A Victorian house commission
The brief was to design stained glass for the front door and its surrounding panels, which would be in harmony with the victorian architecture.
I decided to look at the front doors of similar properties in the neighbourhood, to get a feel for what might be appropriate. Geometric and more organic floral designs predominated, and after consulting with the clients, I decided to sketch ideas based on the tree of life (inspired by the work of William Morris). A repeat pattern was introduced to balance and simplify the design, and visually link the seven separate panels together. As the hallway is not very light it was important to use as much clear glass as possible for the background and use mid to light tones of coloured glass for the leaves and flowers.
The commision was successful in re-establishing an ornamental feature that is original yet is in keeping with the property. In addition replacing the frosted glass with semi-obscure and clear glass opened up the view through into the front garden, significantly increasing the sense of space in the hall at both ground level and from the landing above.
