Charles Connick, Window Designer, Talks at Widener

"Poetry in Glass and Color" was the topic of a talk given in Widener Poetry Room yesterday by Charles J. Connick, America's foremost stained-glass artist. Connick maintains that colored glass has poetic qualities because of its constantly changing moods--moods which vary with every kind of weather and each position of the sun. Also, he says, distance changes the effect of the glass by softening harsh lines which are very obvious at short range.

While creating a window, Connick must calculate how that window will look in all weather and from all distances. He frequently paints water color pictures showing its appearance at dawn, noon, during a rainstorm and so forth. The result, in his words, is a "symphony of color which fascinates one as it goes through all its phases."

Choosing Colors

At his studio in Boston, Connick has hundreds of sheets of colored glass of all hues and from all parts of the world. From these, he chooses the ones which are the most appropriate for the window he is making.

He knows that red light-waves are very short. They have an arresting, staccato effect on the eyes, while the longer blue and green waves are more soothing. Using this knowledge he designs windows which not only contain a picture, but which create in the minds of the spectators the mood or emotion he intended.

Kinds of Glass

Most Early American church windows were made from ordinary glass that was merely stained. Such windows shut out light and had a flat, ugly effect. To avoid this, Connick uses transparent wavy glass which was colored while being manufactured. The irregularities in this glass are intended to give the window depth, and thus more beauty.

Since his first window was made in 1909, Connick has been commissioned to make windows for churches all over the country.

At present he is working on windows for churches in New Bedford, Malden and St. Paul Minnesota. Most notable among his creations are the windows in America's largest church, the Cathedral of St. John, the Divine in New York, and the panels 75 feet high in the Princeton Chapel.