Creating art work that adorns the “home” of a church or synagogue congregation is a functional, creative and spiritual process. In this case, the pastor of St. Owen Church in Bloomfield Hills, MI asked me to create a backdrop for their baptismal font just off the main sanctuary/altar is this contemporary/classic church. Unfortunately, the wall he had in mind was painted, poured concrete divided into ten, 10-foot long by aprox 12-inch wide sections on a slight curve so no two widths were exactly the same. I designed a polytich wherein each segment was cut into two lengths so I could work on a couple of shorter lengths at a time in my 10’x’10 home art room! I’m estimating about 20,000+ pieces of hand cut glass were used.
The finished panels were grouted in pecan-colored grout so that “earth” would find it’s place in this piece so full of the other elements of fire, air and water. The warm, golden brown played well off the wood tones in the church. The response of parishioers has been the best compliment I could get: “It looks like it’s always been here.”