John K. Clark - Glasspainter

Parrots - Princes Square - Text

Stained Glass Ceiling - 1987

The brief was to design a stained glass ceiling 4.2m x 4.2m for the fast food restaurant in the then new Princes Square complex in Glasgow. This building has since become a landmark building within Glasgow and is still very successful. It is an old courtyard style of building covered with a Glass Atrium with predominantly cafes and restaurants in the upper levels.

There was no natural space for stained glass to be included within this building but it was decided that there should be a stained glass feature window within the ceiling of the main food area. It was to be inserted into the structure of the ceiling and backlit.

The design commission was put out to tender to a selected group of artists throughout the U.K. The entire project had an underlying grandeur which suggests a more opulent period in our recent past, therefore a high level of craftsmanship and skill was required in both design and execution of the Stained Glass. I also found during the site meetings that there was to be a certain amount of humour included.

The design I produced was based on the dome in the entrance chamber of the Kibble Palace in the Botanic Gardens in Glasgow. Foliage of various species and a sprinkling of parrots looking down. I wanted the image above to be feasible and also to provide a link with the atrium being built outside. Taking flash photographs lying underneath a nervous parrot is a risky business. I liked the idea of including parrots. When I first started working with stained glass, I was often asked if I made parrots, they seemed to be what stained glass artists made in those days. People seemed to dissappointed that I couldn't make parrots, so here they are. The corner sections are based on the iron work on the balustrades in the building.

As I was working on another commission at the time and as the work had to be completed in four months from the time of accepting my design, I made the panel in the Derix Studio in Germany. THis was my first visit there and was a revelation to me. I made the full scale drawings in my studio in Scotland. I took the dtawings to the Derix studio where I selected the glass to be used, etched, painted and stained the panels where required. The studio cut the glass and gave me assistance and leaded and completed the windows. The whole panel consists of 49 sections 600mm x 600mm.

In the pictures the window looks good. In the building it is rather dissapointing and gloomy. There is no reason for a stained glass window to be there and it is poorly lit. Maybe we can find a new location for it where it would really work. I hope so.