At the Greek Festival last weekend I got a chance to see the Church of St. Nicholas.
The dome gleaming in the sun. Notice how the refraction of the sunlight makes another cross. Apparently the was just cleaned and renovated. That kind of gleam can’t last long out in the weather and the city elements.
Under the dome, if you know anything about me, I love Stained Glass and mosaics. I love that Churches are keeping both these artistic styles alive and well.
Mary, in her blue robe, holding baby Jesus. It’s been a while since I’ve done any mosaic work and I have to say, I do miss it. I have the materials, I should do something now that the weather is getting warmer. No, I won’t be doing anything with a religious theme, but this is very inspiring.
Sorry this is a little out of focus. King and Queen? Saints, I don’t know who they are and I can’t see any attribute that I recognize, other than the crowns and the halos. I would love to see how this is done. Is the marble cut first and then the mosaic inserted? That would make sense, since it is a lot easier to cut down a few tesserae than chisel down the marble.
Looking towards the front door. Both mosaic and stained glass.
I love this, the colors, the variation in the glass, the circles. The light thing through.
Now I’m sorry that I didn’t spend more time in here really getting a closer look at the glass. The variation one sees with the light behind the glass. The design elements, using circles in the red robe and mostly rectangles in the blue one. I’m loving this.
Here we have the priests garments. Textiles, glass and mosaics, you must understand now why I enjoy visiting Churches. This must be for very special occasions, the royal purple.
A much ‘simpler’ white robe with another mosaic behind it. Btw, notice all the use of gold? Another way of capturing light and refracting it out in the room.
Speaking of stained glass, look what I found at the South Pasadena Library, a triptych of stained glass. Lovely in its own right. Very different from the church. All of these crafts have a very strong personal touch to them. The hand of the maker is very evident. Which is why I love these crafts so much.
A view of the outside. The San Marino sign is the local security company, the library is in South Pasadena. I have also visited the San Marino Library, which is also lovely, I just forgot to get pictures there.
Leah