The Glory of Glass

Having devoured a ginormous cooked breakfast (CM) and a delicate bowl of grapefruit (me), we took a stroll through the town, decided on a venue for Monday's extravaganza, didn't spy a single black swan (swizzle), and then walked up to Mike and Kate Westbrook's house to say hello and have a coffee. Mike and Charles have worked on a number of projects together and go way back. Unfortunately Mike was suffering from a dreadful cough but says he will still accompany us tomorrow (recording Miscellany). Kate has a wonderful studio in the attic and is a hugely talented painter, not completely abstract, not completely naturalistic, and very multi-layered, like looking at life through gauze or blurred glasses.Midday we packed the car and headed off to interview Patrick Reyntiens (above), Britain's pre-eminent stained glass designer and maker. He was absolutely charming, talked about Brangwyn's glass design, his collaboration with John Piper and his own work, showing us some beautiful autonomous glass panels, his delightful sketchbooks (tea bags and turmeric) and his wonderful library where he declaimed some of the Idylls of Theocritus for our benefit. Amazing how contemporary they sound, proves something about human nature. I would just love to be able to catalogue Patrick's stained glass windows and panels - but can't afford to without some sort of backing or sponsorship. How come thicko footballers get book deals but when one wants to do some serious work nothing is forthcoming? Rhetorical possibly.