The Jesse Window
This is one of Dorchester Abbey’s gems: C14th century tracery, sculpture and stained glass uniquely interwoven into a work of art and dedication. The placing of this window adds to its grandeur. Being set into the north wall it is obliquely illuminated from behind during the first part of the morning, then later the east window casts it with dapples of coloured and white light which shift along to illuminate differents aspects as they go.
One of the joys of painting is that different moments in time can be brought together into the one image and so here I am showing you the coloured glass as illuminated from one point whilst the east window plays its part at the same time.
Creating contrasts within a picture can add to its excitement; we can use light and shade, complimentary colours, alternating tones and so on. Here I have chosen to use soft marks next to harder ones. Look at the top right hand quarter of the painting; the tracery is described in sharp focus whilst the dappled light has been described with a wet-in-wet technique and then repeatedly sponged and lifted to further effect.
The sharp and soft go a long way towards describing transient light on solid form.
Rebecca was shown making the sketch for this painting on The Heaven and Earth Show, BBC 1