By Mickey Reid
Carol Trickett, former London stained glass artist and owner of Trickett Glass in Thorndale, has won a prestigious award at the Glass Craft and Bead Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The international competition was held from March 31-April 3, 2011. Carol's stained glass piece, "Memories" won 2nd place in the Professional Stained Glass category.
"Memories" is a stunning creation depicting a black and white photograph of clasping hands amidst a beautiful background of falling leaves. The panel was made in honour of all those travelling the Alzheimer's journey and their caregivers.
Trickett Glass was launched in Thorndale on May 2005 when Carol’s long time job at Bell Canada suddenly dissolved. She decided to open her own stained glass business based on her success over many years in London when her art was just a “hobby.” Her business has since grown to include Heritage pieces and restoration and creation of church windows.
As an artist, Carol has continually evolved, learning new techniques and enthusiastically sharing her knowledge with others through classes offered at her studio. It was this desire to expand her expertise that lead to the creation of “Memories.”
This award winning stained glass piece was a project Carol created for an advanced traditional painting class. This class was offered through the London Stained Glass Guild, and taught by instructor Lynette Richards. Carol wanted to experience Glass Expo for many years, and having decided to attend, entered Memories in the Gallery Of Excellence contest.
“I didn’t think I would win,” she smiled, “So this award is a wonderful surprise!”
With her strong belief in continuous education, Carol took advantage of the opportunity to learn new techniques while at the Glass Expo. She took a series of classes offered by Peter McGrain in traditional stained glass painting and learned more about his own Vitri-Fusaille technique.
“Vitri-Fusaille” is a term created by Peter to describe the technique of stained glass with has been fused and painted. The artist creates a sketch of the design, fuses various color fields of glass together to make the background and then paints and fires the "lead lines" and the design using a series of tracings, shadings, paint application and removal techniques.
The result is a beautifully visual combination of paint and art.
The kind that wins International awards for aspiring stained glass artists like Carol Trickett.
