- December 3, 2024
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Stained glass artist Pat Conway. Photo by Sierra Williams
One of artist Pat Conway's hanging stained glass pieces. Photo by Sierra Williams
Artist Pat Conway's exhibit at the Ocean Art Gallery are a mix of hanging and 3D display pieces. Photo by Sierra Williams
Stained glass artist Pat Conway. Photo by Sierra Williams
Stained glass artist Pat Conway is often inspired by animals and flowers. Photo by Sierra Williams
Artist Pat Conway recreated the mirror that was the first art piece she sold. Photo by Sierra Williams
Palm Coast artist Pat Conway likens working with stained glass like solving a jigsaw puzzle.
“If you don't like doing puzzles, you're not going to like doing stained glass,” she said.
She said she first fell in love with the work after she took a mosaic class when she lived in Texas. Conway said the class was supposed to complete a mosaic over the course of six weeks but she loved it so much that she finished her project in just the first week.
From there, the teacher began introducing her to more and more techniques and projects, eventually leading to her first art class on using glass. At first, Conway just made small crosses and angels to give away. She said she had no intentions of becoming a professional artist until a friend offered her $500 for a stained glass mirror she was making.
From there, Conway began taking more commissions from friends and family. That was 20 years ago.
“It just kind of blossomed,” she said.
Since diving into the professional art field, she has owned and operated two art galleries in Texas and sold multiple pieces of her works. Now, her newest stained glass exhibit at the Ocean Art Gallery in Ormond Beach — called “Glass, Lead, Design and Light” — is open through Sept. 30 and features both typically hanging stained glass pieces and smaller designs that can be displayed on stands.
The exhibit opened on Sept. 7. The Ocean Art Gallery is located at 197 E. Granada Blvd., at the intersection with State Road A1A.
The typical stained glass pieces that people see in church windows are a mixture of painted glass and leaded frames holding the pieces together, Conway said.
She uses a different technique: Conway sketches out her designs, careful to mark each piece of her glass puzzle, and then cuts out the glass pieces to fit using special tools. Once every pieces is laid out, she then she uses copper foil to attach it all together.
Depending on the size, it could take her days to months to finish a piece, she said.
A lot of her inspiration typically comes from flowers and animals, she said, and often she’ll use a mix of materials and different types of glass to achieve a certain effect.
“I love the tradition of doing this, and then I get a little ‘quirk’ that tells me, ‘Oh, I need to do this,’ or, ‘I need to make it 3D.’”
Conway said she is excited about the gallery, which emphasizes the more 3D elements in her work. One of her pieces at the gallery of a dragon has a stainless steel koi fish embedded amongst the dragon’s curving 3D body. In past pieces she’s made, Conway said she’s used real deer antlers and broken pottery.
Her favorite part of working with stained glass, she said, is sitting with her design and playing with the different colors of glass that could go into it.
“A lot of people have categorized stained glass as not an art, but a craft,” she said. “I take exception to that. There's a lot of artistry that goes into making stained glass.”
