STEVENS COMPETITION 2022: ARCHITECTURAL GLASS ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Caroline Small has been awarded 1st prize – The Brian Thomas Memorial Prize. She received a further Prize, The George and Evelyn Gee Prize for Craftsmanship.
ARTIST DESCRIPTION OF THE PIECE I CREATED FOR THE STEVENS COMPETITION
This submission comprises two distinct layers and contains imagery inspired by the rural location, landscape, flora and research about the life and poetry of Wilfred Owen.
Base Layer: The main image of Owen’s head is the same image as that utilised by Danny Boyle in the “Pages of the Sea” (1). Owen is designed to be a ghostly ethereal depiction visible in certain lights during the day. However, at night Owen would not be clear leaving the viewer uncertain of his presence. There are two original maps from the 1900’s utilised: 1) All Saints Church and the Vicarage 2) Play Hatch and the lanes where the accident occurred inspiring “Deep Under Turfy Grass”. The handwriting is Owen’s own original writing and editing from the British Library illustrating both his poetry and a letter to his mother. The QR code at the base of the window will enable the viewer to listen to a reading of “Deep Under Turfy Grass”, download the Wilfred Owen Society’s informative trail map and describe the creation of the window.
Top Layer: Is a traditionally crafted leaded light. The central-coloured panel is created to depict an abstracted landscape beginning in earthy tones and rising to blue to give a visual representation of the landscape so loved by Owen. There are ribbons of poetry that cross this landscape are taken from “Deep Under Turfy Grass”. I have chosen the parts of the poem that speak to me and the vivid depiction of the tragedy that occurred to the Allen family. The lead lines flow and follow the 1900’s geography of the lanes taken from the period maps. Highly fragrant lily flowers were frequently used during the period at funerals and as depicted in the poem “Rich-odoured flowers so whelmed in fetid earth”. local hedgerow flowers and snowdrops which are found in great swaths in the church graveyard and important to the local parishioners.
(1) Pages of the Sea
https://www.pagesofthesea.org.uk/ My submission to the Stevens competition was inspired by the creation of images in the sand for the 100 year commemoration of the First World War. On 11th November 2018 Danny Boyle invited communities to join him in marking 100 years since armistice and the end of the first world war. During these commemoration images were carved into the sand and then allowed to wash away by the tide and sea. Wilfred Owen was the image carved into the sand on the beach Sunny Sands, Folkstone in Kent. The image I have used is the same head shot as utilised in this moving tribute to Wilfred Owen.
PRESS RELEASE
Caroline Small has been awarded 1st prize – The Brian Thomas Memorial Prize. She received a further Prize, The George and Evelyn Gee Prize for Craftsmanship.
The Worshipful Company of Glaziers & Painters of Glass (‘The Glaziers Company’) is one of the City of London’s medieval Livery Companies, or craft guilds, and has been running the prestigious annual Stevens Architectural Glass Competition since 1972.
It is open to glass artists and designers who have completed their training within the last eight years. In 2016 the theme of the competition was to design, with a view to manufacturing and installing, a Memorial Window dedicated to the Crew of the RMS Titanic at St Mary’s Church, Southampton, providing a focus for reflection to enable contemplation on the primacy of love in the face of disaster. It was supported and sponsored by St. Mary’s Church and British Titanic Society. The window design was specifically intended to be sited in the second window of the north aisle (nVIII) in clear view from the main entrance to the church. It is a three light window with simple lancet form main lights, and two trefoil tracery elements. It was asked that the quotation from the Old Testament book Song of Songs, chapter 8, verse 7 – ‘Many Waters Cannot Quench Love’ – should be incorporated in the design together with the emblem of the White Star Line, the company which owned the ship. Other than that the design brief was open. The finished design was to be on a scale of 1:10, supported by an explanatory statement, as well as a full scale sample panel (465mm width x 465mm height).
The Glaziers’ Company is one of the ancient Livery Companies of the City of London. It dates from the 14th century (more about the history of the Company can be found here). Today its members play a full role in the civic life of the City of London and enjoy valuable networking and social opportunities.
Through its charity, The Glaziers Foundation, it supports education and conservation, and all its activities are devoted to promoting the art and craft of stained glass.
The 2022 Stevens Competition is a co-operation between the Glaziers’ Company (http://glazierscompany.org.uk/) and the Dunsden Owen Association. (https://owenindunsden.org/dunsden-window-progresses/) The task for 2022 is to design a window for All Saints Church in the village of Dunsden to celebrate the period that the wartime poet Wilfred Owen spent in the village as a lay assistant to the vicar of the parish church. The period Owen spent in Dunsden had a profound effect on him and many commentators can see signs of the mature style of his poetry emerging during his time in the village. The entry date for this competition is 31st March 2022. The winners will be announced in May 2022.