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 This
portrait in stained glass
titled, "A Study for My Lady" has quite a
story behind it. Originally
commissioned by my sister-in-law, I made this
artwork FORTY-FIVE YEARS AGO. It was
1976 and I was 21 and just out of college. I had been making art in
stained glass since I was 11, so I was already pretty good at it.
While it was still being made, my sister-in-law dubbed it, "My
Lady." But when it was completed, she
didn't like the glass I had chosen for the woman's face. From
then on
it became known as "A Study for My Lady" because my
sister-in-law swore she
would one day commission it again and wanted to retain "My
Lady" as the title for her own artwork. Way back then I was already a
decent
craftsman but not yet equally skilled as a designer of
original
artworks,
so this artwork was based on a
women's fashion poster from the year 1914. The actual poster
showed the entire woman dressed in the full-skirt continuation of what
you see here. My sister-in-law hasn't commissioned it yet, but I'm
still hoping she
will some day.
When all this happened back in 1976, I was
fine
with her
opting out as I didn't really want to part with this artwork anyway. I
was living "on the hill" in Boulder, Colorado at the time, and the
artwork was eventually purchased by the owner of that
house on the hill who was my roommate and
landlord and eventually my friend.
After college, I lived and worked out of that house for several more
years. I got to enjoy this artwork for all that time, and my
friend (Ron) always considered it one of his finest possessions. Cancer
took him in 2012.
For the last few decades or so, the artwork had hung in the office of
another of Ron's dearest friends, and now it is apparently bequeathed
to that friend, who has also
become a friend of mine in recent years.
Although this artwork is 40 years old, I am still captivated by it when
I see it hanging in my friend's office. Early in my career, I had not
previously equaled this, and this very artwork inspired
me not only to improve my technique further, but to seriously consider
for the
first time, a life as a stained glass artist.
This artwork is only 24 by 24 inches and I can copper
foil
much better today than when I made this artwork in 1976, but this
portrait in glass is still one of my best.
I think this protrait stained glass shows the
potential of this art form to accurately portray subjects in the real
world, even people. The woman's facial features are unfired
black paint. The walnut wood frame looks black in this photo. |
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