Glenn Carter: Exploring Poetic Potency of Light through Stained, Painted, Cast Glass
From his 1999 Millennium Window for St. Mary’s, Masham, to his 2022 Ukrainian Canadian Window for St. James, Paddington, and beyond, the UK’s Glenn Carter has proven again and again the emotional power of light and glass. In his body of work commissioned for both religious and domestic buildings and exhibitions, strong personal narrative and symbolism are signature elements.
Says Carter: “Stained glass windows are amongst the few objects that cast no shadow. Instead, they radiate colored light, transforming a space into an illuminated area, a place in which enlightenment is potentially more than a metaphor. Historically, the most sublime windows, secular and religious, are examples of light becoming an opportunity for contemplation and transformation from darkness to light. Stained glass is reminiscent of music, and its impact is felt profoundly.”
A freelance glass maker based in Plymouth, England, Carter’s early history with the medium includes studies at Portsmouth College of Art 1974 to 1977. He served as glass lecturer at Plymouth College of Art, now Plymouth University of The Arts, from 2012 to 2018 and at North Lands Creative Glass in Lybster, Caithness, Scotland, with glass artist Richard Whiteley. Carter has also been a visiting instructor in the US at Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA; UrbanGlass, Brooklyn, NY; University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA; Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA; and Rochester Institute of Technology, NY.
Holding an MVA from the glass department at the Australian National University in Canberra, Carter’s cast glass reveals glass forms inspired by the architecture and landscape of this period and linked by his drawings. Beginning in 2009, this sculptural series continues today.
From 1995 through 2000, Carter was part of the conservation and restoration department of Lincoln Cathedral Workshops, working on the highly prestigious 13th-century Deans Eye window. This gave him a thorough grounding in accessing and developing an ethical and considered approach to conserving and restoring historic stained glass – an experience that continues to inform and consolidate his practice to this day.
An elected Fellow of the British Society of Master Glass Painters (BSMGP), Carter’s considerable number of design projects across the UK have been carried out on behalf of a wide range of churches and domestic buildings spanning the 13th to the 21st centuries. These projects include a broad range of painted glass restorations utilizing selective restoration procedures, glazing options and installation. The studio has also undertaken numerous plain glazing and quarried leaded light scheme of works, including ventilation solutions.
As UK commissions for larger buildings are scarce at the moment, Carter currently focuses his practice on restoration and personal work including cast glass or painted and leaded light projects. Constantly drawing, he has begun printing images that may be adapted to glass via painting, staining, leading, sandblasting or engraving.
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