Glass artist, Chris Bailey was born in 1938 in Marple, Cheshire, but has lived in Ilkley since 1951.
Chris trained initially as a primary school teacher, specialising in art, and worked in teaching until she took early retirement in the late 1980s.
Ceramic art had always been a feature of her life, but retirement gave the impetus to train formally in this field. In 1998 Chris enrolled on a ceramics course at Shipley College, leading in 1999 initially to a two year National Diploma in Design Crafts (Ceramics) at Harrogate College. The course introduce Chris to a range of materials, including ceramics, metal, textiles and printing. She became interested in glass as a result of a design for silk window hangings, combined with glass and metal. Fused glass has subsequently been the main focus of her artwork since 2004.
My work has always been influenced by the colour and movement that can be observed in nature and the elements of earth, air, fire and water. My fascination of water in rock pools and the sea shore has inspired my recent work. I have combined the use of colour, transfers and fine wire to capture the rippling movement, the depth and what lies beneath the surface.
Image: Chris Bailey
Chris is a member of Ilkley Arts and her work regularly features in their exhibitions and art trails – see link Ilkley Arts
Image: Chris Bailey, see Ilkley Arts website, above.
In addition to the visual arts, Chris has had a long interest in natural healing. In 1986, with her husband, Dr. Arthur Bailey, they opened the Ilkley Healing Centre offering a range of complementary and holistic therapies. In 2008, after Arthur Bailey’s death, she also managed Bailey Flower Essences Company, established by him in 1967, until the company joined forces with Yorkshire Flower Essences Ltd in 2016.
.