Gillian Barritt

Gillian Barritt is a ceramics artist whose work is expressive and sculptural. Her work reflects her Christian faith as well as capturing a love of Cornwall where she lives and was born.

Gillian is also interested in writing and incorporates words with clay pieces which include scripture and also poetry.

She also has an interest in recycled media like sea china and glass and has incorporated these into recent work. She uses the form of the cross to create work with biblical imagery.

Dedication: Windows by Caroline Richardson

The second dedication in a week of a completed commission4mission commission took place this evening at St Peter's Harold Wood when two fused glass windows created by Caroline Richardson were dedicated by the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt. Revd. Stephen Cottrell.

Caroline has created a flowing complementary design focussing on light and water for the two windows in the north transept of the church which incorporates in one the text of John 8. 12 and in the other of John 10. 10. In both, the design has darker colours at the base grading upwards to lighter and finally plain glass at the apex. As the photos above were taken after the Evening Service, they do not show the colour of the windows to their best effect.

The windows were created using glass panels which were cut to pattern and fired in a kiln in order to fuse the glass before being placed into stainless steel frame designed to fit into the window arches thereby sitting in front of the existing glass. 

The north transept is opposite what is now the main entrance to the church following an extensive building project on the south side of the church. The windows and their texts are intended as vibrant and welcoming visual statements of faith for all who enter the church and this element of the commission was used by Bishop Stephen in his prayer of dedication.

An earlier commission by David Henningham of the Henningham Family Press - a set of four linked screenprints - can also be found at St Peter's Harold Wood in the newly built Hub which is now the entrance to the church, its facilities and services. It is of real encouragement to see a church integrating artistic commissions into what has been an ambitious and stretching redevelopment.

Richard Paton

Windows for St Augustine's Chelmsford and St Barnabas Kensington

Richard Paton graduated from Liverpool with BA (Hons) in Fine Art in 1990 and was then awarded an MA in Visual Culture at Middlesex University in 1998. He is a self taught stained glass artist with 20 years in the trade who started Rainbow Glass Studios, based in Stoke Newington, North London, in 2001 .

In that time Richard has had hundreds of commissions which have required different techniques and designs to fulfill the very diverse briefs. These range from corporate work to individual commissions from the rich and famous through to work in Churches. The variety of glass techniques at his disposal uniquely puts him at an advantage to explore interesting and original work. He also teaches regularly at his studio on weekday evenings and runs Saturday workshops for beginners. His work has been featured on TV and at the National Gallery. He is also on the committee for the Contemporary Glass Society who promote the work of glass artists.

Commission: Fused glass windows at St Peters Harold Wood

Caroline Richardson has just installed our fifth completed commission at St Peters Harold Wood. This commission was for 14 fused glass panels set in steel frames forming two windows; the left window on the theme 'I am the light of the world' and the right on the theme 'I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.' The commission commerorates the completion earlier this year of a major building project at St Peters Harold Wood.

Our earlier completed commissions are:

• Crucifixion and Do this in remembrance of me, paintings by Henry Shelton for the St Lukes Chapel at Queens Hospital Romford (September 2009). Tree of Life, fused glass windows by Caroline Richardson, are also in the St Lukes Chapel;
• Stations of the Crown of Thorns, a set of fifteen paintings by Henry Shelton, for St Pauls Goodmayes (July 2010);
• The Baptism of Jesus, painting by Rosalind Hore, for St Edmunds Tyseley (October 2010) and will be dedicated on Sunday 2nd January 2011 at 10.00am; and
• Etched windows by Henry Shelton for All Saints Hutton with icongraphy depicting Saints Cecilia, Martin of Tours, Peter, Mary, Paul, James the Great, and Margaret of Antioch. A service at which the Archdeacon of Southend will dedicate the windows is planned for Sunday 27th March 2011 at 11.15am.

Future commissions include a holy water stoup for St Margaret Great Ilford and a mosaic for St Johns Seven Kings.

BASH exhibition: Caroline Richardson

Caroline Richardson's current exhibition at the Visual Arts Centre in Frances Bardsley School, Romford, ends tomorrow but is well worth seeing. Caroline plays with colour, light and reflection in beautiful works which utilise fused glass, silk paints and textiles to explore natural themes and imagery.

Caroline says:

"Glass is a wonderful medium to work with; the unexpected is always just around the corner. Light plays a big part in the design considerations as the glass may look completely different in different lighting or at different times of day. This gives each piece a life of its own, variety unlike any other."

A second commission4mission artist, Michael Creasey, will also be exhibiting at the Visual Arts Centre as part of the Big Arts Submission Havering (BASH) programme. Michael's exhibition runs from 23 - 27th August beginning with a Launch Night from 7 - 9.00pm on 23rd and continuing from 9.30am - 3.00pm.

Caroline Richardson

'Tree of Life' - St Lukes Chapel, Queens Hospital Romford

Tranquility

Caroline Richardson studied Architectural Glass at Central Saint Martin’s School of Art and Design. She is particularly interested in using the colour and transparency of glass to create layers of images within her work, sometimes using light to add depth or colour. Caroline combines shapes and textures to create works inspired by natural themes, but often with a spiritual interpretation. She has also worked extensively with fabrics and silk paints and produced many banners and wall hangings.