was with drawing, a love that guided him to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR. A serendipitous job opportunity in the depths of a glass factory ignited his fascination with glass as an artistic medium.
Today, stationed in his Seattle studio, Morgan Madison employs various materials and techniques to craft artworks infused with his adoration for drawing and sparked by the essence of a place - the hues, textures, patterns, and landscapes that shape our living spaces.
Artist's website: morganvanmadison.com
Joanna Manousis
Joanna Manousis is a British-American glass and mixed-media artist. She holds a Fine Art Master’s Degree in Sculpture and a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art-Glass.
Having worked, studied, and taught in Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia – she has an international reputation, and her work has been exhibited globally.
Joanna’s unique objects and art installations blur distinctions between fine and decorative art and bring attention to the beauty found in nature. Her work continues to explore human nature and the conflicts between our internal reality and the world we occupy.
Artist's website: joannamanousis.com
Megan O'Hara
Megan began working with glass in 2005, creating a range of dichroic jewellery, and helping to make tiles for 5th Element Design. In 2011 she completed an art degree in Creative Art Practices at Sheffield Hallam University and returned to Warm Glass to pursue a creative career in glass.
In 2013, Megan attended a glass instructor’s course at the Bullseye Glass factory in Portland, Oregon and began teaching workshops for Warm Glass UK. In 2015 she took part in the Glass Heap Challenge in the Kosta Boda glass factory in Sweden. Megan is the Studio Coordinator at Warm Glass UK, responsible for the running of the studio and workshops as well as offering technical advice to customers, she is passionate about sharing her enjoyment of working with glass.
Richard Parrish
Richard Parrish is known internationally for stunning tapestry and textural Bas-Relief kiln glass work. As an artist and an architect, Richard finds inspiration in both the natural and the human-made environments.
His work investigates the intersections and collisions between the natural landscape and the human impositions on that landscape. It is concerned with both physical and temporal conditions, rooted in the landscape of the intermountain west in the United States.
Artist's website: fusiostudio.com
Amanda Simmons
Amanda makes kilnformed glass objects, playing with gravity in the kiln. Manipulating mass, heat, colour and time, she creates complex, elusive work that has intense colour and pattern which reacts to the light it is placed in. She uses opaque glass powders to construct her work because of its varying translucency as the form elongates in the kiln, then finishes the kiln fired pieces using many coldworking processes to shape and mark the glass including sandblasting, hand lapping and diamond point and wheel engraving.
Amanda graduated from Central St Martin’s School of Art & Design in London with Distinction studying Postgraduate Certificate in Glass & Architecture, before relocating to Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland in 2005. She has exhibited in many high profile national and international exhibitions.
Artist's website: amandasimmons.co.uk
Helen Slater Stokes
Glass Artist and Lecturer; Helen graduated from The Royal College of Art, with a master’s degree in 3D Design: Glass & Ceramics, in 1996 and since then has been lecturing and making glass sculptures from her workshop in the Cotswolds. She subsequently completed a part-time PhD by practice, in 2021, at The Royal College of Art.
Helen's work explores the creation of the 3D or spatial image, within glass, and the notion of glass as a facilitator, in working with and challenging our perception of space. These unique glass pieces vary in scale from dramatic life-size outdoor figures to delicate tabletop casts for interiors.
Artist's website: helenslaterglass.com/
