ACTIVITY
Mikel Delika’s workshop has two fields of activity: creation of new stained-glass windows, in classical or modern style, and also stained-glass restoration. For new glasswork in classical panels he uses traditional techniques (lead came, painting, acid etching, etc.).
His process for making stained-glass windows:
New panels: once… the client’s tastes and preferences have been ascertained, the site is visited so as to study the setting, the light, the architecture and the window’s function (merely decorative, embodying symbols or a message, filtering light, affording privacy, etc.). A scale drawing is then produced in keeping with all the above. This may involve the use of computer tools, creating images to simulate the final artefact. The sketches are adjusted and corrected with the client as required and the techniques to be used in manufacturing the panel are mapped out.
Restoring stained glass involves the same techniques and materials used for new glasswork but in this case following the guidelines and principles set out in the two charters on the conservation and restoration of historic stained-glass panels drawn up to date: by ICOMOS (the International Council on Monuments and Sites) and CVMA (Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi – the preeminent body in the field of the cataloguing, study and conservation of historic stained glass). Such work is done together with practitioners of various allied crafts (glassmakers, metalworkers, builders, glaziers, carpenters, etc., depending on each project) and is overseen by other professionals (architects, art historians, qualified restorers, chemists, biologists, etc.).
In each project the whole intervention process is documented, with a final brief being drawn up with the guidelines for the work as well as a guide to conservation and maintenance once it is complete.
TRAINING
Mikel began working in the world of stained glass in 1983 in a self-taught way in the firm Vidrieras Bastida. After learning from the Irish glass artist Peter Young, he did further training in Germany, at the National Glass Centre Foundation in La Granja (Segovia… province), at the Barcelona Glass Centre Foundation, at the León Trades Centre and elsewhere. At the Barcelona Centre he took a restoration course given by Fernando Cortés which led to a friendship and subsequent partnership, starting with a “State of conservation study and guidelines for intervention on glass lanterns” (for the lantern procession in Vitoria). Later they set up the firm Argitan in order to draw up a “Study and Master Plan for the stained-glass windows of the Cathedral of Santa María in Vitoria-Gasteiz”. Since then they have collaborated in various restorations across the country.
TEACHING
Alongside his work as a stained-glass glazier, Mikel took part in the Basque Stained Glass Conference in Rentería in June 2012 and has also engaged in pedagogical activities:
In 2013 he joined the Vitoria-Gasteiz Academy of Science with a lecture on “Stained-glass windows in Vitoria-Gasteiz”.
In 2016… he lectured in the Cantabria University summer courses on “Art Nouveau and Arts Nouveaux: the arts around 1900” with a presentation on the restoration of stained glass in the Major Seminary of Comillas (Cantabria).
SELECTED WORK
NEW WORK
In Álava: Church of Todos los Santos, Carmelite Missionary Sisters Convent Chapel, Church of Villanañe, Chapel of the Seminary Rectory, Church of Ascarza, Church of El Cristo, Church of San Joachín y Santa Ana, Chapel of Santa Lucía in Llodio, Chapel of Las Clarisas,… four processional lanterns (Litanies) for the Confraternity of the White Virgin, processional float of the Five Luminous Mysteries for the same confraternity on its 400th anniversary
In Vizcaya: Church of El Carmen in Bakio
In Guipúzcoa: Benedictine Monastery in Oñate
RESTORATIONS
Intervention on panels, tracery and rose windows in the Cathedral of María Inmaculada in Vitoria-Gasteiz
Restoration of the skylight of the Palace of Augusti (Provincial Museum of Fine Arts) in Vitoria-Gasteiz
Restoration of the stained-glass doors of Vitoria-Gasteiz City Hall
Restoration of the stained-glass windows of the former Basque president Aguirre’s Hotel Carlton office (in Bilbao) for subsequent installation in the Ertzaintza Museum in Arkaute (Álava)
Stained-glass windows of the ballroom currently housing the Guridi cinemas in Vitoria-Gasteiz
Restoration of stained-glass windows in the Carmelite Church in Calle Ramón y Cajal, Vitoria-Gasteiz
Casa del Cordón mansion in Calle Cuchillería, Vitoria-Gasteiz
Restoration of stained-glass panels in the Church of Santa Ana in Areta (Álava)
Restoration of the stained skylight of the plenary chamber of the palace used by the Álava Provincial Council
Restoration of three stained-glass lancet windows in the Church of San Miguel in Oñate
Restoration of the stained-glass doors of the palace used by the Provincial Council in Vitoria-Gasteiz
Restoration of stained glass in the choir and altar of the Church of La Asunción in Rentería, with isothermal glazing in the choir windows
Restoration of 24 stained-glass panels in the lantern turret of the Carmelite Church in Amara, Donostia-San Sebastian
Restoration of stained-glass windows in the Vitoria-Gasteiz Seminary Church and Chapel
Restoration of the stained-glass ceiling of the Guernica Assembly Hall, with over 200 m2 of glass
Restoration of all the stained-glass windows of the Carmelite Church in Amara, Donostia-San Sebastián, with isothermal glazing
Restoration of stained-glass panels in the Church of Santa María de los Reyes in Laguardia (Álava)
Restoration of stained glass in the stairwell glasswork of the Palace of Zabalgoitia in Arceniega (Álava)
Restoration 18th-century stained-glass windows in the sacristy of the Chapel of Allende in Ezcaray
Restoration of all the stained-glass windows of the Comillas Major Seminary Church (Cantabria)
Restoration of several stained-glass panels in Vitoria-Gasteiz Cathedral by Carlos Muñoz de Pablos (Vitoria)
Preparation of a Master Plan for the stained-glass windows of the Old Cathedral of Vitoria-Gasteiz, with Fernando Cortés Pizano
