All art interacts with light in some way – the way it depicts it, how it suggests it, but also how the light outwith the painting affects how it appears. This is the most true for stained glass art – which sings with sunlight pouring through it.
I was delighted to interview Katie Harrison, Associate Lecturer in Medieval Art at the University of York about the history of stained glass art, and two stained glass artists about the way they design and create their pieces.
I spoke with Fabrizia Bazzo, a stained glass artist living in Devon and a member of The British Society of Master Glass Painters. She spoke about the transformative power of creating: ‘When you are able to make reality out of an idea, that is very powerful and I think you are achieving something. In the end, the final product is proof of the achievement, it is the evidence, but it is the experience of going through all of the process that enriches yourself. I think that is very powerful; makers, artists, creative people, it doesn’t matter, the creative process is very powerful.’
She shared with me a Latin phrase she used in her work that stuck with me: ‘sine lumine, pereo’ – Without light, I don’t exist.

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