More Playing with Glass

Thought I would share with you another stained glass repair that I have been working on for ……..probably about six months or more now. It was/is a big job. It consists of two panels, each one about three feet wide by two feet tall. The panels are mirror patterns, meant to hang one above the other creating a much larger pattern when combined.

The panels were in pretty bad shape, having been mangled quite a bit. You see this in old salvaged stained glass and let’s say they needed some tender, loving care.

A Treasure in the Stateline

We have a hidden treasure up here in the Stateline and it’s called Burpee Museum of Natural History. Housed in a late 19th Victorian Mansion along the Rock River, the Burpee Museum has been delighting visitors and contributing to the study of natural history for nearly 75 years. 

This past week I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in a ‘behind-the-scenes’ tour at Burpee. The backstage tour was an opportunity to gather some inspirational material; images, thoughts, history, stories, emotions, for a collaborative event, known as Word of Art 3D, planned for early 2017.

To tell you everything about the Burpee Museum would take a book, but here are some of the highlights from the special ‘collections’ tour.

Playing With Glass

I don’t think that I have mentioned it yet in this blog but I am a stained glass artist. It is a medium that grabbed me by the throat and would not let go. I had always marveled at the beauty of stained glass windows, the light streaming through the translucent colored panes or the prism affect of finely beveled designs. Rainbow makers created by the hands of humans.

I fell in love with the craft of making stained glass windows in 2004 when I took my first stained glass class. I was immediately hooked. Glass as an artistic medium had everything that intrigued me as a creative, color, physical presence, hands-on techniques, and uniqueness. 

Writers as Reader (WaR) April Book Selection, The Professor’s House by Willa Cather

Willa Cather, born in Virginia in the 1873, is an author and a poet best known for her works depicting frontier life on the Great Plains, O Pioneers! (1913) and My Ántonia (1918) being two of her most recognized novels. One of Cather’s lesser esteemed but no less admired novels is The Professor’s House (1925).

The Professor’s House is a slice of life narrative about a middle aged professor, Godfrey St. Peter, who finds himself, at what should be the pinnacle of his life, despondent and disillusioned.

Doubt

I had another topic in mind for this week’s blog post but then I ran across a youtube video of Mary J. Blige and Taylor Swift singing Mary’s song Doubt  and it struck a nerve. 

I just recently had a rather momentous birthday and it shook me a bit. While I have accomplished much and I have loads of things to be grateful for, I’m not where I was hoping to be at this stage of my life. I have been fighting doubt all of my life and I think it’s finally time to give up the fight.

Wait? What? You think I’m going to….Really? That’s what….?

Farewell Major Tom

News broke yesterday of the death of cultural icon David Bowie – musician, actor, artist. I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. Sad of course, especially for his family and friends. I have to admit, though, that I was never a huge fan of his however, there are definitely some songs that bring back memories of my youth. And naturally I remember his wonderfully anti-conventional stage presence. If my parents thought the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were going to cause the youth of the world to go to hell, imagine what they thought of David Bowie!

Each time we lose a legendary artist like Bowie, I feel that much closer to the loss of an era, my era. Maybe it’s just because of my age that I’ve started to recognize more of the celebrated people passing these days. Kind of makes you stop and think, doesn’t it.

Daily Prompt: The Artist’s Eye

 This “painting” hangs above my desk in my office. I’m sure most people wouldn’t consider it actual “art” but I like it.

I have always found the image peaceful and serene. I love the way the sunlight streams through the tree branches and how the little blue flowers in the foreground seem to be dancing in the wind. I stare at it sometimes and imagine myself walking along the path, cool breeze on my face, the sounds of the forest all around me. The woods seem to come alive.