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
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