SUMMER 2015 NEWSLETTER

Today Christ on Mount Tabor has changed the darkened nature of Adam, and filling it with brightness He has made it godlike.

- A hymn from the feast of Transfiguration  

Nowhere else in liturgical art is this transfiguration of the human person - and indeed of all creation -  more affirmed than in mosaic. The brilliant tesserae made of gold and coloured glass seem to emanate light and not just reflect it. So it was with great joy that I received an invitation from Father James Shadid to make two large mosaics for his St George's Orthodox church in Houston, Texas. The subjects are the Crucifixion and the Descent into Hades, and each will  measure 4.88 x 3.65 metres (16 x 12 feet). After agreeing designs with Father James, Martin and I began work in earnest in March of this year. We hope you enjoy seeing these pictures of some of what we have done so far. 

I have also recently installed a choros, a type of octagonal chandelier, for the Orthodox church of St Amandus in Kortrijk, Belgium. Inspired by my experience of designing the choros, I have written an article on the subject of lighting in churches, which you can view here. In the days of beeswax candles, oil lamps and strategically placed windows it was difficult to get things wrong. Electric lighting, however, is more difficult to manage with sensitivity so it is all the more important to have a clear idea of the atmosphere we are trying to create before it is installed. This article attempts to outline some of these aims.

MOSAICS FOR ST GEORGE ORTHODOX CHURCH, HOUSTON, TEXAS

Panel 5, Saint John and Saint Longinus (partially finished sections, the haloes awaiting completion) one of the fifteen panels from the Crucifixion mosaic (below left).

Watercolour designs for Houston mosaics and, below left, a plan showing where the Aerolam boards will be cut to form the different sections. 

Details from Panel 5, Saint John and the hand of Saint Longinus.

Detail from Panel 1, Moon.

Detail from Panel 2.

Panel 12, Adam's tomb at the foot of the cross. Notice the space left around the edges so that tesserae can be inserted in Houston to completely hide the joins between the sections. Gaps in the tesserae are also left where stainless steel screws will attach the sections to the wall before being covered with tesserae. 

CHOROS FOR ST AMANDUS CHURCH, KORTIJK, BELGIUM

This choros was commissioned for the Orthodox church of St Amandus in Kortrijk, Belgium, and was installed a week ago. It was quite a challenge to design since the parish had a limited budget for what is quite a large work. And so instead of opting for the more traditionally used cast brass, we used mild steel sheet for the sides and cast aluminium for the crosses, and had the Celtic designs cut out by laser. The chains were hand forged by Frazer Picot. Everything was then painted with the durable powder coating system. It measures 3.68 metres (12 feet) from side to side.

The original plan was to have electric candles atop the choros, in imitation of the traditional wax candles. But two parishioners suggested instead a contemporary solution with LED strips concealed within a channel around the base of the side sections. Among other things, this system has produced a more gentle and even lighting for the paintings on the dome than the spotlights used before.  

SAINT STEPHEN AND THE KEY TO THE DOOR OF PARADISE

SOME NOTES ON OUR MOSAIC TECHIQUE

During the Byzantine era there were only handful of places in the world able to produce glass situated in the Middle East. The mysterious transformation of silica, mineral soda and lime took place under intense heat in gigantic furnaces built for each firing and then demolished. Raw chunks of this prized, transparent substance were transported around the world, as far as Japan even, where they were re-worked in local centres. For the glass tesserae, or 'smalti', used in Byzantine mosaics this raw glass was re-melted and coloured with different metal and oxide additives before being formed into small 'cakes' which were then cut to size. No definite centres of the production of these glass cakes have been identified, but it is probable that some were produced in furnaces on site, near the mosaicists as they worked - like giant alchemical artists' palettes.

We order our tesserae from the Orsoni foundry in Venice and, cutting each one to size as we work, apply them onto panels made from 'Aerolam' - a very light and rigid aluminium centred board used in the aircraft industry. We glue a layer of aggragate onto these panels which gives the mortar something extra to lock into. For simpler areas of mosaic, like gold backgrounds and buildings, we work directly onto the panel, pushing the tesserae into a cement based mortar. For more complex areas, like flesh and garments, where we need an adhesive with a longer open time, we use the 'Ravenna Double Reverse Method' which is described below...