THE DAYS OF CREATION (Genesis chapter 1),
A commission for the Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea, Tobermory, Isle of Mull:
To illustrate the First Reading for the Easter Vigil service,
reflecting the life and landscape of the Isle of Mull.
Completed and installed on March 23rd 2003.
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In the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth. Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the
deep, and God's spirit hovered over the water. God said, "Let there be light"
and there was light. God saw that light was good, and God divided light from darkness. God
called light "day" and darkness he called "night". Evening came and
morning came: the first day. The First Day is based on the Northern Lights which are frequently visible from Mull. I based this panel on a picture in which the shape of a dove could be discerned. I exaggerated this to represent the Spirit of God. The horizon of the earth beneath, made of streaky-blue baroque glass, is reminiscent of the first photos of the earth from space. Within the wings of the dove, the whole spectrum of visible light, from red to violet, can be seen. This spectrum is also intended to make viewers think of a rainbow, the sign of God's covenant with the whole of creation (Genesis 9:12). |
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| God said, "Let
there be a vault in the waters to divide the waters in two." And so it was. God made
the vault and it divided the waters above the vault from the waters under the vault. God
called the vault "heaven". Evening came and morning came; the second day. The Second Day shows the creation of the vault of heaven as an aperture (similar to a camera lens opening) with a circular space being formed, and the dark mass of waters being separated into "sky" colours and clouds above, and "sea" colours and waves below. The vault itself is made of iridised water glass, reflecting the fragility and delicacy of the ecosystems that will lie within it. |
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God said, "Let the waters under
heaven come together into a single mass, and let dry land appear." And so it was. God
called the dry land "earth" and the mass of waters "seas", and God saw
that it was good. God said, "Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants,
and fruit trees bearing fruit with their seed inside, on the earth." And so it was.
The earth produced vegetation; plants bearing seed in their several kinds, and trees
bearing fruit with their seed inside in their several kinds. God saw that it was good.
Evening came and morning came: the third day. The Third Day shows the separation of dry land from the sea, followed by the creation of trees and vegetation. The dry land is shown as an island, (Mull), and the trees are drawn from an area of mixed woodland just north of the main ferry terminal in Craignure - the first thing people see as they arrive from the mainland. In the foreground, a crystal "Tree of Life" shows that life, in fact, has its origin elsewhere, and that all creation subsists beneath its extended and protective branches. A gentle breeze appears to be wafting yellow pollen across to the right as life is given the ability to reproduce itself. |
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| God said, "Let there be lights in
the vault of heaven to divide day from night, and let them indicate festivals, days and
years. Let them be lights in the vault of heaven to shine on the earth." And so it
was. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, the smaller light
to govern the night, and the stars. God set them in the vault of heaven to shine on the
earth, to govern the day and the night and to divide light from darkness. God saw that it
was good. Evening came and morning came: the fourth day. On the Fourth Day the sun, moon and stars are created. Since the sun and moon appear to us to be the same size in the sky, two identical roundels of glass were used to represent them, one amber, one clear. According to the Book of Job (38:8) "All the stars of the morning sing for joy", so I incorporated joyful movement into the stars. The stars represent stages in the current theory of star formation: first dark objects (plain glass in dark colours), which then heat up as they condense (iridised glass to represent the glow of heat) and finally ignite and become self-sustaining "light-givers" (the white star in the centre). Today we know that our sun is also a star, and so I have shown it in a similar form to the stars. The moon, by contract, is peaceful and still. |
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God said, "Let the waters teem
with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth within the vault of heaven."
And so it was. God created great sea-serpents and every kind of living creature with which
the waters teem, and every kind of winged creature. God saw that it was good. God blessed
them saying, "Be fruitful, multiply and fill the waters of the seas; and let the
birds multiply upon the earth." Evening came and morning came: the fifth day. For the Fifth Day there seemed to be no more appropriate way to link the sea and the sky than the mountain Ben More, instantly recognisable as the skyline of Mull and the only Munro that can be climbed from sea level. To represent all the birds of heaven I chose a golden eagle since Mull has a greater density of golden eagles per square mile than anywhere else in Europe. To make the waters "teem", I deliberately confused fish shapes and wave shapes. |
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| God said, "Let the
earth produce every kind of living creature; cattle, reptiles and every kind of wild
beast." And so it was. God made every kind of wild beast, every kind of cattle and
every kind land reptile. God saw that it was good. God said, "Let us make man in our
own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea,
the birds of heaven, the cattle and all the wild beasts and all the reptiles that crawl
upon the earth." God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he
created him, male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying to them, "Be
fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the
birds of heaven, and all living animals on the earth." God said, "See, I give
you all the seed-bearing plants that are upon the whole earth, and all the trees with
seed-bearing fruit; this shall be your food. To all the wild beasts, all birds of heaven
and all living reptiles on the earth I give all the foliage of plants for food." And
so it was. God saw all he had made, and indeed it was very good. Evening came and morning
came: the sixth day. The Sixth Day shows the creation of all land animals, and finally man: "male and female he created them." I had been specifically asked to include a Highland cow, but chose instead to make it a Highland calf, along with a young red deer, to give the feeling of all creation being very young. Adam and Eve also are shown as child-like, with almost unformed features, since here they are part of the state of "original innocence". A black rabbit (a local mutation of wild rabbits) nestles in Adam's arms. The Eas For waterfall on the north of Mull again illustrates that the River of Life has its origin elsewhere, and the Tree of Life appears for a second time. |
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Thus heaven and earth were completed with all their array. On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing. He rested on the seventh day after all the work he had been doing. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on that day he rested after all his work of creating.
