The view from where I'm standing

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03:59 pm July 13th, 2004

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			The view from where I'm standing - A little less than a happy high — LiveJournal

komos


	The view from where I'm standing
	Every once in a while, I'll stumble across something in Boston that reminds me just how amazing a place it is. Last Saturday, with other things entirely on my mind, I found the Arlington Street Church. More precisely, I stopped to read a placard in front of a church I pass nearly every day proclaiming that they had perhaps the largest collection of Tiffany windows in a single church. Being a veteran of European Cathedral Fatigue, though intrigued, I still approached with a certain degree of skepticism. When I caught sight of the Madonna of the Flowers, I was stunned. It is a brilliant symphony of greens. There is so much depth and movement that if you stand still for a moment, it begins to take a form outside of that held strictly in the panes.

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	Comments

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	From: komos	Date: July 13th, 2004 01:41 pm (UTC)		(Link)

That's really all I can ask for when I share things like this. Thanks.

I was finally able to get back into the post to edit, so there's a little more information to go with the images.

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	From: clayrobeson	Date: July 13th, 2004 01:12 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Awesome

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	From: komos	Date: July 13th, 2004 01:44 pm (UTC)		(Link)

^_^

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	From: margimello	Date: July 13th, 2004 01:42 pm (UTC)		(Link)

On one hand, I just want to talk about how wrong it is that the church has so much money...but on the other hand, those windows are so beautiful....

ooooooh...shiny....

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	From: komos	Date: July 13th, 2004 01:51 pm (UTC)		(Link)

It's a UU church. The UUs have long been a bastion of the Boston Brahmins. The arm of the organization that isn't made up of hippie pagans is quite well off. That said, like many long-standing organizations in Boston, they have holdings that would be entirely beyond their means had they not been purchased during the 19th Century.

These are a bare sampling of the windows. I need to get back there.

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	From: margimello	Date: July 13th, 2004 01:58 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Man...i need to build a time machine...

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	From: komos	Date: July 13th, 2004 02:04 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I feel your pain.

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From: ex_cayetana730	Date: July 13th, 2004 02:14 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Idolator!

(totally kidding :)

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	From: komos	Date: July 13th, 2004 02:20 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I've always had troubles keeping up with the prohibition on graven images.

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	From: technocowboy	Date: July 13th, 2004 01:56 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Dude, I'm totally not re-creating that window for you in Gallery Glass. You're on your own.

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	From: komos	Date: July 13th, 2004 01:59 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I can't understand how some folks are left cold by Tiffany. Maybe it's me and my weird fin de siecle proclivities, but I absolutely love this stuff.

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	From: technocowboy	Date: July 13th, 2004 02:06 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Oh, don't get me wrong, it's stunning work. As pagan as I am, I love to wander through churches and cathedrals just to see the stained glass. I'm just not going to re-create it in Gallery Glass for you, because damn. That'd take MONTHS.

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	From: komos	Date: July 13th, 2004 02:11 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I got that. Didn't mean to imply otherwise. ^_^

I have known other folks who are left cold by Tiffany, and it just baffles me. I know virtually nothing about glass-making, and I can't help but be moved by this work.

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	From: komos	Date: July 14th, 2004 07:28 am (UTC)		(Link)

BTW, what is gallery glass?

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	From: technocowboy	Date: July 14th, 2004 08:09 am (UTC)		(Link)

You know those window pix that <lj user=da_zhuang keeps posting for the play at Riverfront for his dad? They're made with Gallery Glass. It's a stained glass paint. We finished each one of those windows in about 6 hours, then it takes about 24 more for them to dry and cure. Much fun, much easy, much cheaper than stained glass, and looks pretty damn cool.

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	From: komos	Date: July 14th, 2004 10:24 am (UTC)		(Link)

Neato.

The glass studios at MassArt are across the hall from ceramics... so colorful and distracting!

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From: ex_cayetana730	Date: July 13th, 2004 02:12 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I just love it.

Something about leavy florals gets me, always has.
Just can't shake the Byzantium.

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	From: komos	Date: July 13th, 2004 02:23 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Yeah, me too. It was no surprise that it was that piece that woke me to the whole experience.

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From: ex_cayetana730	Date: July 13th, 2004 02:29 pm (UTC)		(Link)

If you look around my house, you see leaves everywhere, on mugs, plants, my shower curtain...
Really, I'm just trying to compensate for the fact that I can't have a window like that in my house.

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	From: riverbank	Date: July 13th, 2004 03:55 pm (UTC)		(Link)

thats beautiful! the luminosity when seeing stained glass in person is breathtaking.
this is my latest artist discovery...they were framed inside lighted boxes with many layered glass
http://www.missioncreep.com/schaechter/childbride.html

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	From: komos	Date: July 14th, 2004 07:15 am (UTC)		(Link)

I love the Frida Cahlo meets Through the Looking Glass feel of it all. It's just so gorgeously unsettling.

Want some.

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	From: komos	Date: July 14th, 2004 07:19 am (UTC)		(Link)

I don't think anyone's ever said that to me before. Thanks.

The great thing about wandering is that it's timeless and can happen just about anywhere. I'd be more than happy to join you in adventures at some point. ^_^

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