AND WHAT OF LOVE ... ?
2017
"... both an art and a fortunate accident"
A dear friend and client asked me to create an engraved window for her husband. She gave me some words ... this proved to be a rich seam ... a lens to distil the essence of her feelings ... and bring them into the glass.
With such a strong English tradition for glass engraving I turned to Simon Whistler ... who said:
"My analogy of glass is to imagine that it is actually made of light: light trapped between two polished skins. Scratch the surface and light is released at that place."
WORDS (on Marriage)
KAHLIL GIBRAN from 'The Prophet'
"Yes, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness.
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another, but make not a bond of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls ...
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but each one of you be alone even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music...
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the Oak tree and the Cypress grow not in each other's shadow."
AND:
LOUIS DE BERNIERES from 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin':
“Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part...
Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion.
Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.”
I am grateful to Tracey Sheppard FGE, President of the Guild of Glass Engravers and fellow Garden Gallery artist, who gave me invaluable guidance.
- Category:
- Flora
This piece was commissioned.
Location: Indoor/Outdoor
Size: Medium
Dimensions: 64cm H x 45cm without base
Medium: Engraved Glass
Edition size: UNIQUE
Collection: Private Collection
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