New blood is always a good thing!

You may remember, last year I was fortunate enough to have a student from the Lenawee Intermediate School District Graphic Imaging Dept. come to my studio for some On The Job Training.  I was just called by Joel Beutler, Instructor, about taking on another student who may be starting the first week of February.

These students bring a lot to my studio and I get as much from them as they get from being here.  When all of the details are worked out, I'll post more information.  But, for now, if you have a student considering a vocational school, I cannot say enough about their programs and instructors.  Having worked on the Graphic Imaging Board with Joel, I have seen his passion for the program and for the students he has taught.  Some information about Joel:

Joel has been in the Graphic Imaging/Printing Industries for over 30 years. He worked as a graphic designer for both commercial offset printing and flexographic printing plate production. Joel is experienced in traditional hand-produced graphic imaging and computer-produced graphics. Prior to teaching at the LISD TECH Center, he was the art director for two different national flexo firms for about ten years.

Joel’s educational background includes:
    • Associate’s Degree in Fine Arts, Monroe County Community College
    • Bachelor’s Degree in Commercial Art, Eastern Michigan University
    • Master’s Degree in Education Technology, University of Toledo
    • Art Certification (Ohio), K-12, University of Toledo
    • Graphic Communication/Printing Certification, Eastern Michigan University
    • Management & Supervision Courses at Owens Technical College
    • Microsoft/PC Classes at Bowling Green State University

To read more about the program, click on the link below!

Pat Deere

Links:  LISD Graphic Imaging Technology

Finishing a project... cont'd. Hispanic/American Civil Rights

To continue the history of this project, after many months of waiting, the artists were given new parameters.  Right away I struggled with sticking with the project or letting it go.  I loved the concept, but the budget was very tight.  I went through a constant deliberation in my head about following through because I loved the impact it would have on thousands of people for many, many years who would walk into the bus depot and see these historical movements depicted in glass.  Obviously, I chose to work through the problems.

Originally each artist was to create only one window.  After checking with the arts council representative, I was given permission to work on more than one because I had different artists in mind to create the design, and I would fabricate it.  Immediately I thought of Greg (Gregorio) Perez in Adrian.  I admire him as an artist, as a wonderful person, I wanted to try to mimic his style in glass, and I knew he would take the historical part of the project seriously.  He accepted and I have to say this was a very time consuming but inspirational window to work on.  I really wanted it to be vibrant, full of color and movement... and it was.  I could not have been any happier with the design.  Greg did have to go through some design changes due to the fact that, although historically correct, there could have been some negative fallout as a result.  Once the changes were made, even he was happier with the results.

From my end, trying to get the results of a "linocut" or "woodcut" design in glass was not easy.  Originally, I tried using the same materials he would have used, applying glass paints, then transferring it to the glass.  Those results were unsuccessful.  Next, I tried different paint brushes to get the look I was going after.  I finally found that look and had somewhat mixed results getting it to repeat in the same way throughout the project.

Every artist goes through the process of acknowledging what they like and what they would do different.  I can relate to that in this piece.  Because after 4 years of working on a project that was scheduled to end several years prior, I was in constant deliberation about where to cut costs.  The answer I would get when talking with the "Powers That Be", was never changing and resulted in this response:  Work within your budget.  So I did that while at the same time trying to create a window that was good enough to honor the original design by Greg and the people it represents.  So, the wonderful results included a beautiful design to start with, some gorgeous glass, a fun learning experience trying to honor Greg's style, and in the end, a very attractive and educational stained glass window.  What would I have done different?  Bit the bullet and purchased more glass, similar in tone for the faces.  This was one of my most time consuming and costly windows to build.  And, although I was way over budget on this one, if I had to do it again... I would have bit the bullet and bought more glass despite the recommendations of the financially responsible people in my life.

Greg - I will be forever grateful for you input on this one!  Do me a favor and check out the link to his web site below.

Pat Deere

Links:  Gregorio Perez

What an artist goes through to finish a project...

