In the introduction of The Image of St. Francis , Rosalind B. Brooke quotes Brother Leo, Rufino, and Angelo, companions of St. Francis, as saying, "In the pictures of God and the blessed Virgin painted on wood...the wood and painting ascribe nothing to themselves, because they are just wood and paint...but should render honour and glory to God alone".

In my case, the glass and paint will render that glory to God through images of franciscan spirituality in Francis' writings as well as images that reveal visually the core values of our Franciscan Felician College heritage and academic mission.


Below and right you can see two images of the Iviswold Castle on the Felician College Rutherford Campus. The skylight, which this sabbatical project focusses on, will be located in the lobby of this castle, built in the late 19th century.

Today I'm working on drawings, one for the Our Lady of Hope for the new Felician Sister's Province.
This afternoon I'm making a site visit to Niagara University to photograph and measure a window.
I'm also finishing up my purchase order for the stained glass classes back at Felician College for Fall and Spring semesters. I want to get this out in the mail today.
That's all until later. Perhaps I'll post some images.
It's Friday and I look forward to the weekend and some serious research reading.

Today I'm working on a new drawing for the revision of the Felician Constitution. I came up with a drawing for the formation section.
I'm reading a book for research on my sabbatical images. It's called The Image of St. Francis, Responses to Sainthood in the Thirteenth Century by Rosalind B. Brooke. It is a Cambridge University Press publication, 2006. I was able to get this book, thankfully, through the Felician College Library, Paul Glassman. It covers the images of St. Francis, mainly in the Basilica in Assisi, an academic work that is, at this time, in my opinion, one of the best writings on this material to date. It shows work of Cimabue and Giotto. I'll be sharing highlights of these readings in this blog.
I'm also using a book on the study of the San Damiano Cross symbolic imagery through a book called The Icon of Christ of San Damiano by Marc Picard OFM Cap. He is a Canadian Capuchin and helps us to read this icon in a simple and spiritual way.

August 25, 2009
It's time for me to get serious about working on my sabbatical. I'm now in Buffalo, NY, and I'm comfortably in my new Stained Glass Studio called Illuminations in Light in our newly renovated Villa Maria Convent.

This past summer, in July, I had the synchronous opportunity to meet the engineer/glass artist, who is charged with installing my skylight when it is designed, built, and complete within the next 1 1/2-2 years. His name is Art Fiminella. As it turns out, he is on the board of the Stained Glass Association of America. I am also now a member of this fine and growing organization. He is excited about the project and looks forward to collaborating with me on the method and installation of the glass.

I had planned on getting started on this work sooner and with this journal, however, many things came up in the meantime including drawings for publication; our Felician revisions to our Constitution, which is international in scope (how could I turn this opportunity down?). While visiting in Coraopolis, PA, I had the chance to meet about this work, and then was also commissioned to design a stained glass window for our new Provincial House in Sawicki, PA. I had a chance to meet with the architect, a marvelous and talented woman named Laura Nettleton, who has her own architectural business called Thoughtful Balance. She also did the work on the newly renovated Coraopolis Provincial House.

The central portion of the Iviswold skylight (The castle) is a St. Francis that I have previously worked out in drawing, painting, and glass fusion and painting (Peter McGrain calls this Vitri-Fusai, but that term is copywrighted). That image can be seen below:
The Core offers students a vision of wholeheartedness rather than wholeness, alone - one that is rooted in an ethic of self-giving and self-sacrifice. The program calls upon learners to hallow and sanctify both their work lives and vocational choices in ways which are well described in the great Catholic and Franciscan traditions of the liberal arts and sciences, but are often absent from current discourses of careerism.

The total outside border of this skylight will be on the subject of the Canticle of the Creatures (The Canticle of the Sun) by St. Francis of Assisi in the 12th century Italy. In between areas will reflect the four core values of Felician College, Franciscan values of
1) Culture and Diversity
2) Applied Ethical Reasoning
3) Journeys to Selfhood
4) The Franciscan Vision: Self, Service, and Society

This "Core" is reflected in the current Felician College catalog and states thusly:

The Core offers students a vision of wholeheartedness rather than wholeness, alone - one that is rooted in an ethic of self-giving and self-sacrifice. The program calls upon learners to hallow and sanctify both their work lives and vocational choices in ways which are well described in the great Catholic and Franciscan traditions of the liberal arts and sciences, but are often absent from current discourses of careerism.

These core values will be visually represented in the images that will appear in the glass skylight.

Drawings for publication

This is the original art work for the Graymoor "Week of Christian Unity" for 2008 and was distributed in the U.S. and Canada as posters and holy cards.