Christy has been making stained glass full time for about seven years. Man, who is jokingly but aptly called the vice-president of quality control and lo- gistics, plans and packs for their trips to shows in places like St. Louis, Chicago, Memphis, Baton Rouge and Lafayette. One year, Christy sold her work at the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival at the Walt Disney World Re- sort.


When they travel, they take their camper and their two Arkansas rescues, Honey, a golden Labrador retriever, and Dixie, a Pomeranian, with them. Man also helps Christy with her art by doing component work, cleaning and polishing.


“He supports me fully,” Christy says.


“I couldn’t do it without him.” Alive with color Considering Christy’s brightly-col-


ored work, it’s not surprising her studio is alive with color. A huge worktable measuring 4 by 8


feet anchors the space, which has yellow walls, a purple door and a blue ceiling painted with spongy clouds. A wall- length, green cabinet with multicolored


drawer pulls and purple shelves provide storage.


The colors fit right in with Christy’s


rainbow-hued art. “I like making things with multi col-


ors,” Christy says. “It makes me happi- er.”


There is infinite variety in stained


glass. Art glass sheets are just what the name implies — a blend of colors and textures that make each sheet unique. “Look at how gorgeous it is,” Christy


says emphatically, holding a sheet awash with blue and dotted with pink specks and swirls. “Some women are like that with shoes. I’m just like that with glass. But look at that. Isn’t it beau- tiful?”


Pink is the most expensive stained glass color because it contains gold in the formula, Christy says. The next most expensive colors are red, orange and yel- low.


Although Christy first mastered the


traditional lead came method, she also learned the copper-foil technique, which she primarily uses. After coming up with a design, she cuts out pattern pieces with a glass cut- ter. The glass is ground smooth and each piece is wrapped with copper foil, which


is then burnished. She finishes the pieces with her signature decorative sol- der, cleans it, and often adds a copper patina. Finally, each piece is polished. When she first started making pieces,


she made things for herself and her fam- ily. Then her co-workers began buying what she made, and she started selling locally. “I never dreamed I’d be doing this like


I am now,” Christy says. Creative living Christy never tires of the colors and


textures of glass, and her ideas are as ex- pansive as the variety of her materials. Some of Christy’s newest art is glass- on-glass mosaics featuring owls or whimsical birds. She also incorporates other materials


in her work, such as wire and beads. She collects china plates from second-hand stores, turning them into angels, and creates dragonflies with silver-plated spoon handle bodies. Dragonflies have special significance to her because they were a favorite of her best friend, Con- nie, who died more than 10 years ago from cancer.


She also plans to make mosaics with


LIVING WELL  SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019  15


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