Issue 40 winter 23 web - Flipbook - Page 75
The installation on site was in itself a challenging process,
putting to the test the precision and accuracy of the
fabrication. The panels are saddled and supported in
powder-coated black frames, and fitted effortlessly into
the framing system. During the installation the sun came
out, and fully vindicated Rachel’s vision, as the bold design and the trace lines bathed the white-faced stone surfaces with colour and warmth, instantly appearing to
double the area of glass!
The College accepted the preliminary designs with very
few changes, allowing Rachel to begin to print the designs
to full size, creating working cartoons for the painting and
glazing of the glass in the studio. Glass was ordered form
the French manufacturers St Just, and the project was
poised to begin just as the Covid-19 pandemic forced the
closure of the studio and the furlough of the staff. Rachel
and her collaborator Anna Milsom, were only able to
begin in earnest in the Autumn of 2020, when both were
also still juggling the home schooling of reluctant children.
Good progress was made, despite the need for social
distancing in the workplace, and all the glass was cut, and
the first of two firings had been achieved before a second
lockdown in January 2021 forced another delay. “More
home schooling and a lot more grey hair later, we emerged
in March 2021, with the very tight May 2021 deadline
looming”, says Rachel. “Anna became my greatest support, and the ‘god of the kiln’ was well behaved – the
enamel trace-lines and tones fired beautifully to a glossy,
translucent ‘lollipop’ finish”. The windows were installed
on target in May 2021, the first time that Rachel had been
able to see her vision for the windows in their entirety for
the first time.
During the dedication service in March 2022, Rachel
could finally see the windows as they were meant to be
seen, without scaffolding. Scudding clouds alternating
with full sunlight, acted rather like a light switch, allowing
the graphic design to appear and disappear through the
ignition of light, a reminder of the transformative qualities
of stained glass in architectural space.
below left, Burlison and Grylls stained glass in the main chapel, a
source of inspiration (Photo: The York Glaziers Trust)
Below right, Christian symbolism: The vinegar sop offered to Christ
on the Cross. (Photo: The York Glaziers Trust)
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