Our Lady of Hope Provincialate Chapel

Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania

Installed in 2012

Sister Ann Therese Kelly designed and created this wonderful set of stained glass windows that reach about 40 feet across and 5 feet tall.  It represents St. Francis of Assisi's "Canticle of the Sun", a poem about God's creation.  Sun, moon, stars, wind, water, fire, mother earth.

On the two wings are four saints that represent the Felician congregation:  St. Francis of Assisi, St. Felix of Cantalice on the left, and St. Clare of Assisi, Mary Angela Truszkowska on the right. The saints are all facing into creation, blessing the work of our maker, gathering the energy of the cosmos.

Mary Angela Truszkowska

Foundress of the Felician Sisters

6 feet tall, Granite Relief Sculpture

St. Stanislaus Cemetery

SM Ann Therese Kelly designed this sculpture that was carved in India.  She communicated through a translator to the sculptors to produce this beautiful high relief carving for the new burial area at St. Stanislaus Cemetery in Buffalo, NY.  It has been installed through the winter and is now in the process of getting lettering, Sister Kelly's signature, and the sisters are already being buried her.

Song of Creation

Villa Maria College Library

16" tall by 4.5 feet wide

Installed in August, 2013

This amazing stained glass window that includes 12 separate panels within the established mullions reflects the cosmic view of the earth.  Sun, moon, stars, wind, water, and the earth itself teeming with birds and fish, water, fire, mother earth, continents, indigenous trees and leaves speaks to the mission of Villa Maria College and the Felician Sisters.  

The Sun, moon, stars, and wind reach from the heavens and into the realm of the earth's atmosphere.  Each continent has leaves of indigenous trees such as:

South America:  Cacao leaves; nourishment, healing

North America (including Greenland):  Maple and Ginko leaves;  nourishment, shelter, healing

Africa:  Baobab tree; shelter

Europe:  Oak; shelter, wisdom

It embodies diversity, unity, hope, sustainability…

It can be seen from the library lobby all the way down the main corridor of Villa Maria College, inspiring art, spirituality, vibrancy, color and energy.

Our Lady of Hope

To be installed July 15, 2014

New Our Lady of Hope Stained Glass Window

A new stained glass window for St. Clare Convent in Polonia, Wisconsin, is now complete and ready for installation. 

SM Ann Therese Kelly has designed and created this window with the symbolism for the Our Lady of Hope Province of the Felician Sisters of North America, founded 0n November 21, 2009.  The window is 5.5 feet long by 27" tall.

It has the earth which reflects the western hemisphere including the North American Continent painted on beautiful deep blue glass surrounded by a teal colored glass with the stars of the Our Lady of Hope garment. 

A tree of life with the eight branches of the former provinces of North America surrounds the cosmos.  In the left lower corner is the name plate with the words “Our Lady of Hope Province.  Felician Sisters of North America.  November 21, 2009.”  A profound cross cuts through the window, hugging the earth and reflects the Franciscan prayer:   “Because by your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.”

Sister Ann Therese Kelly will take a road trip from Buffalo to Wisconsin with the window in tow on July 14.  The window will be installed between two sheets of tempered glass in the entry door of the St. Clare Convent on July 15 to be seen at the Chapter of Mats this summer. 

Niche windows 1, 2, and 3 for Our Lady of Hope Chapel, Beaver Falls, PA.

Niagara University 12/12 window, very top, final window! Not yet leaded.  No light coming through.

All of the windows are now in the process of being professionally photographed.  They will be ready this coming week.  I hired John Hand to do this work.  That will make it possible to create cards and reproductive images of this suite of windows, important to the Nursing Alumni of Niagara University and for my own files.

Details of stained glass windows for Niagara University.  Top: Portrait of St. Vincent de Paul, tracing black, bistre brown and light umber brown mixed with tracing black on bronze Spectrum system 96 glass. This portrait is in window 11/12.