Finally, I have the privilege of posting pictures of one of the finished windows that I have been working on for the Michigan Transportation Authority in Flint.  As a project that spanned  2007-2011, there were definite challenges along the way.  Most of them revolving around increased costs due to the length of time it took to get it completed.  Without going into all of the details, my lead costs alone increased 40% from the time this project started.

I think sometimes it is important to share what an artist goes through on their end so I'll take a little time to do that.  This gets a little lengthy, but there are artists that may be interested in the process and clients who may be interested in it as well.  So,  I'll be posting bits and pieces of the process as I post more finished photos.

In 2007, I was invited to submit drawings for a stained glass window with the design based on Civil Rights.  Immediately, I knew what design that would be.  I had met an amazing person whom I saw read her poem, "Self Portrait", while performing with The Long Hairz Collective at the Crazy Wisdom Book Store in Ann Arbor and have always wanted to create a stained glass piece based on that poem.  So, after getting permission to use her poem in conjunction with this project I created and submitted my design.  Upon getting the requested design, the committee decided that most of them were coming in with an African American theme, and although they wanted that as one of the themes, there are many other people who have been protected by civil rights laws that needed to be represented.

So, they combined efforts with another organization to help them decide what groups of people should be included in this project and what details need to be included.  Right away, the project totally changed.  It changed for me because our ideas are now being dictated by a committee.

I encourage you to listen to the reading of the poem I was referring to and have the link listed below.  More to come...

Pat Deere

Links:
Self Portrait Is On This CD: Long Hairz Collective, Dreadlocks and Ponytails

Sure feels good to be painting again!

With all of the demands on my life, it felt like my creative side had been put on hold for a while.  This is a small medallion that will be inserted into a leaded glass window for St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Tecumseh, MI. They were the unfortunate recipients of vandalism a while back.

At this point I have already painted and fired my line drawing, the shading, and am beginning to apply the enamels.

Once these are fired and the glass is cooled, I will be applying two different silver stains.

The photo of the finished leaded panel is one taken from a window in the same room the broken window came from.  The only thing left to go on for a design for the broken panel was the border and  couple broken shards of the blue border.

So, the design for the inner panel was created based on design ideas from Richard Boulter, Deacon, and photos of similar windows to the best of his memory.

The last photo, a computerized drawing of the design, is what I will use to fabricate the leaded panel. 



Pat Deere 

LINKS: 
St. Peters Episcopal Church, Tecumseh
Stained Glass Repair/Restoration, Pictures In Glass

You Are Here Toledo Project

When I was notified via FB of the "You Are Here Toledo Project", it kind of intrigued me.  They were looking for "Dot" artworks.

It's been a while since I have done any ART for Arts Sake and it felt good to think about it for a bit.

In fact, I didn't realize how long it had been since I updated my blog.  Other things kind of got in the way.

Back to Facebook.  The link I was sent:
www.youareheretoledo.com .  They are looking for 100 dots that will be made into "dot stickers" and placed all around the city.

So what I have here, are 3 pieces taken from my crushed glass artworks, made into a "dot", that were submitted for participation in the project.

The nice thing is, the artwork is already done.  I just had to manipulate it a bit.

I understand that if chosen, we will create a piece of art that will fit into the location it will be placed.  The photograph of the art is what will actually be used for the dot sticker.

Kind of a fun concept.

I hope a lot of other people participate.  If you do, let me know!

What else have I been involved in you might ask...
~Finished my project in Flint, and I will post pictures.
~Ramping up my involvement with my business:  SendOutCards.com/PLDeere
~Recently went to Utah for a SOC convention, and ski vacation with my 3 boys... Yeah!

And now, it's back to work.  It feels VERY good!

Pat Deere

LINKS:  

SendOutCards Where you create greeting cards online, we print, stamp, stuff, label, mail, and track them for you.  Check it out and send a card for FREE!

Pictures In Glass  My crushed glass page!