This is the first church I worked with, Amelia Presbyterian in Amelia, Virginia.
I was 27 years old, working in a studio I built behind our home in Richmond, Virginia. At the time, I was doing small residential windows, lamps, and some restoration work.
Two members of the church approached me about working with them to create windows for their sanctuary. “We know we don’t want traditional windows, but we also don’t know what we want.” I visited Amelia and found their church nestled in a grove of old oak trees. Many in the congregation were in the logging business.
I presented them with an idea of what I believed tied together their passion, aesthetics, and spirituality.
Over the years, I have been surprised by how often this pattern of how people found me has been repeated. After sending out letters of introduction, postcards of our work, and making “cold calls” I still find that most of my more interesting commissions have come to me from “out in right field,” often by word of mouth. One of the most flattering surprises is when someone will contact me who read an article about my work, kept it in a drawer for ten years, and brings it with them for our first visit.
It’s almost impossible to know how one is perceived beyond our own consciousness. But maybe, in part, it’s the mystery, the euphoria granted me from these experiences that nourish my soul and keeps me moving forward.