Paris Watch Glitter of Stained Glass Catches Young Artist'S Eye By KIKI YOSHIDA	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
ステンドグラスに魅せられた日本人 筆者の友人の河合美和さんは、ステンドグラスの魅力に取り付かれた女性の一人です。河合さんは2年前からステンドグラスの教室に通い始め、今では幾何学的模様と豊かな青色の独自のスタイルに磨きをかけつつあります。さて、このアートの魅力とは…？

I first met Miwa Kawai at a flea market last year. Among the items she was selling, I found candle holders and coasters made of stained glass. That triggered my interest to both the art and Kawai, the artist. I am always intrigued by people who have a special interest in something.

A growing number of people in Paris are taking up stained glass making as a craft. Many daily use items — lampshades, boxes, photo frames, decorative panels and even tables — can be made of stained glasses, not to mention large church windows.

And the boom in interest in stained class craft has given rise to many new and imaginative forms. Newly built houses are frequently embellished with stained glass entranceways and bathroom windows.

Kawai, 31, lives with her husband on the left bank of the Seine. Her life didn't have any connection to France until her husband got transferred to Paris in February 1998.

Then, believe it or not, the Japan branch of the pharmaceutical company where her husband worked went bankrupt just one week after they settled in.

When asked to decide whether to return to Japan or stay in France, they chose to stay. Luckily, Mr. Kawai got another position in the same company as a local employee.

Two months later, the Kawais went to Chartres, which is about 90 kilometers southwest of Paris. There they visited the Chartres Cathedral, which was completed in the 12th century. The cathedral's stained-glass windows are said to be the most beautiful in the world.

Chartres Cathedral has both the largest number — 143 in total — and the best qualitywindows. They depict no less than 1,350 subjects, with over 3,000 figures.

The blue color used in the windows is a singular shade known as "Chartres blue." They say for all the advances in technology, no one has found a way to reproduceexactly the same color.

Miwa felt as though she had been struck by lightning the moment she entered the cathedral. It was the beginning of her love affair with stained glass. As soon as she got back to Paris, she began taking lessons.

It took her about three months just to be able to cut the glass. Following her teacher's advice to practice more frequently, she began attending the class three times a week.

At the end of the course, she was told that she lacked the proper skills needed for making designs for her projects. So in a quest to master design techniques, she dropped in at another school, where she met a Japanese teacher. This woman was a stained glass artist too.

Kawai took lessons from her for three months, until the teacher went back to Japan. By then Kawai had learned skills for working in three dimensions.

Her enthusiasm bloomed during a trip to Turkey. When she saw the stained glass windows at a mosque, she became convinced that this was what she really wanted to make. The geometric patterns used so plentifully in Islamic art opened her eyes wide to the possibilities. And once again, it was blue that struck her heart.

On returning to Paris, she started searching seriously for another school. This time she knocked on the door of M. and Mme. Andriex, whose works are known worldwide. Kawai now goes to their atelier la Maison du Vitrail once a week.

For Kawai, everything was different at the new studio. Before, nobody seemed to care what piece of glass was used. However, Philippe and Christiane Andriex are very earnest artisans, starting from which materials they choose. "Whatever they do, they do it accurately. It is amazing," Kawai said.

Glass is a form of matter with gas, liquid and solid state properties. It captures light and glows from within. Kawai recalled that she used to collect pieces of broken glass when she was a child. She said she has always been allured by the reflective qualities of glass.

After a period of learning, some people fall into a rut, using ready- made ideas rather than their own. In stained glass, the Art Deco style is one of these stereotypes. But Kawai won't fall into that pattern. She says she wants to create original work using the blue colors and geometric patterns that she adores.

She has made it her motto to find her own path, alone. "If you want to do something, the key is to start and do it by yourself," she says. While she doesn't refuse help, she wants to make her own choices and decisions, taking responsibility for her own work.

"I'd like to have my own atelier and boutique in the future but don't know where it will be yet," Kawai told me. She is also anxious to make accessories with handmade glass beads. No wonder I asked her to make a beautiful pendant for me!

Shukan ST: June 2, 2000

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