Nathalie Hildegarde Liege
Stained Glass

Tell me a little about yourself and your art? 

 

I am originally from the suburbs of Paris and moved to the UK in 1995. 

My journey into stained glass began after practising Fine Art in France and working as a guide in both the Musée d’Orsay and the Modern Art Museum of the Pompidou Centre in Paris. I moved to the United Kingdom to study stained glass art in Swansea and later in Wrexham. I moved to Shropshire in 1998 after finishing my studies and being presented with a two-year Journeyman’s Award from the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass.

 

How did you first get into your chosen art?

 

As part of the award I acquired a fully equipped stained glass workshop at Coalport China Museum, Ironbridge and was mentored by Alfred Fisher. I also received a grant to start a business as a Stained Glass artist and artisan; which is how Couleurlive began, although it was named differently then. 

Now located in Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, I offer private commissions, restoration works and projects for heritage and public sites in partnership with architects, glaziers, research centres and international colleagues. I also deliver courses in Stained Glass Painting and online mentoring in Stained Glass Crafting in both French and English. 

 

Where do you feel the inspiration to create your art comes from? 

 

I am, and always have been, strongly committed to celebrating the environment. When I began my tenancy at the English Bridge Workshop in 2001 around 80% of the studio was built with reclaimed furniture, pieces of equipment and more. We continue to honour this commitment by using mostly reclaimed or adapted furniture when improving the studio for different purposes, stressing the importance of recycling while ensuring the furniture is fun and practical. 

​For my stained glass art, my latest move was to take the mouth blown glass cuts that were unwanted by the person who purchased the contents of Stained Glass Artist Jane Gray’s closing studio, generously offered to me by her daughter. I encourage this environmental commitment in my work taking every piece of glass for its full potential and limiting as much as possible all forms of pollution of water or land in the usage of the paints, enamels, or other materials. 

​My Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery Marga & Collections project made reference to the Anthropocene - the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment; our ARTYchoke series celebrates the beauty of home-grown food; and our latest private commission for Prees Heath Common Reserve features the silver-studded blue butterfly and highlights its vital eco-system that needs protecting. 

 

 

The last year has been especially challenging for so many of us. How have you managed, both personally and creatively? 

 

We all were suddenly missing the outdoors or social wellbeing, the urge to save our planet was so true. 

Listening to Medea by Euripides and reading about Earth Mother raised a question. Will we be creating and killing or creating and saving?'

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For my latest artwork Are we becoming Medea or the Earth Mother? created and selected for a UK touring exhibition celebrating the Centenary of the British Society of Master Glass Painters, I just added my question among many questions we daily hear, hoping we may build children and young people a brighter future. 

This artwork will be exhibited in: 

• Ely Cathedral 17 September – 31 October 2021

• Winchester Cathedral 2 – 25 November 2021

• National Waterfront Museum, Swansea Spring 2022

• Wells Cathedral 23 may – 6th June 2022

• International Festival of Glass, Stourbridge 26-29 August 2022

 

Has the pandemic or lockdown had any influence on your work, either positively or negatively? 

 

When the Covid-19 outbreak happened, with support from Arts Council England, I quickly adapted by launching an online shop and delivering Online Mentoring in Stained Glass Crafting and offers this in both French and English. I also made use of the slower pace and dedicated time to improving her Stained Glass Painting Courses, making essential improvements to my studio and focusing on new and ongoing commissions and event planning. 

 

What plans do you have for your art going forward?

 

Summer 2021 has been an exciting time for Couleurlive; in June I was delighted to take part in the very first Glass Festival at St Mary’s Church in Shrewsbury as part of the Shrewsbury Arts Trail. Where I exhibited my work and gave talks about Stained Glass painting to visitors of the festival. Here, I met Alex Whiteley of the Shrewsbury Biscuit Podcast who I later welcomed to my studio to chat about my career as a Stained Glass artist and artisan. In April 2020, to mark the Centenary of the British Society of Master Glass Painters, I was invited to create a panel, first for inclusion in their virtual exhibition, it was then selected for the touring Centenary exhibition which runs from 17th September 2021 to Autumn 2022.

Looking to the future I hope to continue working on private commissions and collaborative works with other artists and existing educational bodies.

 

 

What practical advice would you give someone wanting to take up your form of art professionally?

 

Hold and handle each piece of material you use with love, view it as a potential to trigger awe.

 

 

Where can people see your art? 

 

2019 saw the completion of her Arts Council England funded project Marga & Collections; a permanent artwork inspired by Margaret Agnes Rope and Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery’s ‘Hall of Rocks & Minerals’ collection. The project was delivered in collaboration with the Museum and KAE films, who captured the whole process from the story of creation, through to the design, workshop activities, talks, tours and demonstrations and the making of the artwork itself. The window is on permanent display at Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery. 

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All other public creations will be presented on my website https://www.couleurlive.com/discoverourwork

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