A Ganglion Gone Awry

“A twisted nerve, a ganglion gone awry predestinates the Sinner and the Saint”

Leo Marks

Research

During a trip to Belgium in 2019, I was guided around Tourinnes-la-Grosse, and visited the church of St Martin. Its oldest part goes back to the 10th century.

This was the inspiration I needed to get started on the Confession scene, the end of my Victorian series..

A Ganglion Gone Awry was completed in 2021.

I wanted a lot of intensity and emotions for my characters, so I studied old paintings of Confessions, to find inspiration for clothes, poses and expressions.

Building the inside

I started out with building the wooden floor, then I arranged the stones in a suiting pattern around it, attaching them with a small-grained acrylic paste. I polished the stones to give them a nice shine.

The walls are made from wood, painted and stained to look like marble stones.

The Sinner

I use various kinds of acrylic paint, many layers, to get a fur-like finish for my characters.

I wanted this mouses’ skirt to look very beautiful, like an old painting – so the choice of fabric was really important.

The Confessional

The Confessional was at this point the most intricate construction I have built from wood.

The Forgotten Child

I built a door at the top of The Confessional to add a dark twist to the scene.

The stained glass window

I took inspiration from the Belgian St Gertrude of Nivelles.

According to catholictradition.org she was The Patron of Cats, the Recently Diseased, Gardeners, Travelers, Those with Mental Illness, and Those with a Morbid Fear of Mice and Rats.

Saint Gertrude has a special symbol, that of the mouse on her staff.

For the glass effect I used Gedeo Crystal Resin.

Making of the silver frame

For this part of the stained glass project, I needed someone who was specialized in working with silver, and who had the tools and special training. I collaborated on this with jewelery artist @lisafalchdesign.