I’ve always liked the idea of the Grunewald Guild as a “sanctuary for art and faith”. When designing these doors for the Guild, I used the Butterfly as a symbol of creation, of creating and re-birth, and of the Creator and all of us creatives artist-types. I used the symbol of the Celtic knot to represent community, and how we create a safe place, or sanctuary, together. The labyrinth is a symbol of the spiritual journey we are all on, in one way or another.
Kristen Gilje, Grunewald Guild doors from inside
This idea fairly presented itself to me as I was at a loss for some sort of direction for this design. These three symbols, the butterfly, labyrinth and Celtic knot,landed on top of each other on my desk as I cleaned out a file full of used and unused symbols and sketches. It’s one of those things that you recognize when you see it; something coming from outside yourself, something unexpected. I used a version of this design originally for two 30-foot long banners for Plymouth Congregational Church in Seattle. You can see that project by clicking here: Plymouth Metamorphosis .
And here is the original silk painting that these ideas grew from:
©Kristen Gilje, West Coast Lady Becoming II, 28×22, hand painted silk.
Glass doors make color art on entryway walls
Sun shining through the glass makes the entry space joyful with color. It will be even better when the tools are put away!
Below you can see where the doors are located. A porch the height of the doors will be built this fall, with stairs on each end. This porch should make a nice place to hang out, to find summer shade and shelter from snow and rain in winter.
New Grunewald Guild entry, under construction
Doors from the outside looking in: Daytime
Grunewald Guild Doors from outside
Grunewald Guild doors at night
Joe Hester and I collaborated on several stained glass projects, some of them very large. This is one of my favorites, perhaps because the project was really a gift to Grunewald Guild from Joe, before he died this year.
Joe Hester was a friend and teacher of mine for many years at the Grunewald Guild. Joe died unexpectedly this year, from a brain tumor. Before he died Joe encouraged me to enter stained glass design contest, several of which I won, and collaborated with me on other stained glass projects. I miss Joe. Thanks Joe, for everything you gave to me.
Joe Hester working with sketch for the glass doors
Beautiful! Is there a photo with the copper enamel panels installed?
Hi Helene.
It was decided to forgo the enamel panels, and just have the beauty of the hand-made wooden doors hold the glass. It really does look nice. I wonder if the copper enamel panels would have been very heavy? We’ll never know. I wonder what happened to the panels? I’ll find out!