So, In the past few weeks I have painted and painted.

An image of Jesus, with his back to us as he is telling us to “follow me”! As he said to his disciple, St Andrew.

I have life model Tim to thank for the ‘scaffold’ here. The drawing i’d done of him at life drawing class some time before was my constant point of reference. I pushed and pulled my many layers of paint around to give him a halo, to adjust his waist…and generally make him the centrepiece that all eyes will be upon.

Jesus, portrayed as a shepherd and so of course he needs a flock of sheep. And in Cumbria these have to be herdwick!.. How many herdies can you count?

I spent a lot of time watching videos and looking at images to shape my flock of sheep. And I liked how flock became wheat… pushing and nodding towards Jesus. And nestled in the wheat some poppies (for remembrance) and cornflowers (for hope)…

I wonder how many times I have handled each piece of glass? Cutting, washing, painting, painting a second time..and then placing it within the jigsaw. And checking on the lightbox and against natural light to see if i’ve done enough…

Everything got fired at least twice. To strengthen and darken the depth of paint. Enough to leave all those free spontaneous marks.. and enough to tell the story from across the aisle.

Time now to start building..

I start at the bottom and I shall make my way up.

I have carefully worked out weights of lead I shall use so that your eye is dragged around the whole window following the swooping curving heart shaped lead lines. Some thin, some thick, like the bobbing wheat at the base.

To be fitted for Easter….. lets see!