These designs were sent by artists
in the early postal stages of the project. They are all experienced
glass artists. Their details can be found on
Artists
These
designs have been edited as examples - see Editing
Joan
of Arc: Gillian Cook, UK
I chose this subject because of my Catholic upbringing when
I did research on the saints many years ago. In the main panel
we see Joan, arm raised holding the sacred sword found, according
to her prophecy, 'under the altar of the church of St. Catherine
de Fierbois'. She stands in front of the white banner that was
her pennant which was adorned with lilies and the holy names:'Jesus,
Maria, separated by a cross. She is surrounded in red, a symbol
of her fiery death, and in the border pointing at her are the
arrowheads of the English enemy. In the satellite circles, the
three crowns represent St. Michael, St. Margaret (Queen of Scotland
d.1093) and St. Catherine who all appeared accompanying the
voices Joan heard. These crowns are painted in gold stain -
as are the sword and halo - symbolizing the divine light of
God. The top circle contains a dove - symbol of the Holy Spirit.
The other four tracery panels have a repeated pattern of corn
or wheat as Joan grew up in rural France and worked on the land.
The whole design depicts the three stages of Joan of Arc's life,
her background, her Divine Mission and her martyr's death. She
is a heroic female figure devoted to serving god and her belief
in the divine nature of her cause.
Eve is shown here reaching for the apple of knowledge as the
sun sets on the Garden of Eden behind her. Eve has been demonized
by the Judeo/Christian tradition ever since and all the pain
of childbearing as a curse for her 'original sin' has been attributed
to her.
However, it could be seen otherwise. In pre-Judaic myth the
Garden of Paradise was a more female friendly place and snakes
were representative of knowledge and wisdom in that they shed
their skin and were believed to be immortal. The Cretan goddess
is shown holding snakes as a symbol of her power.
Eve could be seen as being curious and taking the human initiative.
Without her 'disobedience' we would not be free creatures capable
of choice for good or ill. And what kind of God is it who deliberately
withholds his creatures knowledge?
" In the patriarchal days the gods said 'Thou shalt and
thou shalt not'. But the goddess says 'you may - but be careful!'"
(Return of the Goddess - Edward Whitmont.
Eve
Water colour on Paper
Kate Henderson 1994
Owl
Goddess - Deborah John, UK
My design is taken from a bracelet showing an Owl Goddess from
the fourth century BC which was found in Reinheim. Birds more
than animals seemed to have played a vital and basic role in
Pagan Celtic religious imagery, birds being an ancient and consistent
image.
The Celts have no straightforward goddess of Love, such as the
celestial Venus or Aphrodite. Celtic goddesses were connected
to nature and all resided under the one universal Mother goddess,
who presided over all life and death. For the Celtic people
gods and goddesses were not creators of the people, they were
the ancestors, descending from one universal father.
However the Celtic goddesses were highly prominent figures in
Celtic culture, and were deemed to possess more power than the
Gods, because the goddess was an embodiment of the forces of
the sacred land.
Owl goddess
Watercolour on paper
Deborah John 1994
Sheela-na-gig:
Deborah John, UK
The Sheela-na-gig in the central circle for Level H is from
the outside wall of the church at Oaksey (Wiltshire), with the
largest vulva on a surviving Sheela. From the top satellite
circle clockwise the others are as follows: from Killau in Westmeath,
now in the British Museum, from Easthope Church(Essex) now in
the Colchester Museum, from Kilpeck church, Herefordshire and
from Blackhall Castle (Co. Dublin).
The exact understanding of what a Sheela-na-gig represented
to the Celtic tradition that carved them in these early churches
is not entirely clear but it is generally accepted that she
symbolizes the many aspects of female sexuality - birth, fertility
and death. Research has shown that Sheela-na-gigs were initially
traced to the late 11th century and became more common in the
12th. The earliest specimens are in southwestern France and
they were more common in Ireland than Britain where they can
be found on secular as well as sacred buildings.
It has been suggested that she may have represented a female
demon to the medieval monastic, or may have been carved to ward
off evil. In the nineteenth century several antiquarians were
quoted by Jorgen Anderson who give 'the testimony of a German
traveller in Ireland in the 1840's, who heard that a man afflicted
with bad luck could have the curse averted by persuading a loose
woman to expose herself to him.
To obey god, one's inspiration, one's own truth, to dedicate,
to give one's life for a cause, are the basic ingredients to
become a heroine. The destiny of Jeanne was to follow the command
of her god, to save France from the hands of the English invaders,
no matter how singular, how impossible the task appeared to
be for the young shepherdess.
Jeanne stands looking up to the sky, her left hand on her heart
that she keeps for her God, in her right hand a sword to fight
for her King. The flames around her represent her burning spirit
for her cause, the fire of her dedication and at the same time
the flames that will consume her body to let her soul rise.
The satellite circles contain the signs of her spiritual ascent,
starting from a lamb: as she was on the land. A floating banner
for her god as she left the land to fulfill her spiritual mission.
A helmet and a shield as she accomplished the task to give back
the throne to the King of France and the stake to free her soul
from her physical body, to let her burning spirit rise
In
the central panel the pregnant woman is relaxed and comfortable
in her nakedness and is being attended by two midwives - one
checking the baby's heartbeat and the other caring for the mother.
The movement of the group is soft and rounded, excluding harsh
angularity, and suggesting a rich natural fertility. The satellite
circles contain symbols relating to the work of midwives: from
the top clockwise the blue cross is a universally recognized
symbol confirming conception and is combined with the developing
embryo. The next circle has a developing foetus and nine red
dots representing the nine months of pregnancy, the period of
prenatal care. The third circle shows the cutting of the umbilical
cord and the end of the birth process and the fourth shows post
natal care for the child and mother. The process of pregnancy
and birth can be compared to the development of a flowering
plant unfolding petals and then bearing fruit so in each background
is a flower. The border is made up of sperm and ova to form
a continuous pattern of fertilization. I have chosen these themes
because I am five months pregnant and I have found the process
of creating the design helpful in understanding how I feel about
being pregnant. This panel explores my personal feelings about
the positive role a midwife plays in emphasizing with the sometimes
disturbing journey towards motherhood.
In the Greek classical tradition the inspiration for all arts
and culture came from the female figures of the Muses. There
were nine muses in all but in classical paintings of the Renaissance
they are mostly depicted as three naked women, symbolizing Hera,
Venus and Athena, who challenged Paris to choose whom was the
most beautiful. His choice of Venus - love - led to the Trojan
Wars. In this panel they are seen as positively governing in
the background of human activity - education is represented
in the centre circle where a teacher is lecturing her students.
The satellite circles clockwise from the left represent the
fields of music with a harp, medicine with the twin snakes of
healing and the arts as a dreamer.
:::PILOT PROJECT::: 
