In January, I installed a commission of two leaded glass windows— the design of each included 3 large circles connected with ribbons which were holding many smaller glass circles (you can see a photo of one of the windows “in progress” in my December 18 blog post). My clients asked me to make a steel and glass wall sculpture for them too which would complement their stained glass windows. Since then, I had switched gears to create other commissions but was still turning over ideas in my mind about how I wanted the wall sculpture to look. I mentioned to a wonderful artist friend that I would love to use reclaimed steel in the sculpture and she gave me some metal she had collected, including two of these large film reels (thanks, Janice!). I had set it all aside until earlier this week when I had a delay in the current 3 window commission that I am wrapping up. With nice weather in the forecast and knowing I would love to do some welding outside, I decided to switch gears. I created a full-sized drawing using similar proportions to the stained glass windows, only rotated 90 degrees. The film reels mimic the large glass circles from the windows and I dug through my scrap metal to find other interesting metal that will replicate the smaller circles. I plan to use ribbons of steel that will bend and flow, holding the piece together while also creating similar movement to the stained glass window. Although this drawing is black ink on paper, in my mind, I can see shades of glass that will fill some of the openings in the circles and also dangle within some of the negative space. I shared this with my clients and also let them know that this may change as I begin to put it together. They said they were happy to follow my process— hooray! I’ll post photos as it develops on my Instagram so if you want to see updates, follow me here.