Bene Award

“The Father’s Eye”
Thirteen foot diameter window in antique and semi-antique mouth-blown European and domestic glass, French flashed glass, and cabochons. 

Location: St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church, The Woodlands, TX
www.staoptw.org
Artist and Fabricator: Stephen A. Wilson / Stephen Wilson Stained Glass
www.stephenwilsonstainedglass.com
Liturgical Consultant: Rev. Msgr. George A. Sheltz, MTh.
www.staoptw.org
Architect/Firm: John C. Clements / Jackson & Ryan Architects
www.jacksonryan.com
Photographer: Cynthia Meyer

The round shape of the window provides a mandala-like counterpart, and the glass design expresses the invasive exuberance of Divine presence through a smaller embedded circle surrounded by areas of swirling line work and saturated color. Designed as a meditation on God the Father, the window includes the psalmist's descriptions of the Father as the pinioned wing that shelters, the right hand that creates, and the eye that watches over all.  The window has a southern exposure that maximizes the kinetic potential of the transparent glass as light conditions change during the course of a year. Directly opposite this window is one depicting the Holy Spirit, which, combined with this window and the Crucifix, present the trinity as present among the assembly. 

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