coombs criddle associates
dcoombs@sover.net
(+1 802) 423 5640

Stilling the Storm, 25ft high stained glass window for Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan, NY 2003.
Work-in-progress; glasspainting at the easel.

photo: © Coombs Criddle Associates 2003

bio

I have studied, practised, taught and enjoyed the art of stained glass for over thirty years. Each new project brings practical, artistic or technical challenges. Each day's work is a fresh experience.

My stained glass has been commissioned, exhibited, published and is collected in Europe, Australia, Asia, and the USA and is held in the permanent collection of the Stained Glass Museum at Ely Cathedral in England.

I was born and educated in Great Britain and now live and work in Vermont, USA.

education & qualifications >>>
religious stained glass >>>
public art commissions >>>
teaching & presentations >>>
community work >>>
exhibitions >>>

Education & qualifications

I studied at Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland; the Swansea Institute, Wales (now the Welsh School of Architectural Glass at Swansea Metropolitan University); and received a master's degree from the Royal College of Art, London, England in 1985.

My work has received the support of the Welsh Arts Council, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Vermont Arts Council and the West Wales Arts Association. In 1982 I received the Welsh National Eisteddfod Prize for stained glass.

In 1995 I was made a Fellow of the British Society of Master Glass Painters. I am also a member of the American Glass Guild and a Juried Artist with the Vermont Arts Council.

Religious stained glass - highlights

My largest commissioned work to date, executed between 1995-98 is for St. Mary's Cathedral, Portland, Oregon comprising over 1,000 sq. ft. of hand-painted stained glass and a 120sq.ft. French-embossed (acid-etched, clear glass) screen on the themes of American saints, cultural diversity and the sacraments

My first religious project was four stained glass windows for the Interfaith Place of Worship at St Luke's Hospital, Bradford, England, in 1994. This space is used by hospital visitors, staff and patients of many different faiths.

More recently, my two 25ft high figurative windows for Norman Vincent Peale's Church in Manhattan, Marble Collegiate, were dedicated in 2002 & 2004.

As of writing (April 2008) I am in the midst of a scheme of forty-six windows for a new Catholic church in the USA based on the narrative of the Holy Rosary.

Public art commissions

I have made stained and etched glass screens, windows and skylights for a wide variety of historic and contemporary buildings. These include schools, libraries, hospitals, law courts, private homes and a golf club in Scotland.

My subject matter has been diverse: a war memorial for a retirement home; six windows for the Welsh Miners Museum, Cymer Afan, South Wales, based on the geological cross-section of a coalfield; the donor recognition window for North Adams Public Library in Massachusetts; and, amongst other things, stained glass for a traditional English tea shop.

My 85ft long transom and five faux shrubbery panels for Betty's, in York, England, received the Royal Institute of British Architects' Craftsmanship Award in 1985.

Teaching, lectures & presentations

I have taught stained glass at art schools throughout the UK and in Ireland and, for two years, was Head of Glass in the School of Public Art, Chelsea College of Art, London.

In 1993 I was awarded a British Council Bursary to travel to America to lectures about contemporary British stained glass. I have given presentations on my own work to stained glass professionals, church groups and local communities

In 2004 I was the keynote speaker at the annual conference of the Stained Glass Association of America and prior to that, at the Artworker's Guild in London, (2002), and the British Society of Master Glass Painters (2001).

I have taught workshops at the Pilchuck Glass School near Seattle. WA (1993 & 94). for IS-183, Art School of the Berkshires, at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams MA and at the Millard School of Glass Painting in Antrim, New Hampshire.

I currently teach workshops in stained glass design and glasspainting for all skill levels here at my studio in Vermont and occasionally elsewhere. These include tailor-made workshops for small groups and stained glass professionals.

Community work

In 1981 I spent six months as Artist in Residence at Cymer Afan Secondary School in Blaengwnfi, Wales. Today, the stained glass window made under my wing by disadvantaged youth for their community center is still intact, despite the fact that this ex-coal-mining suffered over 60% unemployment at the time, and vandalism was rife. Community projects can engender pride and ownership of art in diverse populations.

In 1999 I spear-headed the creation of Readsboro Arts (initially an after-school program called Readsboro Cyberschool) in my local Vermont community. Now a 501c3 (non-profit) corporation, Readsboro Arts works to enhance the life of the townspeople and visitors to Readsboro and surrounding communities by supporting the growth of the arts.

In 2005 I mentored 12th grade Mt Greylock (Williamstown, Massachusetts) High School student, Amanda Frank, through her final year graduation requirement project. Amanda spent time in my studio each week drawing and making stained glass.

In a recent Artist Residency, at Stamford Elementary School in Vermont, I worked with 78 children on a stained glass window as part of the exhibition Boxed Sets: Assembling Objects, Images and People. See slide show of work-in-progress, the exhibition; and finished window.

Exhibitions & studio work

I have exhibited stained glass and works-on-paper internationally since 1981, including a solo exhibition of stained glass 'One Woman's Narrative' at the Jeanetta Cochrane Gallery in London, England in 1994. In 2005 & 2006 I showed work at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Gallery 51 in North Adams, Massachusetts. In 2007 I exhibited with sculptors Lisa Nilsson and Laura Christensen in a three-person show 'Boxed Sets; Connecting People, Places & Ideas' in Kidspace at MASS MoCA (The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art), also in North Adams, Mass.

I'll be exhibiting stained glass panels during the summer of 2008 at the British Society of Master Glass Painters biennial group exhibitiion, 40cm sq in London; and at the annual conference of the American Glass Guild. My next solo show, which I hope to tour, is a continuation of my 'Menfolk' series that will open in March 2009 at the Jeanetta Cochrane Gallery in London, England.