"Every window I create is different" says Wem-based glass artist Nathalie Liege

“At Christmas, an Italian man would sell little figurines made out of glass. He was making them in front of us and I was fascinated by the way he worked and sculpted the glass,” recalls Nathalie, who is now based in Wem.

“When I was a teenager, I told my parents I wanted to work in stained glass but they were worried about me doing it in Paris and thought it was too risky.”

Nathalie went on to practise fine art and worked as a guide in both the Musée d’Orsay and the Modern Art Museum of the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

But her dream of working with stained glass never left her and in 1995, now in her 20s, she moved to the UK to study stained glass art in Swansea and later in Wrexham.

“I came to the UK because I had read a book in a library in Paris about stained glass and students in Swansea and I found their methods and techniques very inspiring.” “Also, in France, at the time, some people didn’t believe it was a job for women,” she adds.

Before leaving France, Nathalie was surprised to learn that she was following in the footsteps of one of her ancestors.

“I told my granny I was going to do stained glass and she said ‘have I never told you that my father worked in glass?’ I never knew, I was shocked.

“His name was Alexi Bouyer. He worked in the glazing industry in the 19th century and did stained glass. She gave me two pieces of glass he had blown and engraved,” she says.

Nathalie moved to Shropshire in 1998 and established what is now known as her Couleurlive Studio after being awarded The Journeyman’s Award by the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass.

For two years, she was based in a studio at Coalport China Museum, Ironbridge and was mentored by Alfred Fisher.

In 2001, her business moved to the English Bridge Workshop in Shrewsbury where it was located until November 2023.

Now Nathalie is settling into a larger studio at the Old Creamery in Wem, where she works on projects for churches and heritage sites as well as public and private commissions.

She also runs stained glass painting courses for people who want to try their hand at a traditional craft. Her studio is divided into different areas for different purposes such as glass cutting, painting, kiln firing, engraving and églomisé as well as dedicated spaces for storing and displaying glass.

Each area has been named after someone important to Nathalie who has had a positive influence on her career.

They include Jane Gray, a renowned Shropshire stained glass artist whose work can be seen in churches, chapels and homes throughout the country.

“When I moved to Shropshire, Jane was the first person to welcome me. She also gave me some of her glass stocks when she was closing her studio,” explains Nathalie.

Chris Bird-Jones, her teacher and mentor at Wrexham University, is also among those honoured along with Margaret Agnes Rope, who was one of the first female glass artists.

The many projects Nathalie has worked on over the years have included creating a permanent artwork inspired by Margaret Agnes Rope and the Shrewsbury Museum’s Hall of Rocks & Minerals collection.

The window, now on permanent display, was inspired by Margaret Agnes Rope’s Marga’s Baptistery Window at Shrewsbury Cathedral, her contribution to women in art and her fusion of the modern and spiritual.

Nathalie has also created artwork for the X-ray department waiting room at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Gobowen, Oswestry.

Describing the project, she says: “It was not a design to take patients to other horizons and forget the purpose of their medical visit, instead the client wished to honour the beauty of the human body and its beauty behind the outer skin and muscle layers. The design was based on X-rays and MRI images chosen by the client.”

She also dedicates time to private commissions and one of her recent projects involved creating a window for a client who had spent many years working at Prees Heath nature reserve.

When working on a commission, Nathalie, who also hand-paints glass, will spend understanding what her client wants and where the window will be situated. Back in her studio, Nathalie will create a design incorporating any colour and detail requests such as flowers.

Before starting work, she will show her customer her proposal to get their feedback and approval. She says: “The best reaction is when I show them my proposal and a large smile appears on their face.”

For Nathalie, the appeal of stained glass is how it creates beautiful patterns with light, which change throughout the day. “Every window I create is different and will look different every day. It’s alive,” she says.

“What I love the most is when I deliver a window to the house of a client and it’s fitted.

“Seeing the window with the light coming through in its setting is when it all makes sense. It’s very rewarding to see how much the client loves their window.

“The joy is in delivering what they have asked for but I’m always disappointed that I don’t get to see it change at different times of the day. I would love to be a little bird so I could see how the window changes during the day,” adds Nathalie.

Nathalie is running stained glass painting courses on September 28 and 29. For more information, see www.couleurlive.com