stained glass
Restoration
 

   In the early 1970's I had the unbelievable privilege of being employed by the Provincial Government of British Columbia, Canada in Victoria B. C.
   This happen all most by accident and surely because of an automobile accident in the Frasier Canyon in B.C. This was do to an artist, at the time and the unfortunate fellow that was involved in a serious  auto accident. His name is Bruce Allen. I used to visit Bruce in his studio on the corner of Government Street and Superior St. behind the Parliament Buildings. One day I found he was absent for quite a few days and when I asked around they said that Bruce had broken his back in a car accident. About a year or so Bruce did return but was not too interested in the job anymore and left again about three months later.
   I began working at restoring the stained glass there. Most of the panels were from the building but some were restored for other locations in the Province. I had been working on stained glass for about a year before and I knew a lot about restoration but I had no idea, at the time of just how complicated and detailed the glass is in the Parliament Buildings.
   The example you see to the right of this page is a restored and altered piece that at one time was in the wall  they used to enter the newly built  library which exists today. This is the Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Window. This glass had been stored in the basement of the buildings for more years than I was alive at the time. There really was no place to put the Three pieces that it was at the time it was installed in the buildings. So the architect gave us the dimensions necessary to display the work. This is the window behind the glass. Bruce told me that when those widows were delivered to the studio, the laborers were sitting on top of them as they were being transported in a low trailer behind a pick up truck. Can you imagine how destroyed those panels were? They were in about eight panels and you will see how broke some of these panels were.
   With a great deal of instruction from the architects office we combined a large fan light which is like the symbol of the Province. and combined them with the two horizontal panels on the lower right and left. It was complicated and a ridged steel frame had to be manufactured to hold the piece in place. It is still very beautiful today.
   As for myself, these projects necessitated learning how to paint and fire glass as well as a myriad of other techniques. I worked on this project, I think, because I am just not sure but perhaps 2 to 3 years total.
   When I left, I asked a glass worker and an excellent fellow named John McMillan to replace me which he did and expertly. John is now a real estate agent in Victoria. We left for Ottawa in order to bid the restoration of the National Capital Parliament Buildings. I was not picked and I began working privately in stained glass through a craft co-op near the market area in Ottawa.
    I opened worked and closed  private studios in Victoria BC, Ottawa Ont., San Marcos Texas. and Gruene Texas as well.