Saturday, December 7, 2013

Creativity and A Glass (This week's Photo Hunt themes)


I've long been fascinated by stained glass and been awed by the creativity along with sheer technical abilities of its creators.  And for almost as a long time, I've associated these glass creations with Europeans -- not least because the earliest as well as finest examples I've seen of them have been in English and French churches and cathedrals, with those at Chartres Cathedral standing out particularly in my memory.  

But over the course of my explorations of my home continent since returning to Asia ten years ago (after having lived elsewhere for the great bulk of the previous two decades), I've come across examples of stained glass creativity here too -- including at Hanoi's St Joseph's Cathedral on my recent visit to Vietnam, and, particularly, in the former Portuguese enclave of Macau.  

Another point driven home in recent years is that stained glass works can be secular as well as sacred in nature.  Of course, I already knew this courtesy of the many beautiful Tiffany glass works I've seen in various locations, including New York's wonderful Metropolitan Museum of Art.  But I have been duly reminded of this time and again in Asia, including when I came across Gabriel Loire's Symphonic Sculpure at the Hakone Open-Air Museum last year.

At the risk of sounding sacrilegious, I'd go so far as to say that it's the single most amazing stained glass work that I've seen.  In any event, and at the very least, it's a glass creation that I consider a wondrous sight and hope that many, if not all, of my fellow participants in Sandi's and Gattina's Photo Hunt memes will get to see for themselves some day.

10 comments:

Carver said...

Great post for the themes. Stained glass is a very creative art form.

eastcoastlife said...

Awesome! You visited Vietnam, alone? I love the creative designs on stained glass.

Hope to see more photos of your Vietnam trip.

Trekcapri said...

Hi YTSL, wondeful photos. I also love the beautiful stained glass windows I see on some of my trips. I'm looking forward to reading your posts about your recent trip to Vietnam.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Anonymous said...

stained glass is simply beautiful.

yes will look forward to your vietnam chronicles.

MaR said...

I love stained glass windows! more so if they are secular... ! looking forward to your Vietnam posts.

Gattina said...

It's nice to see stained glass which is not religious ! That's where we find them here, mostly in cathedrals !

YTSL said...

Hi Carver --

My first thought when I saw this week's Photo Hunt themes were hand-blown glass items but then noticed that I have quite a few stained glass photos to share. :)

Hi EastCoastLife --

I met up with my mother in Vietnam, so I wasn't alone for most of my time there. But if you're wondering if we were with a tour group -- no, we weren't, though we did also go on a 2 day, 1 night Ha Long Bay cruise. :)

Hi Trekcapri --

As I think you've already noticed, I've got a few Vietnam-themed blog posts up already -- but reckon I'll have another week or two worth of those in me still. :)

Hi ewok1993 --

Amen to your statement re stained glass being beautiful. :)

Hi Marcy --

I'm not a religious person but like both religious and sacred stained glass as either way, they tend to be beautiful. :)

Hi Gattina --

Glad I could provide you with two photographic examples of secular stained glass in this one post then! :)

Annie said...

Very nice photos. Glass is fun to photograph! Hope you had a great time in Vietnam.

Happy weekend!

Sandi @the WhistleStop Cafe said...

Beautiful stained glass! I am amazed at the creativity of those artists.
I also enjoyed your post on Nelson Mandella... he was an awesome spirit and will always be remembered.

YTSL said...

Hi Annie --

Glass is indeed fun to photograph. And yeah, I did have a good time in Vietnam. :)

Hi Sandi --

Thanks for checking out my Mandela post as well as this one! :)