STAINED  GLASS

Do your early memories of religious themes include magnificent stained glass windows? One poetic worshiper has described "shimmering shards of God's stories casting multicolored rays on the heads of the congregation". The great cathedrals and chapels of the middle ages were enhanced by superbly crafted stained glass windows allowing "the Divine light of mystical reality," to be... " absolutely known and felt by the senses".

JACK LEE who has worked with stained glass as a hobby for many years felt challenged to create the Peaceful Spirit emblem as an 18 inch circle of glass art. "This is not a project for beginners," he warns. "What you can do on paper  you can't always do on glass." Jack's advice: If you undertake this project, plan very carefully due to the intricacies of the pattern. The Buddhist Wheel of Dharma was particularly challenging. Jack used a bead of clear glass at the connecting points of the spokes and the rim of the wheel. In this design the circular olive branch could not be rendered in glass.

EVELINE GARNEAU of Signworks Plus added the olive branch, representing a circle of peace. It was cut from heavy adhesive-backed plastic.

She also added the prayer: "Through time and space, each faith and race, let there be peace." It is our intention to display the Peaceful Spirit emblem in all hospitals and nursing homes where patients and staff are from many cultures and faiths.

Photos by Richard J Milne