John Piper and Stained Glass
OK, I've just lost everything that I have been posting for the past hour - extremely frustrating, especially as I may not remember my exact thoughts and feelings, but here goes...
John Piper started creating stained glass windows in the 1950s - he did not actually make the windows himself, but painted the 'cartoons' from which the stained glass maker worked.
The first one here is the West Window from St Paul's in Bledlow Ridge created in 1968, which is quite near to me so I must try to see it. In this " he has let his designs run right across the mullions from one light to another. It is a rhapsody in many shades of blue." [John Piper and Stained Glass, by June Osborne, 1997, Stroud: Sutton Publishers, 0-7509-1088-7]
This is the East Window of St Bartholomew's in Nettlebed, 1970.
Below are two examples of windows from Eton College Chapel: The Raising of Lazarus and the lower half of The Light under a Bushel.
Although all the windows are exquisite I find that the top one - the West Window at St Paul's - is the most emotive. Even looking at the printed image I am enthralled by the "rhapsody of many shades of blue". Of course on the computer screen these images look even more stunning than in print, but still not approaching their beauty when light is streaming through.
Light is a very powerful agent - the colours and images of stained glass windows were used to imbue churches with spiritual qualities. Today abstract images are often used in place of representational religious scenes, but personally I think the spiritual quality lies in the use of colour and light more than the imagery.
Piper uses much more blue in his work than other colours. I wonder, if red and orange were used almost exclusively, would the result be overpowering? In western culture at least, blue is viewed as a colour of calm, reflection, spirituality, whereas red and orange are very activating colours - more likely to be used when energy and activity is to be encouraged. I'd like to try using those colours and see what difference they make to mood.
Light is now used quite widely in the treatment of Seasonal Affective Disorder ( a form of depression attributed to the lack of light in winter, particularly in northern climates where the days are very short). I have long felt that light is very therapeutic and that coloured light can hugely affect mood and wellbeing. This is an area that I should like to look at in more depth, possibly by creating a space with variable light and colour...
Many fine artists have worked with stained glass - perhaps for the same reasons that I am drawn to it: the intense colours and feel of a piece when light is added, and the beauty of translucent materials. Henri Matisse, Fernand Leger, Georges Rouault, Georges Braque, and Marc Chagall were all attracted to stained glass, and probably many more that I haven't found yet.
I also see a parallel with stage lighting. The way that light can be mixed on stage to create any mood required for the production is fantastic and may point the way for me with my 'mood room'. Hockney, for one, is a fine artist who designed stage sets - one I can remember bathes the stage in blue - the Mikado maybe? I must look into that for next time...
posted by Lynda Cornwell @ 11:10 am
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