Transformation

Offcuts standing sideways in my studio window, each 1 metre tall

I had a commission to make two fanlight windows for a friend's house in Poland. She said offcuts would do, so I put two leftovers sideways in my studio window and waited for inspiration. I had made the glass in 2000 for an exhibition, the pink one broke and I remade it in yellow but was never satisfied with the results. You can see in the pages below from my 2000 sketchbooks that there was a lot going on here - how could I add something while also making sense of a poor composition ?

Meanwhile another friend, the artist Wendy Smith who I met when we were students together, came to stay. She had a lot to say about the process of transformation, you can read about it on her blog. Her ideas spoke to me about the danger of overworking versus making a fresh start. I have often tried to make new pieces on top of old samples and all I got was a struggle made visible.

The new panels in my studio, finished last week.

This time, I sandblasted across the glass backgrounds with star/flower shapes, as if embroidering figures across a patterned and pleated fabric ground. The yellow ground got pink details, the pink ground got yellow and a fantastic rich amber made from a mix of enamels. You can see the depth of the old lines under the surface of the glass in the details below. 

Beaudesert

St Nicholas Beaudesert, Henley-in-Arden, the church in a place with a beautiful name and a hideous sign almost wrecking the Twelfth Century entrance. Inside I found other themes that appear every time I go to a church with windows designed by William Morris and his partners. For instance, is the curly haired, bearded St. Peter (below left) one of those figures that is based on a portrait of WM?

Entrance to St. Nicholas, Beaudesert                  2 of a set of 5 windows by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. 1865

1865 Beaudesert Virgin Mary                                                                            1873 Sopworth Virgin Mary

I'd seen Burne Jones' figure of the Virgin Mary in the north west window at Beaudesert before; she is in the window of the three Marys at St. Mary's Sopworth, and there is an earlier version of the same figure in Bradford Cathedral. It's not my photography, some of the paint has gone (borax problem) from the Beaudesert glass and because it is about half the size of the Sopworth Mary the details look less fine when comparing the images at the same size. 

Then there are some more fine shoes for the stained glass shoes collection,  these are on Saints Paul and George. A graphic version of what I call "the clump" makes a lovely repeat ground for all these figures to stand on. And there are angels wearing feathers and standing on wheels, which I have learnt puts them in the third ranking order of angels.

Two of five Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & co. angels

First steps towards alphabet

My alphabet is an ongoing project. The idea is to make a font from my hand writing to use for inscriptions on windows or for lettering and signage in decorative interior schemes. My current scheme is for Ron Jones House, Stokes Croft, Bristol, where words will run around the top of one of the communal rooms.

top : Ron Jones font trial on my studio wall                   bottom : two types of lettering in Exeter Cathedral

Lettering from All Saints, Selsley, Gloucestershire, the first ecclesiastical commission undertaken by Morris, Marshall and Faulkner & Co. 

Looking at lettering in this type of context of course leads me in to churches again, but because I mostly make work for secular public buildings I need to remove any ecclesiastical looking influences I may pick up here. The words on the early Morris windows at Selsley are encouragingly rough and lively in contrast to the 3-dimensional lettering on the wall of the same church (both shown above).  I've put off this alphabet project previously because I knew it would take me a long time, I haven't even started on the capitals and punctuation marks yet.

Just to see what my alphabet looks like as a font - not there yet.

What I Did With The Pattern

Inside the baptistry, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Cattistock, Dorset.                                  Copy of the wall pattern

This repeat pattern has been drawn up and ready for use since I first saw it in Cattistock Church last January. I was particularly attracted by the nature of the geometry within the repeat - at the same time diagonal and square but disguised by the organic overall flow of the pattern. In my design work, particularly the ones for healthcare settings, I find that my own preference for a geometric framework is not necessarily what is required. So I have been reversing my usual practice and putting the repetitive geometry into the details which float on an irregular textured background.

Study for designs for Special Care Baby Unit counselling room, Yeovil District Hospital.

Pattern versions 2, 3, 4 & 5

The pattern has gone through a series of changes from the original at Cattistock to give it a more open and rounded appearance to suit  this commission. More changes resulted from feedback that leaf shapes were preferred to flowers - a bit of a blow as the pattern is essentially floral, but I believe that making changes to order is one of the things that drives my work forward.

Design for 4 ceiling tiles for Yeovil Hospital, SCBU counselling room

Harry Clarke, Sturminster Newton

Bottom right in window, HC signature and date                                                                 My quick sketch

The Harry Clarke window in St. Mary's Church, Sturminster Newton, Dorset is worth going a long way to see. I pored over poor quality illustrations of his work in stained glass catalogues when I was a student but never managed to visit any. It was worth the wait - better in real life than you could imagine, a reminder of all the best things about stained glass and a thrill to see the signature of my first favourite stained glass artist. To savour the moment that I saw my first Harry Clarke I did a quick sketch of some of the background details.

View fullsize

Saints Elizabeth, Mary and Barbara                  Click to enlarge        Saint Elizabeth of Hungary / Roma Spencer-Smith

However, the figures interested me as much as the patterns, or maybe the way the figures get their strength from the way they are entwined with the patterns and sharp contemporary details. St. Elizabeth is based on a portrait of Roma Spencer-Smith in whose memory this window was commissioned and St. Barbara is based on Harry Clarke's wife, Margaret. The child is a portrait of Roma's son, under a year old when she died in the influenza epidemic of 1918. These figures sent me off to find out more about the combination of  people and saints portrayed - I like a portrait that looks you in the eye. 

View fullsize

Details showing dedication and the shoes of the 3 main figures               Click to enlarge