Stress...

An idea came to me one evening to try and visually represent the feeling of stress. Everybody has a million and one things going on in their lives at any one point, and while it is easy to see clearly when focusing on one thing at a time, everything gets a bit jumbled up and 'messy' when there are more and more issues to focus on simultaneously.
So I took 4 standard images, each representing a different aspect of everyday urban life; Family, Work, Money/Bills and Travel.
Each of the images are singularly clear and easily identifiable but when layered on top of each other they become something else.

 These images were created pretty simply by photocopying the acetates layered on top of each other in different ways. The images have transformed into a harsh, aggressive, confusing disarray.

 Here the images are mounted in foam board.

Casting...

My next step was to try and make an actual stained glass image. I figured (rightly or wrongly?) that it would be pretty difficult to work with real glass so I decided to work with resin instead.
I first drew out the image onto wood and had the individual segments cut out. I fixed them to a board and made a silicone cast of the pieces.

 Once the cast was ready I tested a few of the segments using wax.

It worked pretty well so the next step is to use resin. I made a plan of which segments required what concentration of pigment.

Next I filled the segments sequentially, adding more pigment as I went along to intensify the colour. Unfortunately the reverse of the mold wasn't even so a lot of the resin poured out and what remained in the mold was spread pretty thin so I didn't hold much hope for a successful resin cast.
After removing what segments I could I pieced them together.

 Some pieces cracked, some went missing and some I broke myself but you can get the idea? I really like the effect and there's a lot that could be done with it. I could suspend the pieces from each other and let it rotate like a mobile?

Collage...

A large scale coloured paper collage.

Scale....

I realised that the simple line drawings I was doing were in some ways more interesting than the more complicated and intricate pieces but I wanted to get more physical with the process. So I took it to the wall...

A simple piece of work made using just black and white paint and triangles of card. I enjoyed doing this much more than the smaller, more controlled pieces and was pretty happy with the result.
But then to add some colour?

 Here I attempted to add some colour along with an added bit of interest by collaging on top of a similar painting to the one above. It worked out pretty well I think.

Print....

At the moment I've returned to my initial images of the everyday urban environment. I noticed that a lot of my images were of construction sites and men at work. There's a lot of colour involved in these scenes so maybe that's why?
I worked on a woodblock print from an image I had taken of 2 men unloading a van.

 I then printed onto acetate, thinking that I may be able to overlay it on some sort of colour base? I made an attempt to collage underneath but the effect wasn't so great, I may aswell have just coloured it in with markers... I'll try something else maybe.

Change it up....

So I've pretty much decided to leave the seven deadly sins idea behind. I may come back to it again but for now it just isn't going in the direction I want it to.
But before I do, just one last image....

An image of my lusty figure created by building up 4 seperate layers of blue acetate. It worked pretty well as a 'stained glass' representation.

Eeeek....

I may abandon the seven deadly sins concept altogether?

3D....

I have also been thinking about how I can represent the stained glass style in a 3D format. I had a bit of a play around with acetates and sharpies...

 It works pretty well I think.
I'm currently putting together ideas for other methods and materials I can use to make stained glass. Using resin would be almost like using glass.... Could I use wire? Could I use thread? Fabric? Could I make an edible window?

Developement.....

I've recently started trying to further develope images using paint that I can use for my stained glass deadly sins.

Seven Deadly Sins....

Over the past few days I've been working on concepts for a series of stained glass images based around the seven deadly sins. After a little research I discovered that each of the sins has it's own associated colour which lends itself well to the stained glass concept. I am just working on subject matter at the moment, trying to use urban images as current/modern day examples of each of the sins.

 Lust: I was thinking along the lines of strippers and prostitutes but changed direction a little, thinking that it is probably too obvious. I'm now thinking of using some sort of sex line advertisement. Male or female?

 Greed: A magazine cover promoting excess and insisting that you need to buy tonnes of unnecessary things. Could be a fashion magazine or lads/gadgets magazine.

 Gluttony: Pretty self explanatory, might need to rethink.

 Sloth: I was inititally thinking of an image of a queue of people waiting to collect the dole and then heading from the post office directly into the pub or bookies next door. Possibly a little raw at the moment so another idea I've been playing with is an image of a stoner, hanging out in the living room in the middle of the day.

Pride: This one I had a bit of difficulty with. When thinking of pride, you don't always associate it with sin. I checked several definitions and found the original definition which states that pride is the desire to appear better or more attractive than everyone else. What can someone have, purely as a symbol that they are better than everyone else? On my way home I spotted a hummer; a completely impractical machine. Far too big and cumbersome, not to mention the fact that they cost a fortune to run and are ridiculously bad for the environment. In my opinion, the only reason to own a hummer is to show off how much money you have.

Envy: The desire for another's possession to the point where you want to harm that thing or the person who possesses it. Somebody has keyed the hummer :(

These are just ideas at the moment. Ultimately I would love to use real life examples for the images but I'm not sure how realistic that is.

Icons....

Removing the religious iconography and replacing them with modern day "icons". Paris Hilton complete with ankle tagging device? A Lindsy Lohan mughot stained glass window?

Something I could explore........... maybe!

Glass paint....

 I'm now working with glass paint, on acetate to start. The effect has been good so far and can hopefully be developed into something interesting.
I've also been thinking about incorporating other artistic styles  into the project. Interpreting urban street art styles like graffiti or tattoo art in a stained glass technique.

Experimentation...

For a while I concentrated on methods for altering the images. I photoshopped the photos and transferred them to tracing paper using markers. I like the effect but the matt finish doesn't give the desired glass effect.

 Here the colour is blocked in on tracing paper and the outline is traced onto acetate which is then layered on top of the paper giving it a more 'glossy' finish.

First attempt......

 Firstly I wanted to explore the stained glass style and figure out how to translate an everyday image into a stained glass representation. For this drawing I worked from a photograph I had taken looking up William street. I altered the image, breaking down areas of colour into simpler shapes and adding a typical stained glass style sky design.

I painted the scene using gouache. I feel the painting was successful both from a design perspective and as a representation of the style but the opacity of the medium doesn't lend itself perfectly to the concept.

Project Concept

I have been inspired by stained glass in churches and other buildings around the city, being attracted mainly by the colour. Because I am workin with a style of design instead of an object or place, there are many directions I can go in.
To begin with I am exploring the idea of converting the everyday into a stained glass scene.