Windows

Muse

April 27, 2021

My love of windows began when I was a child.

Looking through them, I could see the beauty of the world outside of whatever responsibility held me, and they allowed me to dream.

School was especially difficult – I was always more interested in how the wind rustled the leaves of the trees or how the sunlight gleamed off the intricate spiderwebs in the windows’ corners than whatever mundane knowledge they were trying to impart to me. I struggled through, but my heart lay with the wonders beyond the glass.

In April 2014 my life had seen some dramatic changes and I needed an outlet to re-identify myself. That opportunity came when the old, but very beautiful, windows in my home were removed and replaced with high-efficiency ones.

When I asked the window installer where the old windows would go, he said they went straight to the landfill.

I couldn’t allow that.

From then on, my love for old windows became an obsession. We struck a bargain that any panes he removed would come to me, and my home soon became a repository for wayward windows. I had quite a collection that I wasn’t entirely sure what I was going to do with.

Then one day, I sat down with a paint brush and began.

The ideas flowed onto the glass. It started with the memories from my childhood, pictures of the prairie trips to visit grandparents, flowers that I had a particular love for, animals that touched my life and bible scripture that stirred my soul. The ideas came fast, and suddenly it was all I wanted to do.

Windows were the beginning of WhimsicalWindowsAndWords. Finally, I could be on whichever side of the glass I chose, and I had a medium to share the beauty I saw through them.

Each window I paint has its own name and own story – dreams manifesting on glass so that everyone can see.

I couldn’t be more grateful.