Workshop two
Swansea, Wales 1991

In 1987, Amber Hiscott and I were two of the first eight to meet in Iceland. We had decided to arrive a few days early, in order to explore a little before the workshop began. It was this notion of exploring and being inspired by new terrain that very much informed the direction of this, and future, gatherings. We couldn’t wait to bring the landscape back into the studio, and then to share the resulting work with others. This approach formed the foundation of what we wanted to share in Wales. Our secret places, our awesome places, our spiritual places, our cultural places, our language, and our friends - be they poets, musicians, artists or bards. We also wanted to share our dynamic group of women artists with others, with Wales, and beyond, to celebrate our commonality and our connectivity. We were thirteen - lucky and strong - in Wales, exhibiting works at Swansea Arts Workshop (as it was then called), drawn from the eight Icelandic pioneers together with innovative glass works from five new members joining us for the first time. The show was well received and reviewed for both Crafts Magazine and the Society of British Master Glass Painters. Our one-day conference drew a full house at The Dylan Thomas Theatre and inspired much debate from its enthusiastic audience of glass students, architects and designers. 

These were optimistic times, and I believe that encounters such as these are imperative to our understanding of who we are and our place in the world.
-Catrin Jones

I concur with Catrin about the way in which the second workshop in Wales evolved. It was the sheer excitement of experiencing Iceland: seeing piebald mountains; treading gingerly on lava strewn plains; floating in the Blue Lagoon; pondering Systa’s powerful black painted and fired glass in situ. All this cried out for us to respond with our own aesthetic statements. We both drew vertiginously, but to realise works in glass we needed to return to our own studios. Thus, naturally emerged the idea of meeting again, two years hence, to exhibit our response made in glass. It was to set a pattern of international biannual meetings which have spread across our lifetimes.

Organising an exhibition with the catalogue Ice in our Luggage, a one-day conference, and a workshop to allow our new glass friends to experience and absorb the beauty and culture of Wales was our plan, which worked brilliantly. There was a lot of laughter and a few tears - I still remember the red sling back shoes which Christine Triebsch from East Berlin wore to scale Snowdon. And the fascination that Helma Sauerbrey held for the sad tale of the valiant hound at Beddgelert – she even wrote & illustrated a little book about it – possibly spurred on by the beguiling poetry readings of Nigel Jenkins and Peter Meilleur.

A spirit of camaraderie and curiosity, A sense of delving into a contemporary yet ancient spirit of place A passion for experimental architectural stained glass.  A refreshing freedom to exhibit without constraints of family or commissions. Lucky were we and continue to be. 

-Amber Hiscott