Stained Glass Pieces Made in 2009

FACELIFT PIECES

The following three pieces of glass I had made were returned to me this year for various reasons, so I decided to give them a facelift.

Marilyn Munroe from "Seven Year Itch" - 2009

In this scene Marilyn's skirt was blown up by a blast from a New York subway. This piece was made for my brother Johnny several years ago as he was a great fan of movie icon, Marily Munroe, one of the most famous movie stars on earth. I brought the glass back from New Brunswick in 2008 after my brother passed away. The clerks in the air port check through were calling everyone over to see her on the scanner.

I loved the red in this piece but always felt the background was too dark, so I gave the piece a facelift by turning the background into an oval and then adding a clear border with faceted jewels in red and blue to pull the piece together.

Art Deco Lady - 2009

The naked lady in this pattern strikes a delightful pose as she dons her red hat and ear ring. A tantalizing blue lipstick colour matches the exquisite baroque swirled background glass. I made this for my cousin Steven who later returned the piece to me when he had new windows put in his house. Turns out he wasn't too fond of naked ladies!!! It was such fun to make this piece. Since it no longer needed to fit exactly into a window, I decided to frame it in bevels with a strong zinc border so it made a more attractive stand alone piece.

Red Cardinal in Circle - 2009

I actually purchased this cardinal from the store in Bloomfield before I did glass and gave it to my aunt Glenora who was an avid bird watcher. When I bought the cardinal I was very impressed by the delicate quality of the work, hoping I would some day measure up myself. After my aunt died in 2007 the piece came back to me. Since the piece had some cracks I decided to make the repair and also perk it up with a bright green border. It holds some precious memories for me.

Pinwheel Chimes - 2009

It was great fun making this piece and choosing colours that worked together in this geometric pattern. The bevels and faceted jewel will bring rainbows into the room when the sun passes through. The unusual blue spotted glass is called spirit glass. It was a challenge to drill through the multi-coloured chimes that hang below to give the piece kind of a Chinese feel.

I was hired to make the piece as a thankyou gift from our Waterloo Region Newcomers club for our outgoing President, Cecilia Gilbert. She has recently had a new grand child and we wanted to make something colourful for the grandchildren to enjoy when they came to her house.

River of Life - 2009

This piece was made as a wedding gift for Alex and Shaila, July 11, 2009. I made the stained glass and my husband Arthur and daughter Amber made the frame.

My second cousin Alex, was brought up in a Christian environment but converted to the Muslim faith in order to marry Shaila. When contemplating what to make for them I came across this pattern entitled River of Life. It was originally designed for the Tampa Ronald McDonald house, a place where families can stay when their children are undergoing difficult treatments away from home. They call it the house that love built. The window was commissioned in memory of Sheila Savage who loved water and lived a life immersed in the lives of others.

I wanted to make a piece that would symbolize their journey through life as well as the merging of their two faiths. Following is my wish for them:

May your River of Life also flow continuously in a house that is built and sustained by love and immersed in each other.

In this modern symbolic piece the sun is a central focus. I thought the sun would be very fitting since it emanates warmth which is the cherished feeling of love. From a religious perspective I thought it could stand for the merging of your faiths. I know that Christianity is in your background Alex, though you have converted to the Muslim faith. Christianity focuses on the saving grace of Jesus the SON of God, while the Muslim faith is sometimes symbolized by similar celestial bodies, the star and the crescent moon. The crescent symbol has a long spiritual history. It suggests an empire stretching from one end of the earth to another, or perhaps an all embracing faith which is the kind of love I hope you will know as the years go by. I see that the 5 pointed star represents the 5 pillars of Islam, but isn’t it interesting that the star is also a symbol of the birth of Christ, the coming of a message of love that would change the world.

The turquoise ribbons flow through the centre of this piece passing through our lives like an unending stream. Water is life giving and restorative. It nurtures all that we are and all that we may become. Perhaps the golden globs sprinkled amongst the ribbons represent light (another essential ingredient for life) epiphanies in your lives, or incredible moments like the birth of children, the realization of dreams or spiritual awakenings. Some of these ribbons are textured as a reminder that life will always have rough spots and the colours will change as our lives ebb and flow and eventually carry us into another dimension.

Pencil bevels simulate down pouring rain and evaporation in the water cycle, which sustains life. You will notice that these bevels come together at midpoint to create one continuous cycle. Today you are joining your lives together into a similar cycle. May you continue to grow and flow together while embracing each other’s uniqueness. These bevels should bring rainbows into your room when the sun passes through and as the rays bend and become many colours, may you appreciate the colour in your lives. There is so much beauty to behold, so much hope in each day. The rainbow is a symbol of this hope and brings such joy in the morning!!!

The clear baroque background glass adds a swirling dimension of time to the River of Life. May your love be timeless and eternal and may your time together be blessed beyond measure.

Celtic Star in a Circle - 2009

This intricate Celtic Star piece was created as a wedding gift for Laura and Mark Beasley, August 8, 2009.

Geometric pieces are hard to do because there is no forgiveness for lines that are not perfect and the colour choices are critical. I agonized for hours holding up different sheets of glass trying to choose the right colours. I was told that Laura had light green walls and liked orange. The 4 piece flower bevel in the centre is unique and the clear glass has footprints in it, if you look closely. This is also the first time that I was able to use zinc for an outside circle. The people at the store in Breslau let me use their tools to bend the zinc and I was thrilled as this gives the piece, which is 25" wide, a lot more strength and allows it to be hung without a frame.

Tequila Worm on Margarita Glass - 2009

Merle Hadlow approached me about making a piece of something to do with alcohol for her daughter's new bar in her Calgary home. I came up with this unique, cutesy Tequila worm wearing a sombrero wrapped around a Margarita glass. It was quite a challenge grinding the eyes out in a coated piece of black glass so the etching shows up as the eyeball. I had to grind half way through the glass and the pieces were quite small. The background is done in an irridescent clear glass that has a bubble like texture. The piece was carefully taken to Calagary on the plane at Christmas and her daughter was thrilled.

When I was trying to choose the colour for the small circle for the first piece, my friend Evelyn was here and she was excited about the piece because she had a daughter named Margarite. In the end we made a deal to exchange the repeat piece for her sewing me PJ's to give Arthur for Christmas. With the second piece I decided to tackle making the eyes white with black centres. It was very tricky as I had to grind right through each small eyeball to create the space for the pupil. While holding this tiny piece of glass I managed to grind right through the top of my finger nail and didn't feel it because of all the vibrations until it was too late. Well OUCH!!!! It is still growing out. This time I changed the sombrero colours to pinks and mauves to go better with the background glass. Since price was not an issue this time, I decided to put in numerous globs to imitate bubbles rising up around the scene and I made the circle larger. The winey mauve faceted jewel brings the shades of purple together. These were fun, whimsical pieces to create.

William Morris Peony in a Circle - 2009

I made this pattern again as an order for Kyle’s parents, Fred and Marlene Stokowski in Edmonton. Arthur was great at making up boxes for me to ship my glass in. Sometimes people were more impressed by the box than the glass. Actually we found it best to ship by bus.

Fred and Marlene

Arthur making the box

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