Tuesday 31 March 2015

Leeds Central Library - Just Stunning!



 
 
 

 

They have a fantastic recently restored tearoom with marble pillars, glazed tiles and great tea and cake! Check out the Wikipedia page for some great detail on the building http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeds_Central_Library and some amazing Flickr photos of the restoration process; https://www.flickr.com/photos/leedslibraryandinformationservice/sets/72157600244974360/ . Leeds Libraries also have a Facebook page which unearths and features curiosities from their archives;  https://www.facebook.com/leedslibraries/timeline?ref=page_internal .


Monday 23 March 2015

'As soon as I get up in the morning now I pop into the hall to have a look...'

It's a great feeling when everything comes together! For many years this Victorian house had a 70's style stable door with 2 large glass panes. With a new door appropriate for the period and style of the house, a stained glass design was chosen that is typical for houses in the area. Lots of chunky texture and glasses that sparkle were used to bring the panels to life...

 
 
A trademark of my work is the option of using old glasses, their depth of embossment really catches the light (although there are many new glasses that do this well too e.g. the borders and amber pieces in this panel). In this close up you can see the vintage glasses 'Japanese' - this is the yellow flower pattern in the centre of the 2 ambers and green 'Muranese' which surrounds the red roundel and is cut from a sheet that came from a house a few streets away. For a previous blogpost on the use of Victorian / Edwardian patterned sheets click here; http://apollostainedglass.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/its-your-home.html   
 

Saturday 21 March 2015

The Sky Was by E.E. Cummings

the
     sky
           was
can    dy    lu
minous
            edible
spry
        pinks shy
lemons
greens    coo    1 choc
olate
s.
While Modernist poets like E.E. Cummings experimented with form, punctuation, spelling, and syntax, artists like Mondrian experimented with shape, balance and rhythm. Below is a set of bathroom panels in the Modernist style using a delicate palette of colours and building in some bright bold features...
 

Checking colours and textures.

 




(photo courtesy of Kate Dunn)
 
The completed set! 
 
Kate adds; 'every time I walk into the shower room I get a little kick of pleasure at seeing the window, which has been much admired by our friends and families...'

Monday 2 March 2015

It started with a huge sash window in a Victorian house along a busy street...

(Photo courtesy of Robin Marcus).

and a love for the work of Lyonel Feininger...

 

 
Amazing abstracted cityscapes full of the dynamic energy and chaos of urban life.
 
The brief; stained glass to go in the lower half of the sash and the design to include The Gherkin, Southwark Cathedral, Battersea Power Station, The London Eye and The Shard. 
 
Images for the design were researched from many angles and quarters;
 
Fantastic cranes in front of Battersea Power Station
(Photo credit Adrian Welch at http://www.e-architect.co.uk/)
 
The Gherkin 
 
Southwark Cathedral
 
The Shard
(Photo credit; Matt Crossick Empics Entertainment, http://mcrossick.co.uk/)
 
Thames shore views
(Photo credit; Ian Visits http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/)
 
Initial design;
 
New ideas based more on the long shot photo view
(Photo credit; Frank)
 
Revised design;
 
To maximise the light the glasses chosen were a variety of clear textured glasses (both old and new) with some opaque white glass, iridescent glass, opalescent faceted jewels and clear globs. 
 

Pasting up to check the glasses in different lights before leading. A huge variety of glasses were used from England, America and China with many different textures - a real celebration of the skill of the surface glass designers (those both long gone and brand new)! Glass names like Glistre, Cross Reed (wide and narrow), Small Arctic, Rivuletta, Flemish (large and small and grainy and clear!), Granite, Corded, Ripple, Sparkle, Kokomo, Wide Drop Reed, Festival ... phew... Spotlite, Pilkintons Hammered Number 2 (and 3!), Borealis, Muranese, Quarter Reed, Lustre, Venetian, Rain Water, Fibroid, Artique, Everglade, Krinkle, Master Carre, Fractolite, Gluechip, Delta Mate, Masterpoint, Chantilly, Chinchilla (I think..), Mayflower and some weird and wonderful glasses I don't know what the names are!
Leading up, soldering and cementing...
 
 
 




 
First Glimpses in fading light...









 
Ian's amazing metal bar (and frames)...
 
 
The colour absorbency of clear textured glass;
is the glass blue?

or red?

(Photo courtesy of Robin Marcus).
At night the glass reflects light back and picks up passing headlights.

 (Photo courtesy of Robin Marcus) 
 
(Photo courtesy of Robin Marcus).
 
Job done!