Today is Valentine's Day, so I want to add my parents to my list of Stained Glass Saints. I realize this is alomst the complete opposite of romantic sentiment, but I have my reasons.
This Valentine's Day, I am left to my own devices. Work called for my wife, so she is away today. We actually had our time together a couple of days ago. It was nice, we avoided the crowds.
Valentine's Day is also my Dad's birthday, so I thought it would be good to make a tribute to him.
This was one tough piece of artwork to put together. I knew I had wanted to do this for a long time, but I put it off until now. Mom is in very rough shape, so it's not easy to draw her and not get emotional. Working on art has the benefit for me of being escapist. I can focus on the task for a time and put away the worries I wear daily like a cloak against the sun. This time, it was different.
Mom and Dad have always been there for me as a wonderful source of love and support. Now Dad is a shining example of giving care to Mom. A few years ago, a film crew shot a documentary about my parents. The film won some kind of award, I believe, and nobody who saw it came away unmoved.
The picture I have here was based on that of a news photographer covering the story of the documentary. It's easily the best shot I've seen of Mom after she started to decline. Funny that the reporter let us have the photo. From my experience, the news people are very tight with their property. I guess Dad must have worked his charm on them.
Anyway, I adapted the photo fairly directly into my stained glass technique. It avoids some of the intentional cartooniness of the other stained glass saints. Despite the relatively short turnaround time for this piece, I do want it to mean something. Maybe I missed the mark. Maybe it's not appropriate. I think I needed to do this, though, and today was the best day for me to show Mom and Dad how I feel.
Mom and Dad have always been there for me as a wonderful source of love and support. Now Dad is a shining example of giving care to Mom. A few years ago, a film crew shot a documentary about my parents. The film won some kind of award, I believe, and nobody who saw it came away unmoved.
The picture I have here was based on that of a news photographer covering the story of the documentary. It's easily the best shot I've seen of Mom after she started to decline. Funny that the reporter let us have the photo. From my experience, the news people are very tight with their property. I guess Dad must have worked his charm on them.
Anyway, I adapted the photo fairly directly into my stained glass technique. It avoids some of the intentional cartooniness of the other stained glass saints. Despite the relatively short turnaround time for this piece, I do want it to mean something. Maybe I missed the mark. Maybe it's not appropriate. I think I needed to do this, though, and today was the best day for me to show Mom and Dad how I feel.
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