Image above: Ornithology by Layne Rowe. Image by Alick Cotterill.
Front cover image on Issue 1: Imagination by Layne Rowe. Image by Alick Cotterill.
Thank you to Layne for his kind permission to use images of his wonderful art. You can read about Layne and his art in Issue 1.
Welcome to Mosaic & Glass magazine. After six months of research, planning and work on the first issue, we’re very excited to announce the launch of our magazine.
The first issue of Mosaic & Glass magazine will be published on 11 February 2022. With the United Nations proclaiming 2022 as the International Year of Glass, there couldn’t be better time to embark on this exciting journey!
Our mission is to entertain, educate and inspire our readers by producing excellent editorial, uncovering and sharing the stories behind mosaic and glass art and its artists. We champion and celebrate mosaic and glass art and artists, and our editorial primarily focuses on contemporary art. Published in Scotland, the magazine contains stories from the UK and across the world in our international community. Every issue will contain interviews, features, columns, technical and business tips, and a competition.
While each issue will include a regular feature containing technical tips and artists may discuss their techniques during interviews and articles, the magazine isn’t technically focused. Nowadays, there are so many brilliant opportunities to learn mosaic and glass art techniques from experts, both face-to-face and online. Instead, our focus is on the people, the artists’ inspirations and the stories behind their art. The magazine also has a strong business angle, supporting professional artists and hobbyists who might be considering a side hustle or a transition into a full-time art career.
One of the very first steps on our journey was to find out about who our readers are and what you want from Mosaic & Glass. Thank you so much to each of you who shared your views in a survey we carried out earlier this year. You can about read these five important things you told us, which we’ve used as insights to shape our magazine and plans for the future.
You can choose how you want to read the magazine
In our research, we asked you about your preferred format for reading the magazine. 49% of respondents said they wanted to have all three options – print, digital (pdf) and website/online – so that they can choose how and when to read the magazine; 41% said they’d like a printed copy only, and 10% said they’d like an online/digital format only. So we’re providing you with all three options options:
- A high-quality printed magazine four times each year. Please make sure to pre-order or subscribe by 26 January 2022 to secure a print copy. When you buy an annual print subscription, you automatically get access to the digital/page-turning PDF and our online format too.
- A digital/page-turning PDF version of the printed magazine, which you can read on a device of your choice wherever you are in the world. Get access to the latest issue as soon as it’s published.
- A fully responsive and immersive online format, which means that you can read the articles, along with extra images, videos and audio, on a device of your choice wherever you are in the world. You can enjoy all the content from the print edition of the magazine in an easy-to-navigate online format – a similar format to that which you might already be used to if you read newspaper websites. You’ll also benefit from expanded digital-only content such as extra images, videos and audio features. And with the online format, you can also translate the articles into your preferred language using the Google Translate function. Although Google Translate isn’t 100% perfect for translations, we make sure our writing is clear and simple (because that’s the way we like to do things anyway!) so that it maximises the chances of a more accurate translation. Get access to the latest issue as soon as it’s published.
We offer the option to buy a single issue or an annual subscription.
Our readers
Our research shows that the majority of our readers (72%) are artists. And there’s a very even split between glass and mosaic artists of almost exactly 50:50. Similarly, the split between hobbyists and professionals is approximately 50:50. And some of our readers are hobbyists looking to change to a full-time career in art. You all told us that you want a magazine that inspires, educates and supports you in your hobbies or businesses, and that is exactly what we’re here to do! The remaining 28% of readers are gallery owners, curators and collectors. They’re interested in finding out more about mosaic and glass art and artists, and also to help inform them in their buying and curation choices.
Our readers span the UK and many other countries across the world, enabled by our digital and website options for reading the magazine.
Our contributors
Our professional writers and journalists are not only excellent writers, they love art too – you can find out more about them here. They’re located across the world and they write features and interview mosaic and glass artists from our international community. We’re focused on producing old school, long-form journalism, which costs money and takes time and research. But we believe it’s worth it and we invest your money into producing great writing for you to enjoy.
We also welcome writing by artists, because there’s something very special about reading an artist’s writing about their art. Contact us if you’d like to write an article about your experiences, inspirations, processes, techniques, challenges, opinions or journeys – or anything else relating to mosaic and glass art.
Thank you
We’re hugely passionate about mosaic and glass art and artists, and we want to celebrate this and champion you and your art. We would hugely appreciate if you support us by buying or subscribing to our magazine, or by choosing to advertise with us. We’re committed to producing a top-quality magazine for you, and we hope you enjoy it.
Thank you so much to everyone who is supporting me with the magazine: graphic designer Duncan Macnaughtan who has created an amazing masthead and magazine design; magazine expert Mary Hogarth who has provided me excellent advice and support; a wonderful group of writers and journalists whose writing you’ll get to enjoy; Catherine Rose for her editorial support and writing; a fantastic mosaic and glass artist community; those of you who contributed to our research; the artists who have written for, or have been interviewed for, the first issue; and my family and friends for their support and encouragement, in particular my partner Ross and my children Lexie and Sam. Thanks also for a wonderful education by inspiring teachers and fellow students during my Master’s degree in International Journalism at Napier University, which I finished in 2021 – thank you very much Rachel Dungar Younger, Andrew MacGregor Marshall and Simon Pia.
We’re very excited to be on this journey and we hope you join it with us!
Rhona Duffy
Editor & publisher
Mosaic & Glass magazine