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This interfaith wedding present
was commissioned in late 2013 for a wedding that took place in
March, 2014. That amount of time was perfect for a project like this, which
takes a lot of communication. The mother of the groom contacted me,
pointing out an artwork I had made previously (see it here) that seemed
somewhat like an idea she had to interweave a Star of David with a
graphic image of the Trinity. It was a marvelous idea that resulted in
this marvelous interfaith wedding gift.
This hanging artwork has no wood frame, instead being surrounded by a
3/4" U-channeled zinc came (that means the outside edge is a solid
surface). This gives a lot of strength and a
finished look to the artwork (without a wood frame). The background and
beveled border are
leaded with 1/4" lead came. The Star and Trinity are leaded with 5/32"
lead came. All lead, solder, and zinc are treated with a patina that
turns them a charcoal gray.
 The names of the bride and
groom were done in black vinyl, and added to the wavy clear glass in the middle of
this artworkwith
the wedding date underneath. The groom's mom selected the font you see
here from a dozen or so fonts I showed her. The fonts look a bit fuzzy
in this photo because the letters pass NO light and the surrounding
glass passes 100% of the light; the clear part makes the black part
look fuzzy. Actually, vinyl lettering is smooth and precise. A better
example of it might be my artwork here. |
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The
colors of the wedding were coral, blue and champagne. Coral is one
of those colors that is hard to find in glass, but I found a
sheet of red glass where the color fades from red to coral for about 6"
along one edge of the glass. The photo at right shows the coral and
blue
glasses most accurately. It also shows the wavy clear glass inside the
Star of
David where the lettering will be added. |
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 The
main photo above does
not show the artwork well. This is because some glasses block
light (=
opaque) and others allow light to pass through (= cathedral)
and this artificial situation fools even the best cameras. This
interfaith artwork combines opaque, semi-opaque, cathedral, and clear
glasses in a way that delights the eye and commands additional viewing
time. But only multiple photos can show all the aspects correctly.
For example, the photo to the right
shows a multi-colored glass in the
background of this artwork
that has many colors and every degree of opacity all in the same glass!
A glass like this will generally look too dark in photos, as you can
see if you compare the accurate photo you see here with the main photo
above. |
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As
you can see from the two photos above, the opaque glass you see in the
main photo was not the first glass I chose for this artwork. At first,
I
selected the wispy pink glass you can see in the left-side photo. It
looked coral when held
to the light, and although it seemed to match the cathedral coral in
the
Star when held to the light,
I was not totally satisfied when I saw the loose glass pieces
lying on my work table. I
contacted the client, and we agreed that the amber-multicolored glass
you see in the right-side photo was a better fit.
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photo at right shows
the sticky vinyl lettering we selected for this mixed marriage gift.
The
lettering is shown here very near actual size. You can probably see how
the
thin parts of the lettering are already becoming hard for the camera to
see, even though this photo is shot from only about four feet away from
the artwork. If we move even farther from the artwork, the
human
eye eventually suffers the same
fate. That is why I usually try to talk people into fairly bold fonts;
ones without serifs or other very thin parts. Here we chose one font
for the names and another font for the date. We tried a bunch of
combinations before deciding what looked best. |
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 And here, the photo to the left
shows
the finished artwork hanging in my front window.
This is an ideal gift for
a mixed marriage. Whether the union is Judeo
Christian like this one or another of life's infinite possibilities,
the design can be tailored to fit the unique situation. Plus,
the addition
of the names and the calendar date that commemorate this
occasion makes this the perfect personalized interfaith gift.
Really! |
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The following is a testimonial from the woman who commissioned this
artwork:
Mark Stine IS the most honest, creative, talented
artist! I found Mark's Transparent Dreams website while researching
stained glass. My husband and I wanted to give our son and his new
bride a unique gift for their wedding that would symbolize the union of
two wonderful, inter-faith people and serve as a family heirloom - a
legacy - for our children's children's children. I read his site
completely, studied his artwork, the craftsmanship, and learned about
the characteristics of quality stained-glass workmanship. I then went
to several local art shows and "studied" their stained glass artistry
and technique utilizing Mark's guidelines for recognizing good quality
stained glass. No one could match his craftsmanship - NO ONE!! So, I
followed the commission process posted online, and emailed Mark. He
followed up immediately, so I called him to discuss the details. He was
so genuine, forthright, and honest. I knew at that moment I wanted only
Mark to create my son's family heirloom! Over the months of creating
the piece, he was very professional. His communications were timely,
detailed, and included step by step pictures of the creative process.
Then, our beautiful masterpiece stained glass window was completed and
shipped. Our son and daughter-in-law were amazed and speechless when
they opened their wedding gift surprise! They said it was the most
beautiful stained glass they had ever seen! They said, "This is such a
magnificent, unique, one-of-a-kind, gift! We LOVE it!" My husband and I
are very pleased with our beautiful stained glass gift, and our entire
experience working with Mark. I highly recommend him!
Mark,
you are such an honest, fabulous, talented artist, and master of your
craft! It's been such a pleasure working with you. Thank you.
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