Stained Glass, Louis Le Brocquy And Snow

This is a digitalised pen and ink drawing entitled "The Bird Carrier". A highly unusual way of carrying birds, I know, but they seem to be enjoying the ride.

I thought in view of our snowy weather I would draw polar bears rolling a snowball. It is great fun rolling a snowball down a hill and watching it get bigger.

This is a stumpwork fabric image. It is a diptych called Lamenting Jesus and Mary. It is in a book form and Jesus is on the left hand side. The work is Hungarian and is over 500 years old. Isn't it quite incredible? Not only the fact that it still exists after all that time, but the actual expression of grief on her face and she has sewn tears. The fabric of her head-dress is in very good condition considering the passage of centuries.

This is my pen and ink drawing which was inspired by the beautiful fabric artwork of Mary. It was never meant to be an exact copy but more a response to her grief. I couldn't get the true expression of desolation in a line drawing though, but I am quite pleased with it.

These three images are all tapestries designed by Irish painter, printmaker and designer Louis Le Brocquy. I particularly love the goat below, and especially those leaf motifs around the edges. He designed different colourways but this one is my favourite. The design is so complex and has so many elements and even though it is abstracted, it is still possible to know that it is a goat. Pure design genius.

A little snow goes a long way. This was taken when it was crisp and pristine.

The following four photos of stained glass windows are my own from local churches. This one has to be my absolute uber favourite window. I just love the design, the colours, the subjects and the text. Exquisite. It is located at Coleshill Church in Buckinghamshire. I have cropped it slightly to improve the appearance in blogger which doesn't like portrait format.

This is one of my photos of an exquisite window in Sarratt Church. The colours are so vivid and intense it has to be seen to be believed. Another great favourite of mine.

This is one I took some time ago and have forgotten its location...tut tut. Definitely somewhere in Buckinghamshire though. It is quite magnificent.

I took this photo at Towersey Church. It is a small part of a much larger millenium window with lots of details of village life.
The following photos are all uploaded to Flickr and I have mentioned the photographers in each case.

This is one of my favourites from Flickr. It is uploaded by "sue.hasker" and shows St. Matthew from St Mary the Virgin Church, Hartpury, Forest of Dean. I really love these lavender and violets

This is from "Simon K"'s photostream and is from St George, Wyverstone, Suffolk. Very Burne Jones style angels. So beautiful.

This is St. Gabriel from St Andrew, Great Glemham, Suffolk by "Simon K".

This lovely oval window is in St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, Glasgow and is from "gordonrasmith's" photostream.

This beautiful round window is St. Johanna Frémiot de Chantal and is uploaded by "barryra".

This is a detail of a memorial window in Birstall, Leics dated c 1924. It is a Flickr upload by "tin giraffe". This is a very painterly image.

This is a gorgeous, quite modern image of Christ found in a church by Flickr user "mdf3530". I love everything about this stained glass. The colours are quite superb. If this was in a church near to me I would be in there often...lol.

This is a window in Dornoch Cathedral posted by "foxypar4." I love this window. The golden sky really sets off the image and those blues are gorgeous.

Well, I wanted a bit of snow in order to take some "snowy" photos but I got a bit more than I wanted. Nothing compared to the amounts people in cold countries experience, but quite a lot for our little island warmed by the gulf stream. We have now had a whole week of snow on the ground - unheard of. Now it has got to the dirty and slushy stage it can go...! Totally unphotogenic. We shouldn't complain about the weather in this country though, while places like Australia are having a disastrous heatwave and floods.

Instead of a featured artist this week I thought I would show you some favourite stained glass window images. There is a whole feast of these on Flickr but if you don't want to search through trillions of photos then go to Simon K's stained glass set . He has over 2000 photos of every kind of stained glass imagineable. A real visual treat.

I have quite a collection of stained glass pictures myself as it is one of my favourite things to photograph. No other medium that I have found can produce the quality of vivid colour that is produced by stained glass. I love to see these windows in person but unfortunately that is not always possible, so a photo is the next best thing.

I love all stained glass, whether traditional or contemporary. There is a local church with a tiny window near the roof which dates from the 1300s. Isn't that amazing that something so fragile could last for 700 years? I wonder how many fabulous windows we have lost in the past in the UK when churches have been demolished. Doesn't bear thinking about. Have a good week all.