Between my period of making stained glass window ornaments and starting to create simple lamps and windows, I began to feel the need to be able to draw. I could do simple, mechanical type drawings, but I wanted to express my more creative ideas.
I looked through many how-to books on the subject, along with sketches of the masters, to get an idea of how I wanted to teach myself. I ran across a book at a yard sale: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Dr. Betty Edwards offered groundbreaking insight into how to teach yourself. It was on the New York Bestseller list for close to a year.
One of her thoughts on drawing, “It’s helpful if you can “feel” the object” caught my attention. Who can feel the object better than one who makes it?
At the time, I was focusing on beveling glass. I had acquired a complete set of 1915 Henry Lang beveling machines: two large grinding wheels, a 24″ smoothing stone, and a felt and cork wheel for polishing. I could not find anyone to guide me. It took me about a year in my spare time before I felt comfortable showing anyone my work. Now, there are a couple of detailed books.
Living in the historic Fan area of Richmond, VA, I spent many evenings walking the sidewalks studying stained and bevel glass windows. Auction catalogs and a trip to the Corning Museum library were also productive.
I took my newfound knowledge of “feeling the object” and a drawing pad and dedicated twenty minutes a day to sketching bevels and beveled glass windows. I dated each day, taking my progress very seriously. It took several months before I was ready to show them.
Computers were not around then. I used tracing paper, flipping the symmetrical designs around until I completed the design. I began to enjoy shuffling graphite around on paper. A smudge stick gave my drawings depth and character.
If one looks at a symmetrical design often enough, the brain memorizes it, making it just another object in architecture. I became fascinated with asymmetrical bevel glass windows, which the mind doesn’t memorize but sees differently each time.
With my newly developed drawing skills and putting a different angle on almost every kind of glass I could find, I developed what I believe is a new direction for the art of beveled glass windows.