It is difficult to describe James Scanlon more accurately than Mark Patrick Hederman does in the afterword to this book. James Scanlon is a hugely imaginative artist who produces sumptuous and intricate stained-glass artworks.

He is also known for his environmental artworks, the most familiar being his stone and glass 'beehive' huts in Sneem, Co Kerry. Aidan Dunne provides a thoroughly illuminating essay, describing how the formidible convictions held by the artist find their way into his work, and explaining his instinctive and providential approach to locating his work within the landscape. In an interview with Shane O'Toole, Scanlon explains his relationship to glass and what inspires him to push it right to the boundaries of its capabilities and beyond.

The struggle involved in bringing works such as the Icon Chapel in Glenstal Abbey, Co Limerick, to completion reveals the role the artist can play in the creation of a thing of extraordinary beauty, and how Scanlon allows himself to be directed by the spiritual dimension of his work.

More in the excellent series ... with first-class colour reproductions of the work - Books Ireland, 2000