Art Studio News!
COMMISSIONED SET DELIVERED! (It’s a lot like having a baby 🙂 )
I am happy to say that a commissioned set of three windows was recently completed and delivered to Judith of Springfield! She had seen similar windows at the Springfield Garden Tour and placed an order that she helped imagine by selecting a few ideas of certain plants and birds that she enjoys. She left the design work up to me and graciously gave me artistic license to interpret the images as I wished.
MY WONDERFUL CLIENT’S STORY
Judith is a gardener extraordinaire who has created a fantastic oasis on the farm that has been in her family for generations. She allowed me to tour it last summer as we were making plans for the window set. Tucked in by darling older buildings, stonework and charming fencing, around every nook and corner is bed after bed of gorgeous perennials, trees, foliage and annuals. A nature lover and world traveler, she has a wonderful sense of beauty and classic design.
Judith then showed me the porch where she wanted to hang the mosaics. I had actually brought the blank windows with me that day so that we could imagine them in the space. In forming the ideas for her unique, one-of-a-kind pieces of art, I asked her to jot down some of her favorite flora and fauna. She was able to quickly identify a number of birds that she loves (she named some favs but gave me a free hand to choose those that would work best) and also to pick out some designs that were a reference from an old English book of watercolor paintings.
A COZY WINTER (ok I’m a walker and it was blistering cold, but sometimes cozy),
Thankfully, it was a nice cozy winter with lots of time to imagine and design. I began to research the types of birds that she had listed and used the internet and word documents to collect ideas. Judith was wonderfully flexible about the plan and so gracious to let me have at it. I decided after much debate, that it was to be four types of birds on two panels flanking the porch window and a three pane botanical below. In order to gain balance, I had to plan four seasons, have the colors cross each other from side to side and below and try to get the birds resting in foliage and trees that they would represent natural habitats. Another issue was the size of the various birds in relation to each other. Once I established the look I wanted and found a few reference photos to guide my free-hand drawings, I sketched out the designs and inked them and placed them on the cleaned, prepped windows.
WINDOWS OF INTEREST
An interesting tidbit about the windows in this set is that Judith has blessed me with a lot of old windows from her farm and we were able to incorporate one of them (the three pane) in the set. I love the hardware on the one from her homestead. The other two side windows were from a colonial house in Granville on Broadway St. All of these windows are very rare.
FINDING BALANCE AND DESIGN
Her favorite types of birds were blue jay, cardinal, gold finch and chickadee. She was also interested in the dragonfly and loves the monarch butterfly. Having selected a number of botanical possibilities, I was able to incorporate color matches across the windows such as the gold finches on lavender thistles and then the lavender and a hint of the same greens and yellow being found on certain flowers in the three-pane design below. In this way, the balance of red-orange cardinal was picked up in the poppy design, etc. I also took into consideration the heavier aspects of the jay and cardinal in both color and relational size and planned to place them farther away from the entry door to give the illusion of controlled and balanced weight. I knew that Judith preferred the finch and especially chickadee and so was happy to place these at eye level so that every time she enters her house it is most likely these images she will encounter first.
NEW TECHNIQUES
In the past I had simply broken a lot of glass for the individual mosaic pieces and searched for the right size piece, but more and more as the designs grow more intricate, I find that I like to individually clip each piece to fit the space, so the work actually takes quite a while longer to produce, however the effect is quite satisfying. The final step is to adhere each piece to the window after the lay-out is completed.
THE TEA PARTY SURPRISE
When we arrived at Judith’s home to drop off the completed pieces, she had a huge surprise waiting for Janet (my Mum-in-law) and I. Janet and Judith are old friends and have traveled abroad together. She invited us to TEA in the living room of her homestead. When we entered the room a warm and crackly fire was already blazing and she had a darling table set with her English tea pieces. Displayed in Judith’s hand is the reproduction of an old English tea cozy that Janet had made by hand for her a few years ago. What a pleasure it was to listen to those two converse about their trips abroad! It was a lovely repast on a crisp spring day by a cozy fire with mutual friends. A day to remember!
UP NEXT……
I’m all set up to do five more pieces (I like to get all of the prep work done for a few of them and then have some days of just doing glass) since most of my vocal studio is on Spring Break next week, am hoping to fly through them and complete a special order and to get some new spring/summer material into SunBear Art Studio in Alexandria.
SUNBEAR ART STUDIO AND RAGAMUFFIN COFFEE SHOP, ALEXANDRIA, OH
If you haven’t been there yet you are missing a treat! Meredith, the owner and artist, features a wide variety of quality works by local/Ohio artists and there are classes going on there all of the time. Be sure to check it out and stop in at the Ragamuffin coffee shop right next door for some yummy java! Friends of ours own the coffee shop and you are in for an mmm mmm good experience. Check out their baked goods too!
SUNFLOWERS: CREATING A MEMORY OF A MEMORY….
The Sunflower design that was custom ordered from the Springfield Garden Tour was recently delivered. My client selected this piece because her wedding was themed with sunflowers. Instead of the darker, beige frame, she preferred the white window contrasting the bright, bold blues, yellows and oranges. I love to create pieces for folks who order with particular memories in mind. What a special way to create a memory of a special day!
CANNA DESIGN DELIVERED TO SUNBEAR STUDIO IN ALEXANDRIA….
I was excited to deliver the first in a series of spring and summer designs to hang in Alexandria at Meredith Martin’s Sunbear Art Studio. Meredith is a great support and encouragement to local and state of Ohio artists and to those aspiring to create who attend classes there, taught by a number of different advanced teachers of various mediums. Be sure to check out all of the amazing works for sale by many, many talented artists. Go to the studio site to view the array of upcoming events slated from now through December! Bring your garden clubs, art groups, ladies-day- outers and Mother’s Day-ers to visit! Be sure to head upstairs to the studios and to the adjacent antique store downstairs so that you don’t miss anything. Galleries galore! What a refreshing time you’ll have!
Wendy's Second Story Windows 