GLASS artists from all over the world have responded to the call from Pyramid Gallery in York to submit work inspired by nature.

“More than 80 artists, who are members of the Contemporary Glass Society, entered outstanding work and the selection panel had an extremely hard task selecting only 27 for this intimate show,” says gallery owner Terry Brett.

Pyramid Gallery will devote its two exhibition rooms to Ripples – Glass Inspired By Nature from March 14 to May 5. “Glass has the ability to emulate forms, patterns and structures found in nature, and Ripples will highlight the breadth of inspiration that nature provides to many practising glass artists,” says Terry.

The exhibitors are from all over Britain, the Netherlands, Germany and Israel, but among the list are Rachel Welford from Scarborough, James Maskrey from Sunderland and Effie Burns from Durham.

“The range of work is diverse in style and process,” says Terry. “Effie Burns has been selected for her 30-piece Forest, which uses casts of broccoli flowers, while James Maskrey uses bold blown bottles to house artefacts such as replicas of ‘scrimshaws’ made by the Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. These are fragments of whale bone that the explorer carved into, faithfully reproduced by Maskrey in glass.”

Rachel Welford employs flat sheets of glass fused together with insertions of found natural items, such as birch twigs and leaves. Leaves also feature in the installation CNR Colour Collection by Scottish artist Elke Westen, who has arranged different-coloured leaves in test tubes mounted on a mirror.

“Visitors to this collection will be astonished at the diversity,” says Terry, who was part of the selection panel, working in tandem with the Contemporary Glass Society. “We chose exceptional pieces that demonstrate the different approaches used in making art with glass, one of the most versatile and beautiful materials available.”

Among the other exhibitors will be Ian Barrowcliffe; Peter Fricker; Laura Hart; Alisoun Howie; Elin Isaksson; Tlws Johnson; Faith Mercer; Boris Shpiezman; Nancy Sutcliffe; JanHein van Stiphout, Liz Waugh McManus and Amy Whittingham.