Chinks Vere Grylls
UK
born 1949
Full up to the brim with words, I returned to the UK from the USA in 1972 joining my husband to be, in a remote port in the South West of England. There was a tiny Art School, Bideford School of Art. Four years previously, I had been offered a place at Art College in Cambridge, where I grew up, but had decided to study English and American Studies at the University of Nottingham instead. Jim Paterson ARCA, the principal of Bideford, accepted me on to the Glass course. So began my love affair with glass and light.
Five years later I went to Swansea College of Art, where Tim Lewis, head of the Architectural Glass Department opened my eyes to German contemporary architectural glass work and we had the privilege of working with visiting German Glass artists. All our tutors at Swansea were excellent giving us very sound teaching in traditional techniques whilst allowing and encouraging us to experiment with the medium and design freely. I've been entranced ever since.