An Angel for Alicia

I'm sure you remember our friend, Rebecca Crowfoot, and the story of her outstanding singing career AND the fact that she has now fallen in love with glass painting. We shared in the making of a unique birthday present that could NOT have been purchased at any store.
One Sunday morning, Rebecca mentioned that she would like to make a project for a friend at work that liked angels and wondered if I had any patterns or ideas to help her. I said that I had a brand new Angel Dover book that I had been wanting to use and that she could borrow it to show to her friend, Alicia Ward. It didn't take her long to pick out her two favorites from the black and white illustrations. The book features patterns derived from Victorian Valentines and the drawings are segmented, but not in color, so it was going to take some imagination to fill in the color key. We decided that the best size for the detail in the drawing was 18"x24" so that all the folds of the gown and feathers would have room to be leaded. It was an easy transition from design to lead and I delivered it to her Saturday while we were teaching kids how to paint at a church event. By Sunday afternoon, she had it all painted, even though it was her biggest and most ambitious project, to date. I'll admit that I helped out a little with the color key, since she had not previously keyed one from a black and white image. It was a challenge because almost everything in the picture had to be some shade of WHITE. But we managed to get a lot of color in the project, even though it was a bit of a stretch. It is all pastels and really turned out exquisite, in my opinion.

Rebecca gave it to Alicia this morning, even though she won't be 29 (again) until Sunday, May 15th. The Angel has a very happy place to hang in her window at work. Everyone is amazed that Rebecca was able to translate the wish into reality--so fast. So am I! There are about 10 projects that I need painted, I think I will ship them over to Rebecca's house. You can see more of Rebecca's work in the Artists' Gallery. She just keeps getting better and better!

I thought this story was important to share with all of you--BECAUSE many of you have friends who admire your work and have a birthday coming up! Get the hint?????