Samantha Yates is a Shipley-based stained glass artist and teacher. She has said of her work:
The natural environment has always been a focus for me, and my work is a result of my fascination with presenting the glass to the light through different botanical forms, patterns and structures; the combination of glass and light together never fails to disappoint me.
‘Large Ferns’. Image: courtesy of the artist; see artist’s website below.
Samantha gained a BSc in Environmental Science, leading to a PGCE teaching certificate, and later a Master of Engineering degree (MEng) in Sustainable Waste Management. After an earlier career that has spanned working as an Environmental Manager in organic recycling, a Community Arts Worker, and a Lecturer in Horticulture, Samantha launched her stained glass art company, Lil’Rabbitfoot (see website link below) in April 2018 and works from a shared studio in Saltaire Makers Space.
In addition to developing her business, she also continues to work as a part-time Horticultural Lecturer at Shipley College, and organises and leads local workshops in stained glass making.
‘Fern, New Shoots’. Image: courtesy of the artist; see artist’s website, below.
Samantha’s artwork has been exhibited across the Yorkshire region, including at the Saltaire Open Gardens and Sculpture Trails, Cartwright Hall craft display, the Piece Hall, Halifax, and the Horsforth Walk of Art.
‘Garden Cacti’. Image: courtesy of the artist; see artist’s website, below.
Her artwork was selected for the 2019 Bradford Open at Cartwright Hall. In 2019 it was also also shown in a solo exhibition at the Cliffe Castle Museum Glasshouses, Keighley. A unique feature of the Cliffe Castle exhibition was the way Samantha’s botanical glass artworks blended with the cacti, ferns and other plants in the greenhouse.
In July 2020 Samantha was the joint winner of a competition to design a commissioned artwork to celebrate a couple’s forthcoming wedding, televised in a BBC series ‘Home is Where the Art Is’.
Image: courtesy of the artist; see artist’s website, below.