Bottom: Detail of window 12/12, top of window, 6 winged seraph angel.  Tracing black, yellow and orange silver stain on Bullseye Reactive glass. 

Fused glass for the Junior League Mansion exhibit, Buffalo, NY.

Window 11 of 12, Niagara University. Not yet leaded, no light behind.

A new window for sale in my Bridge Gallery.  Any takers?

These are new glass for the Niagara University Nursing Alumni windows.  The top window represents the nursing pin, window #3/12, not yet leaded.  The second window is the Franciscan window representing the Franciscan Sisters who taught in the early Niagara Nursing program, window 10/12, not yet leaded.  The bottom image is a detail of the Franciscan window (sorry about the glare), is the tau cross with Jesus and Francis, fused and painted glass.

Here are the next three windows for Niagara University.  Windows 7/12, 8/12, and 8/12.  They are not yet leaded.  Images in Glass of Hamburg, NY, are doing the leading and installation.  Three more to go! Number 10 is already on the table.
See the designs for these three windows below.

Watch this amazing artist, JD,  about using art to change the world:

Use art to turn the world inside out

This design is a mandala (a sacred circle) inspired by the San Damiano Cross from the Franciscan tradition.  The image in the center is the Jesus from that cross, only it is the countour of his body, however, highly recognizable as that Jesus.

The outer areas are a visual representation of the Canticle of the Sun, a poem by St. Francis of Assisi. This image has come to be my own personal signature style.  It speaks to a sense of who I have become in my life, a person representative of the sacred in my chosen lifestyle as a religious Felician-Franciscan Sister.

The Canticle is important to my love of nature but has become a representation of my fascination with the idea of alchemy, transformational ideas and imagery but connected with Roman Catholic Christian practices in contemplation and personal change.

The process begins with a pencil drawing, then black india ink with lacquer to make it totally waterproof.  I then take a digital image of the work for use in later black and white graphic design and possible changes.  I then add colored inks, watercolor and acrylic (all water-based mediums) on vellum or Japanese Yuppo paper to give it a translucent effect.  Some of the inks are sometimes iridized colors to give the effect of glass.  I digitize the colored image, again, for publication purposes. 

This particular image was produced as a logo design for the national Franciscan Federation Conference of 2010.  It was extremely well received and is now being used on note cards and perhaps a t -shirt in this current year.   I am also considering it for a stained glass window in the future.  It’s design would work quite well in fusion and painting, another process I use in my work.

Here are the newest designs for the third tier of windows at Niagara University.  It reflects the academic areas of the Niagara Alumni Nursing program.  At the very top, the Military Nurses are honored.  The star with the banner represents all of the branches of the military.  The alums say that these nurses are the most honorable of all nursing branches.

Each window is represented by three different types of deciduous trees.  The bottom, research, is represented by the elm tree.  The second, academics, is represented by the ginko tree and the third, leadership, is represented by the oak tree.  All of these trees are of an old and hardwood line.

This suite of  windows, created in 1990 for a Felician Chapel that has since closed in North Tonawanda, NY, has been temporarily installed in the Our Lady of Hope Chapel in Beaver Falls, PA, until the permanent stained glass windows are complete.
Top to bottom:  Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Wind/Sister Air, Sister Water, Brother Fire.

Working in Hunt Stained Glass Studios in Pittsburg, PA on windows for Our Lady of Hope chapel in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.

This is the newest window for Niagara University.  It is #6 of 12.

Color designs for Our Lady of Hope Chapel in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
The windows actually go straight across in one row.

New designs for the Our Lady of Hope Chapel, black and white.

Color drawings are coming!  Stay tuned!

Tomorrow I'm headed for Beaver Falls PA and Pittsburg to the Hunt Studios.

In Beaver Falls I'll get a good look at the newly constructed chapel and measure the nich areas for constructing fused glass. In Pittsburg I'll begin the process of enlarging the work into patterns and glass selection.