The design for the Seventh Day is based on the following reflection by Julian of Norwich: "He showed me a little thing, the size of a hazelnut, on the palm of my hand, round like a ball. I looked at it thoughtfully and wondered, ‘What is this?’ And the answer came, ‘It is all that is made.’ I marvelled that it continued to exist and did not suddenly disintegrate; it was so small. And again my mind supplied the answer, ‘It exists both now and for ever because God loves it.’ In short, everything owes its existence to the love of God. In this little thing, I saw three truths. The first is that God made it; the second is that God loves it; and the third is that God sustains it. (…) We have got to realise the littleness of creation and see it for the nothing that it is before we can love and possess God who is uncreated. (…) He is true rest. It is his will that we should know him, and his pleasure that we should rest in him. Nothing less will satisfy us." (Julian of Norwich: Revelations of Divine Love, chapter 5)The design is called "Desert Sunrise" and includes a dramatic sky, golden clouds, sand dunes and a desert pool, drawn from pictures and photographs of the Algerian desert. The colours and horizontal lines convey an experience of peace, and show the "fullness of light" now that creation is complete. The gold clouds may be seen as a divine hand, no longer working but resting, supporting the "littleness of creation". Look closely at the clear, faceted circle that represents the whole of creation as Julian saw it, and you will notice that its surface consists of triangular facets. These triangles represent the Trinity and indicate that the whole of creation is made in the image of God the Creator. |
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| This window was commissioned by the Catholic Christian Community as a memorial to Roger Felter, who first brought the community together, to mark the 10th anniversary of his death in 1993. The theme of the Algerian desert relates to Roger’s origins as a Frenchman born and raised in Algeria. |
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Unfortunately, this window is very difficult to photograph because of its south-facing position and the fact that it includes sections of coloured mirror, such as the Golden Dome. This is the best photo so far, though far from adequate. |
The previous seven panels have laid the foundation for this final panel which
depicts the "Eighth Day of Creation", a concept more common in
the Early Church than it is today. The Eighth Day is the Eternal, Unending Day on which
the whole of creation is made new, and the Kingdom of God is definitively established
forever. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the event in which this
transformation occurs.
The text chosen to illustrate the Eighth Day is taken from the Book of Revelation (Chapter 21): "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice call from the throne, "You see this city? Here God lives among human beings. He will make his home among them; they shall be his people and he will be their God; his name is Emmanuel, which means "God with them". He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone." Then the one sitting on the throne spoke, "Now I am making the whole of creation new." In front of the city stands the Tree of Life (Rev. 22:2): "And the leaves of the Tree are for the healing of the nations"
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| The glass used as a surround for the image
of the Holy City is an amber ring-mottle, because the effect of this glass is reminiscent
of bridal lace, and highlights the concept of the City being "as beautiful as a
bride". The city is recognisably Jerusalem, the historical site of the death and
resurrection of Christ; the Golden Dome is one of the most easily identifiable elements of
present-day Jerusalem, and marks the site where the Temple of God once stood.
Parts of the City are done in coloured mirror. Thus anyone who stands in front of the picture should see themselves reflected in the City of God; the panels on the wall opposite, showing the Six Days of Creation may also be reflected, especially the Third Day, on which the first living things (trees) are created with the capacity to transmit life and thus perpetuate their existence. The blue circle embedded in the city wall is the pool of the waters of baptism, the "river of life" which is our entry into the City. |
Elsewhere in Revelation, the walls of the City of God are described as "crystal-clear diamond". To reflect this, the walls have been made out of glass bevels. The sizes of the bevels are in units of 1, 3, 6 and 9. These are numbers that reflect God, who is One God in Three Persons. The blocks of three (e.g three triangles, which each measure 3" by 3" by 3", and blocks of three bevels side by side) emphasise that God is the "Thrice Holy" God (cf Isaiah 6). These numbers also indicate the 12 apostles who are the foundation and gates of the City.
From the dome downwards, bevels form the shape of a cross. But outside the city, the living tree indicates that the Cross has now been revealed as the Tree of Life. It stands outside the city walls as the Cross of Jesus did on Good Friday, but now it is the source of eternal life. |
