Creation
Name of Building: Old Cumnock Old Church
Location: Cumnock
Listing: Grade B
Size: 8 x 450mm x 2250mm
Date of Installation: 2012
After previous commissions in the church, Moira was commissioned with the task of completed a full scheme of 8 windows that depict the hugely visual theme of Creation.
“I was hugely excited about this project and the designs just fell onto the paper, filled with colour, light, animals and all the joys of nature and creation. I also wanted each window to be unique but work together as a collection. I sourced so many beautiful and rich shades of hand-blown glass and relished every moment of the creative process. It stands as my favourite project to date”.
Before
Window before, inside
Window before, outside
Design
Completed
Title: The Day Before
Bible Passage
Kaos, the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Notes
Deep purple and blue streaky glass with lots of movement. Flecks of antique gold pink Venetian glass represent the presence of the Spirit of God.
Title: First Day - Creation of Light
Bible Passage
God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
Notes
The image of God is present in the top surrounded by a bright burst of light in white amber and pale pink glass. The glass is textured using acid alongside split peas to create a dimpled texture that sparkles in the light.
Title: Fourthday - Creation of the sun, moon and stars.
Bible Passage
And Godsaid, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separatethe day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasonsand days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the skyto give light on the earth." And it was so. God made two greatlights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light togovern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanseof the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and thenight, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it wasgood. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
Notes
There is a hint towards the land at the base of the window with the night skyfilled with the moon and stars and the day sky filled with the sunenclosed within there own spherical shapes.
Title: Fifth Day – Creation of theflying and swimming creatures.
Bible Passage
And Godsaid, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birdsfly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So, Godcreated the great creatures of the sea and every living and movingthing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and everywinged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Godblessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number andfill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
Notes
The daysky sphere reaches into this window and is filled with etched outlineof various birds in flight alongside 4 white doves in a flightsequence. The sea is filled with various creatures including fish,sea horses, jellyfish and a whale.
Title: Secondday – Creation of firmament
Bible Passage
And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, andthere was morning—the second day.
Notes
The same water carries through but separated by the sky. White clear textured light reaches down from above, illuminating the surface of the water.
Title: Thirdday – Creation of the land and seas.
Bible Passage
And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place,and let dry ground appear." And it was so. God called the dryground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas."And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the landproduce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds."And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in itaccording to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
Notes
The design follows through on the same theme but introducing land inwheat in the foreground and palm trees in the background. Wheat represents abundance, life, and fertility alongside being the natural form of bread as a Eucharistic symbol of the body of Christ. The palm tree is a symbol of victory, triumph, peace, and eternal life
Title: Sixthday – Creation of the beasts of the earth and man and woman.
Bible Passage
AndGod said, "Let the land produce living creatures according totheir kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, andwild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. Godmade the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestockaccording to their kinds, and all the creatures that move alongthe ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in ourlikeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birdsof the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over allthe creatures that move along the ground."
So God created man inhis own image, in the image of God he created him; male and femalehe created them.
Godblessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase innumber; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of thesea and the birds of the air and over every living creature thatmoves on the ground." Then God said, "I give you everyseed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every treethat has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. Andto all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air andall the creatures that move on the ground—everything that hasthe breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food."And it was so.
Notes
Thiswindow again is a celebration of all gods’ creations centred roundthe images of Adam and Eve. Adam looks directly at Eve but herattentions are looking out towards the viewer, which hints towardsher weakness in giving in to the temptations with the bite of anapple. Male and female dance together surrounded by various animals.I have chosen a giraffe, elephant, hare, a mouse, an ox, a snail, aniguana and a butterfly. Again, I have chosen many of these animalsfor the biblical symbolism and others just because they are fun andinteresting. I want the children of the congregation to look and findall of the animals. The DNA molecule runs through these windows andinto the final window as a reference to modern science and the futuredevelopment of human kind. The minister and I are happy with thisreference to the double helix as the strand, which links together allcreatures of Creation.
Title: Seventh day – Shalom
Bible Passage
Thus,the heavens and the earth were completed in their entire vastarray. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had beendoing; so, on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And Godblessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he restedfrom all the work of creating that he had done.
Notes
Again,the composition of this window links with its partner on the left andalso the Fifth window. I again have chosen to include an image ofGod, so that his presence is evident in both the first and last days.I decided to take the advice as of the content of this window. I metwith Rev Paterson and asked him what his vision would be for thefinal window. He suggested an image of the golden city of NewJerusalem. This takes the story of Creation to the ultimatedestination of all creation. The golden city is sealed within arainbow as a symbol of hope for the future. Footprints reach throughboth of the final windows to symbolise those of us walking throughlife.
Themeaning of the word Shalom is as follows; completeness, wholeness,health, peace, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquillity, prosperityperfect ness, fullness, rest, harmony and the absence of agitation ordiscord. This is the embodiment of Sunday as the day of rest. It isthe perfect message for the final window and is etched in clear whitewriting within the base of the window.
