Artistry in Glass

03/28/2026

Search Medium for John Wakefield to read this essay

03/11/2026

02/28/2026

Life on the road with Diogenes: A visual diary of sunsets, rocks, and the space between. There’s a certain kind of peace that comes with studying the ground you stand on. . Check out the full travel gallery at the 🔗 Link in Bio!

02/28/2025

Tiffany Windows in Flagler College, St Augustine, FL - 79 stained glass windows in the very impressive Flager College dining room are reputed to have been designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and are widely promoted as some of the earliest in-situ examples of the great glass artist's work.
The upper, arched panels depict the flaming cauldron in the Spanish Renaissance style whereas the lower panels are geometric rectangles characterized by tightly packed amber circles. When I questioned the student guide she told me that the circles were made of beer bottle bases! I challenged her by suggesting that she had just made this up, to which she replied "oh no, these windows are lower and more vulnerable to vandalism so Mr Tiffany used beer bottles which can easily be replaced if broken".
Stained glass experts will immediately know that this answer is wrong on many levels - the amber circles are hand-blown, art glass "rondels" that differ from beer bottle bases in having an annular (ringed) texture and thickened centers - quite distinct from beer bottles with concave bases (see images).
A more interesting question is whether these are really "Tiffany" because they are made, using the conventional leaded glass method, in 1884 years before Tiffany purchased the patent for copper-foil glass from Sanford Bray. (Copper-foil is the method that characterises Tiffany's famous lamps and windows). They also appear to predate the incorporation of the first Tiffany Glass Company in December 1, 1885.
My view is that these Flager windows were designed by Tiffany in his capacity as an Interior designer - a career that preceded his immergence as a glass artist. I susoect that they were commissioned by Tiffany not made by Tiffany Studios.

02/09/2025

Giant sloth and images from John & Claire in Florida

02/09/2025

We explore the great state of Florida - from Pensacola to the Keys, through the Everglades and Little Havana, to South Beach, Coral Gables and Fort Lauderdale. Stay tuned as we head for St. Augustine.

09/28/2024

I record my talented, 80-year-old, brother-in-law, Alan Cotterill, cutting loose on the cornet at the legendary Birds Eye Club in downtown Grimsby:
https://youtu.be/TrjIDNUy6zk?si=zbPjMXBoN-3Aymw9

and follow up by posing with beloved cousins Glynis and Paul - together with their amazing mum (mom) - my 95-year-old (Auntie) Doreen.

09/10/2024

plus ca change ….. on the multicultural Paris Metro every single passenger under the age of 60 is unable to resist checking their cell phone.

09/06/2024

John Wakefield attends a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 in A minor conducted by Simon Rattle at the historic Royal Albert Hall in London. He also admired the imperial splendor of the Albert Memorial in a typical English drizzle.

09/03/2024

 John visits Central London to study the architecture of the Bishopsgate area (have fun picking out the buildings - from right to left they include: the walkie-talkie, the scalpel, the cheese grater, and the tallest building simply called 22 Bishopsgate). Later, enjoying a spectacular exhibition of expressionist art at the Tate Modern including some amazing paintings by Wassily Kandinsky.

09/02/2024

At the world, famous Kew Gardens in West London, where we examine giant water lilies and ponder the evolutionary advantage of such large leaves.

08/30/2024

I explore Shakespeare's birthplace - Stratford on Avon and take this photo of Harvard House This 1596 building in the High Street is a fine example of the decorated timber-framed style. It was once the home of Catherine Rogers, mother of John Harvard, the founder of Harvard University USA.