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The poem is not the world.
It isn’t even the first page of the world.
But the poem wants to flower, like the flower.
It knows that much.
It wants to open itself,
like the door of a little temple,
so that you might step inside and be cooled and refreshed,
and less yourself than part of everything.
- Mary Oliver
From THE LEAF AND THE CLOUD
The images represented in this portfolio are a partial view of my work in stained glass, which I will continue to add to as time goes on. All designs pictured here are my own original work, the result of commissions which have led me to explore a broad range of glass techniques and forms, from medieval traditional painting and enameling techniques practiced less frequently today because of their time intensive requirements, to my own innovations involving the use of three-dimensional objects incorporated into glass panels, to taking glass outdoors and exploring it’s use as a sculptural element. As I continue to experiment and learn from the past and present, this offering will hopefully draw your attention back for future viewings.
As a compliment to the images themselves, I have recorded some thoughts here in an attempt to share my motivations for continuing the pursuit of art making.
I am sustained by the constant observation of the inexhaustive effervescence of nature’s renewing energy, as it is expressed in infinitely diverse forms and patterns. In the choreography of seasonal cycles and the structures of every living thing I recognize my own intimate rhythms and makeup. Striking these chords of familiarity through the process of perception elicits profound joy and deep appreciation of the world beyond my individual concerns.
I believe in the power of the perception of beauty to transform human awareness, to dissolve the perceived boundaries which isolate the individual from humanity and nature, and from this foundation to give rise to behavior which is more generous and compassionate.
To this end, I create work utilizing a broad variety of stylistic elements as a methodology for cultivating experiences of transformative recognition on many levels. Glass in itself is a powerful medium, by virtue of it’s unique property as a transmitter of pure color and light. Through it I explore presentations ranging from literal depictions of natural forms akin to cataloging, to the arrangement of simple color environments, which are all a response to my perception of the natural world.
For the reasons I have mentioned, pursuing opportunities to make my work available to many people in the form of publicly accessible art is of great interest to me. To expand beyond my desire for self-expression and offer a positive, inspiring experience to people who may not otherwise encounter work of this nature is an occupation of the highest calling for me.
Having begun my creative pursuits as a gardener, I continue to be motivated by the common human desire to create a paradise within and without.
“’Whosoever shall be guided so far towards the the mysteries of love, by contemplating beautiful things rightly in due order, is approaching the last grade. Suddenly he will behold a beauty marvelous in its nature, that very Beauty, Socrates, for which all the earlier hardships had been borne: in the first place, everlasting, and never being born nor perishing, neither increasing nor diminishing; secondly, not beautiful here and ugly there, not beautiful now and ugly then, not beautiful in one direction and ugly in another direction, not beautiful in one place and ugly in another place. Again, this beauty will not show itself like a face or hands or any bodily thing at all, nor as a discourse or science, nor indeed as residing in anything, as in a living creature or in earth or in heaven or anything else, but being by itself with itself always in simplicity; while all the beautiful things elsewhere partake of this beauty in such manner, that when they are born and perish it becomes neither less nor more and nothing at all happens to it.....’”
-Plato
From COLLECTED DIALOGUES |
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