Glass artist Alice Sahagian
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Alice Sahagian with a display of some of her glass art
including one of the popular fiddlehead pieces. |
Born and raised in Ontario, Alice Sahagian moved to Carleton County, NB,in 2009. She and her husband had worked in the financial field and they both suddenly found themselves without jobs when the Great Recession hit. Deciding to retire, they were looking for affordable country living and that brought them to the Picture Province.
Even during her hectic working years, Sahagian always had a creative bent and fed that with courses in painting and pottery and other craft. About 15 years ago she found that stained glass art was the most satisfying and retirement has allowed her to more fully develop her talent. Her work can be found at the O'Toole Gallery in Grafton NB and Botinicals in Fredericton NB.
What was it about stained glass that made you want to pursue it as a second career?
If someone had told me five years ago that I’d be doing this kind of work today, I would have said they were nuts. But I love a challenge and stained glass is almost like working on a jigsaw puzzle. You can plan the whole piece, cut, grind and foil the glass… then suddenly something doesn't fit. So you try again and it works. Or you make it work.
Sounds complicated…
It is. You need to plan quite carefully because you’ll be working with positive and negative spaces. But you begin with a sketch. For instance, I might see something ─ an image or something in nature that catches my eye ─ and that provides inspiration. Once you've sketched the piece, the choice of glass can be time consuming because you’ll often change your mind as you look for the right texture or mood. It can take a lot of time to fully develop.
That one took me somewhere between 16 and 20 hours spread over three days. I think I priced it at $129… so you can see that apart from masters like Mr Tiffany, nobody gets rich doing this. Materials are expensive and the tools you need can add up too.
I enjoy the “let’s make this work” aspect.
I enjoy the “let’s make this work” aspect.
What sells best?
Hands down it’s fiddleheads (see top photo) closely followed by maple leaves. In summer, the tourists love them. I make them in all different sizes and they all sell. If I were in this for the money, that’s all I’d need to do.
So it’s the challenge of the new that you’re after?
Absolutely. I do quite a lot of commissions, typically a window, and that adds a further dimension in that most clients have an idea of what they want. Then it’s up to me to figure out how to do it. Once I had to work from small photos of dogs that were an important part of the client’s past.
Have you seen growth in your work since you have been able to devote so much more time to it?
Technique and creativity go hand in hand as you develop your craft. In fact, mastering the technique greatly expands what you can attempt to do with a project. Once in a while I see a look of astonishment when someone sees my work ─ and that's what I'm after!
What would you say to someone who might want to take up this kind of work?
If you faint at the sight of blood, this isn't for you.
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| Priced at under $100 framed, this beautifully rendered valley view is currently on display at O'Toole Gallery. (Subject to prior sale.) |