Mouth blown hand made European glass, glass painting oxides, silver stain, lead came.

Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church, Coldstream, British Columbia, Canada

Gilroy Stained Glass Ltd.
Designer & Glass Painter: Laura Gilroy.
Glass Painter, Fabrication & Installation: John Gilroy.

Laura and John Gilroy have been creating stained glass since 1985 when they began an intensive apprentice education in one of England’s oldest studios founded in 1788.  Together they design and fabricate authentic stained glass to commission, and have extensive experience restoring all ages of stained glass. Each project is uniquely created by hand, and they manage the entire process from design through to installation. Laura is an elected Associate of the British Society of Master Glass Painters for her design abilities, and Gilroy Stained Glass Ltd is a Professional Member of the Stained Glass Association of America. They specialize in traditional and contemporary glass painting and leading at their Greater Vancouver studio in British Columbia, Canada.

When we designed and created this stained glass window we were looking to achieve a relevance and connection for every person who enters the church, and for this project it was very clear that was exactly the objective of the committee. For many years the parishioners had disliked the existing leaded window over the altar which had a very simplistic depiction of The Virgin Mary, and they felt that it was time to replace that with an authentic stained glass window which would engender that relevance for the congregation.

The original leaded glass was removed and a new custom insert to the frame was fabricated which allowed us to specify the positioning of the necessary vertical divisions. We were then able to create a design that would flow seamlessly between the sections and guide the eye around the window in such a way that the elements are always viewed as a whole image. It was very clear to us early on that Our Lady of the Valley should be depicted in three quarter view with all the beauty of the local valley both emanating from and enfolding her. The vibrancy and natural beauty of the valley is depicted with the mountains, lake and vineyards. Local flora and fauna is depicted through the soaring bald eagle, the hardworking bee (symbolizing community), the fluttering butterfly (symbolizing resurrection and renewal), with Silky Lupine, Arrowleaf Balsamroot and Phlox that grow so prevalently in the area.

The use of hand made mouth blown glass from France, Germany and Poland provided the richness of colour onto which we created complex depth of tonal values, contrast of light and shade with a plethora of our own and traditional glass painting techniques, acid etching, silver staining, and kiln fired permanence.