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Judy Williams Award - Artist
Charles Bray was born in Salford in 1922. He studied sculpture at Goldsmiths College and then taught at various places eventually becoming the Principal Lecturer in Glass and Ceramics at the Sunderland Polytechnic. He retired from this post in order to concentrate on producing his own glass pieces. Charles Bray is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and he is a founding member of British Artists in Glass.
The individual work which he produces falls into two distinct areas. The first consist of blown bowls, most of which are concerned with landscape. This had evolved from a lifelong interest in walking, climbing and sketching in the Highlands, the Lake District, North Wales and the Pyrenees. The second area consists of glass sculpture, much of it experimental and varied in both conception and execution.
Charles Bray has exhibited extensively in Britain, Europe and the United States. Private collectors of his work include Queen Margarthe of Denmark, and ex-king Constantine of Greece. His work is in a number of prestigious public collections which include:
The Turner Collection, Sheffield. Musee de Verre, Sars Poteries. Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead. Salford City Art Gallery, Salford. Crystalex, Novy Bor, Czechoslovakia. Corning Museum of Glass, New York. City Art Gallery, Glasgow. Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh. The Ulster Museum, Belfast.