Menevia Cathedral, Swansea
Address
Cathedral Church of St Joseph, Convent St, Swansea SA1 2BXTheme
Overview
The Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Menevia was built 1886–8 for the Benedictines, to the design of Peter Paul Pugin. It became the cathedral church of the Diocese of Menevia in 1978. Windows by John Hardman & Co. and Mayer of Munich, so common in Catholic Churches, predominate here with the exception of the large east window, which looks like the work of Lavers, Barraud and Westlake.
Highlight
South aisle - Christ Among the DoctorsArtist, maker and date
Catrin Jones, 1988Reason for highlighting
Marking a clear break with the traditional stained glass in the church, the window by Catrin Jones is a contemporary window, blending an abstract painterly effect with a traditional composition. The figures are all rendered in blue, with the detail picked out in white without the usual use of the lead lines to dictate the form. Further work by Catrin Jones, who trained at Swansea and is based locally, can also be found at the Collegiate and Parish Church of St Mary, Swansea and the Priory Church of St David in central Swansea.
Artist/maker notes
Catrin Jones (b.1960) was born in Cardigan. With her natural aptitude for drawing she enrolled on the foundation course at Swansea School of Art in 1979, and there became attracted to glass as an artistic medium. In 1980, she commenced the Swansea course in Architectural Stained Glass.
Encouragement, in the form of tangible success, came quickly. In her first year, she won the first prize for glass at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, a feat she was to repeat in 1982.
Between times, she took first prize in the national Hetley-Hartley Wood glass competition for a panel that was subsequently exhibited at the stained glass museum at Ely Cathedral, and purchased by the Victoria and Albert Museum.
On graduating, with distinction, in 1982 she, together with four other ex-students, established Glasslight Studios, a co-operative stained glass studio in Swansea, where patronage from the Catholic Church spawned a variety of ecclesiastical commissions. However, she became increasingly dissatisfied with the economic necessity of accepting uninspiring commissions and left to pursue an independent career in 1987.
Since then, Catrin has worked uninterruptedly on numerous commissions in a wide variety of business sectors, mainly in the public domain, along with occasional teaching both in London and Wales.
Source: Catrin Jones website
Comments by
Martin Crampin