Honouring legacy with Digital Stained Glass: St Columba + Euphrasie Barbier

8 hours ago
2 min read

What if your school's story could become artwork?

Recently, I had the privilege of creating two custom artworks for St Columba’s Catholic School. These artworks celebrate two significant figures in the school’s story: St Columba and Euphrasie Barbier, founder of the Sisters of our Lady of the Missions RNDM, who established the school.

The artworks are created in my digital stained glass style; a unique technique I have been developing for approximately four years. I construct each artwork through a series of digital layers (importantly without AI). Following the same fundamental stages and visual principles found in traditional stained glass. Colour, shape, line, and light are carefully assembled to create a contemporary interpretation of this centuries-old art form.

The finished pieces also interpret and serve several purposes: celebrating a significant school milestone (100 years), honouring the people who shaped its history, providing a teaching resource, and creating an opportunity for students to encounter the school's mission and connection to the divine.

Hence, this project was created through purposeful listening and collaboration. Every element has meaning; visual symbols, facial expressions, gestures, and posture work together to communicate something of each person’s life, faith, values, and legacy. Plus, incorporate the school's key aspects (mission, education, service), and its restorative philosophy. Rather than simply illustrating historical figures, the artworks are designed to become a visual language through which students and the whole community can discover and explore their stories (then, now, and into the future).

This artwork can be printed on paper, applied to film on glass, and/or printed directly on glass. For this project, the artwork was designed at A2 size, printed on textured cotton rag stock and framed with 70mm matting. It will soon be hung in the school. A huge shoutout also to the amazing crew at Artist Services, who supplied some of the photos of the works being printed, and whom I highly recommend for printed fine artwork.

It is amazing how a carefully considered artwork can become part of a community's identity—carrying its stories, values, and history forward while creating something meaningful for future generations. It is a privilege to create artwork through community, especially in my custom digital stained-glass style.

If you could turn one person, story or piece of your school’s history into artwork, what would you choose?

I look forward to hearing the stories of how this artwork connects, and would love to hear from you if you have a digital stained-glass project in mind...

~ Jane