A history of stained glass art at Brisbane Girls Grammar Sch

book underscores the notion of learning and knowledge. The window is dominated by an array of

shades of purple and lavender in a field of green leaves and blue, framed by bands of rectangles in

yellow, green and blue that form something akin to a border as borders were very much part of the

geometrical aspects of Victorian windows. This border arches over the window reminiscent of a

rainbow and the shape reflects the curvature of the window as an integral part of the heritage

architecture. Centring all this is an orb of red and gold with the yellow light of sun embracing a

cluster of jacaranda flowers. So, the window is a study of jacaranda flowers draping over the book as

a symbol of knowledge.

Warwick Blair pointed out prior to the project that no glass would match the “luminous, ultra -violet,

and blue of the jacaranda flowers” so no flawless rendition of the flowers was possible. However,

the end result is that the window and its jacaranda is luminous in its achievement of colour and light.

Main Building, western stairwell.

Commemorating 100 years of the Old Girls Association.

Blair was proud of all four windows crafted for the School, but he considered the Metamophosis

Windo w as his finest achievement to date. It was special for Blair, not merely because of its technical

complexities, but also because its theme expressed where he was in his personal life at a time when

he was struggling with the challenges of terminal illness. In a taped interview recorded by the School

in 1999 after the completion of all four windows at the School, Blair articulated eloquently what for

him was the essential meaning of the great sweep of the Metamorphosis Window . He reflected that