CELEBRATION: Painting with light
Specification
This provides an exciting opportunity to design using the skills related to metalworking and glass. Designing a stained glass window will allow the designer to focus on a particular aspect of their community or produce a collage of historical, social, cultural or entertainment activities within a single design. The window can be inlaid into a forged floor standing screen or pedestal mounted screen in order to display the full effect of the chosen design.
Stained glass windows have told stories throughout the ages and are commonly associated with churches. Fine examples can be found in many of our local churches.
The following three examples are the work of Sarah Davies of Trent College Nottingham. The project received the Schools Design Prize awarded by the Design Council. (copyright The Design Council)
Sarah chose to renovate a stain glass window in a local church. The slides show the situation and examples of her work.
Research
A History of Stained Glass
Stained glass windows are made in the same way today as they were 1000 years ago. In 1884 William Lazenby opened his stained glass works in Bradford. His skills were passed on to his sons and his grandsons and today his great granddaughter, Valerie Green, carries on the family tradition at the Stained Glass Centre in the countryside between Scarborough and Filey.
Examples seen below provide ideas for the community theme stated in the design brief with designs which depict towns and cities from Yorkshire.
Whitby |
York |
Knavesborough |
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In thinking about my village we have two major features. One is a famous tower dating back to Elizabethan times with architectural additions up to the Victorian period. Secondly we are the home of football. The football pitch in the village is the oldest in the world and the first game under the modern game rules took place on this pitch. The pitch is still in use every weekend during the season. In order to provide an idea for our local community centre these two ideas could be incorporated within either a wrought iron pedestal or screen which could be placed statically in the main entrance. |
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This design was created using the software Microsoft Paint. The tower is represented as simple block shapes with two footballs within the union colours of red, white and blue. The frame is forged with the base brazed onto the frame and the top section threaded to enable the "handles" to be unscrewed so that the glass can be removed if required if necessary.
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Similarly a design could be placed within the top section of this pedestal. Study the material within the section on wrought iron work regarding construction |
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Coloured glass is used to develop a decorative design often within a window but not exclusively so.
