David’s hard at work, designing a set of 4 large abstract windows.
Now some people don’t find abstraction difficult to draw.
I do.
I can’t do it.
I’m too literal in my drawing and copying skills. I know my limitations.
And I confess I’m shocked how some people think abstraction is the easy option. Because like I said I feel, it’s really difficult. Painfully hard.
In the late-middle years of his working life, there was once a man who visited our studio. He knocked and walked in with a package, and here is what he told us concerning his apprenticeship and the problem he now had.
When you visit Arley Hall in Cheshire, you may wonder whatever happened to the second of six magnificent stained glass windows which tell the story of a medieval hunt …
OK, your stained glass design – what must it show?
Which is not the best question … –
Rather, who is the design for?
Who must the design instruct, guide or persuade?
A committee? A patron? A priest? A businesswoman or man? Their secretary? A journalist maybe? Or is it “just” for you, the glass painter?
Yes, the design must be “fit for purpose”, we can all agree on that. But this means you must first decide which purpose – or purposes – it must be fit for. So, if you have several important purposes which can’t all be met by one version of the design, then you maybe will need several different versions of the design.
Don’t get upset at this – don’t “shoot the messenger” …
I’m just telling you how things are.
Anyway, here’s what we often do. And even if you decide to do things differently yourself, I’ve got a really useful tip for you – just read through to the end. And enjoy the pictures along the way!