How a front door can change your life!
- Debs Harrison
- Aug 23
- 4 min read
By Debs Harrison and Cathy Steed
On leaving school at the age of sixteen Cathy had no idea what she wanted to do. She was taken to a careers advisor who, after a number of tests, recommended a creative career and suggested millinery (hat-making) or printing. She applied to London College of Printing but, at her interview, was told to come back at eighteen.
Millinery did not appeal to Cathy and, when you are 16, two years is a long time to wait so she embarked on a varied path that gave her many transferable skills and, as it turned out, equipped her well for life as a glass artist.
Creativity has been a theme through her many incarnations beginning in childhood with the making of small figures and sets to channel the worlds of her imagination.
Perhaps these imaginary worlds were what led to the idea of dressing windows (suggested by a friend when they walked past the windows of a Debenhams store) and she enrolled on a two-year course in Display Design at the College for the Distributive Trades. The college was nestled between Soho and Covent Garden, two vibrant and edgy areas of 1970s London. At college Cathy learned about the displaying of perfumes, wines and fashion none of which sparked any interest. The best bits were the prop making workshops.
On leaving college with a diploma she liked the idea of working for a high end family-run furniture store near her home in Surrey. She wrote to them and they took her on as a display assistant. The store sold beautiful modern (mid-century) designer furniture, Scandinavian fabrics, glassware and china. Cathy’s role was to arrange room sets in the windows, raiding the shop departments for the very best designs.
After a couple of years Cathy moved on to the iconic Conran Shop in Fulham Road, London. This was an exciting time to be in London and the shop attracted some interesting customers: Freddie Mercury, Jerry Hall, Valerie Singleton and Bryan Ferry being among them! Unfortunately, Cathy had a recurrence of a knee problem she had had as a child and was advised to quit her job and find work that did not involve crawling around on the floor!
After brief periods as a motorcycle messenger, and a shop assistant in a department store Cathy applied to be a trainee kitchen designer and found a route back to making room sets - this time in customers houses! She worked in kitchen and bathroom shops in Surrey and then Gloucester for 12 years.
During this time Cathy learned valuable skills of customer relations, meticulous measuring and an ability to follow a brief! All of which would prove invaluable when she began making stained glass and taking commissions for windows and doors.
On meeting John and becoming a mother Cathy grew from a shy child and teenager into a confident young woman. When the children were small she was active with the local National Childbirth Trust and became the editor of their monthly newsletter using a computer for the first time. This led to an interest in learning more about computers and Cathy discovered to her amazement that, despite leaving school with only four O levels, she could apply to study for a degree at Gloucestershire College of Higher Education (now the University of Gloucestershire). She studied part-time for a joint degree in Business Information Technology and Educational Studies.
Whilst a student Cathy worked one day a week on the website of the International Education Office and built a website for her daughter’s infant school. Graduating in 1998 with a 2:1 BA she found work at Gloucestershire County Council, creating their first website for the education department. Her job involved delivering training to colleagues and Cathy discovered a love of teaching. She worked at GCC on website content management, communications and social media for 19 years until taking voluntary redundancy in 2018.
Cathy and John have lived in their Edwardian house in Longlevens for 40 years and in 2004 they discussed the idea of replacing the awful 1960s glass in the front door with some stained glass. Cathy was interested in designing and making the glass herself so signed up for sessions at New Brewery Arts in Cirencester. She immediately took to the craft and loved all the different processes involved - from glass cutting to leading soldering and cementing the work.
She wanted to try painting on glass, which would need a kiln, so her tutor recommended moving on to the glass course at Bristol School of Art. What followed was three years of experimentation with glass fusing, casting, screen printing, engraving and acid etching as well as painting and making stained glass pieces. The front door project was on hold while she had perfected her skills.
In 2009 the glass course ended and the workshops closed so Cathy set up a studio in an outhouse in her garden and invested in a kiln. Her brother asked her to make stained glass for his front door - a challenge she happily took on as it would give her valuable experience. Her own front door wasn’t forgotten and was eventually completed
in 2014.
Around that time she started teaching stained glass, initially offering workshops to friends so she could learn what worked best. Teaching has become a big part of her life and she really enjoys passing on her knowledge and enthusiasm. People are blown away by what they can achieve in a day and every one of them makes something beautiful to take away.
As well as the one-day stained glass taster workshop Cathy also holds a two-day glass painting course and offers a glass fusing experience too. She also offers a bespoke service for clients who wish to be involved in the making of their stained-glass project. Cathy teaches them each process and gives them access to her studio to work on their project.
With teaching, exhibiting and commissions Cathy is kept busy. She is a member of the Contemporary Glass Society and Gloucester Contemporary Artists.
Cathy says ‘glass is my passion, I never get bored with it, and there is always something else to learn either formally from professional tutors or informally from a very supportive glass community. I am proud to call myself a glass artist and it’s the best job I have had’.
