Stained Glass Revived!©
Posted: Thursday, June 03, 2010
by Arlene Wright-Correll
http://www.learn-america.com
The ladies love it and so do some guys and I think the reason is because many women, even the working ones, have more flexibility with their spendable time than men and I have discovered that most men do not think they have the talent they think they need for creating stained glass art whereas most women, in my personal opinion, will try just about anything.
Carl, who never could cut a piece of glass correctly, was reluctant to take the course and by the time he was finished his first project 12 years ago he has never stopped and by 2005 he was creating commission pieces, doing restorations and "spec" sale panels and windows selling them on the internet and shipping them all over the world from his business then known as Avalon Stained Glass.
Arlene became his resident artist as she also has become a professional artist who works in all mediums and also in fused glass selling most of her creations on the internet also to buyers all over the globe. Along the way they discovered they were both very good instructors and by this time they were respectively, 70 and 72 years old.
Carl's background is varied and includes being a professional electrician, plumber, builder and a general entrepreneur of 3 highly successful businesses. Arlene's background is that of 43 years as an International Real Estate Consultant.
In 2005 Carl opened his studio up to the public as Avalon Stained Glass School offering about 22 various workshops starting as low as $89.00 and in Nov. 1, 2009 he opened up his Creativity Center which houses up to 6 students on a "first come first serve basis" to stay for vacation or retreat workshop.
Many, many students have taken his courses and this is the story of people about to retire or who just retired and where their workshop has taken them.
Frank and Ora Reinhardt's daughter created stained glass and unexpectedly passed away. Frank and Ora came to Carl's workshop to learn how to keep their daughter's memory alive. They now create panels as a full time hobby for themselves and others.
Kate Kenny of Kenny's Signs came to several workshops just to blow off steam one evening a week from their hectic sign business and this was her first piece as a gift for her mother.
Right after that someone drove a car through the front of their business so Kate was back to create a window insert as part of their restoration.
As a busy business woman and wonderful mom, Kate brought along their daughter, Savannah who became, at that time, the youngest student to participate in a stained glass workshop.
Since then, Avalon Stained Glass School and Creativity Center has offered Mother and Daughter, Father and Son and family workshops in stained glass and all art mediums and even allows the different members of the family to take different workshops at the same time as long as Arlene and Carl can handle the diversified instructions and give the students all they are paying for.
Many of Avalon's students are people just retiring, such as the case of Dorene Jobke of San Jose , CA who after retiring from many years working in an insurance company decided she wanted to open a stained glass school and studio in San Jose . Dorene, who had never cut a piece of glass in her life or ran a business, decided to invest in herself, drove across the United States to Munfordville, KY and stayed for 14 days learning everything Carl and Arlene knew about running this type of business. In the morning she learned about stained glass from Carl and in the afternoon she learned how to run a stained glass business from Arlene. She left with a complete duplicate of Avalon Stained Glass School and what she could not fit in her car, Avalon shipped out to CA to her and it was waiting for her when she returned home. We hear from Dorene and she is prospering and instructing after opening her business in a high traffic strip mall. The last email said she had just added a kiln and is offering fused glass workshops. Dorene says it was the best investment she ever made and we say she was really brave to take their decisive step and make the investment in herself.
Three friends who wanted something to look forward even though retirement was a few years away decided to drive one hour one night a week and take a workshop. Charles and Kay Wisdom and their friend Freida Reece enjoyed their workshop to the extent that Charles has set one up in their basement and the 3 of them continue this profitable hobby. Kay hangs up and sells their creations in the windows of her beauty shop.
Another student to open her own home studio is Nedra Morrison, who between world travels, creates beautiful stained glass creations and designs lamps.
Avalon had a gal come and stay for a week as she wanted to design stained glass windows for pricey, luxury house boats and she could get the work for this if she knew how to create stained glass. She is very busy with a nice lucrative income. So here is Kathy Conner with her first project.
We have many students who mistakenly are unsure of themselves and start with small projects and eventually go on to making larger one. All learn the 6 basic steps of stained glass creation. We even have a lot of men take this workshop though most of the pictures in this article show women.
We recently had a fellow come in from Alabama . His father created lead-channel windows and did repairs for churches. Dave Trentelman is a few years from retirement and since his father passed away before teaching him the business, he wanted to learn how to do lead-channel work. After a little discussion he realized he needed to really learn the copper foil method along with lead-channeling and while here during his 7 or 8 days he learned how to do abrasive glass design. Dave is now building a large studio and will soon be creating and instructing others in his home town in Alabama .
Kris Perrin of Ohio wanted to learn how to create a panel to go into a wall in her home so she came over for 2 to 3 days over a 5 week period and learned how to make her panel. She recently sent us a picture of it installed in her home. Kris is setting up her own home studio and will be looking forward to a new income stream even before her retirement.
Shelia Murphy's hobby is making quilts. During her career as an RN she often was a missionary to foreign countries. Just prior to retiring Shelia decided to take one of Avalon's workshops and now Shelia has set up her own shop and studio and enjoys making quilt patterns in stained glass.
Roxanne King from Louisville had just enough time to try her hand at a small stained glass project. Her 2 nd project was this wonderful gift she made for a friends home. Now Roxanne has set up her own home studio and has a nice hobby that she will continue prior to and after retirement.
We could continue with more stories and pictures of all the successes at Avalon Stained Glass School and Creativity Center in Munfordville , KY , but we would like you to come and see for yourself or check out our website .
Avalon is open Tuesday thru Friday 9 am to 5pm , Saturday 8 am to noon CT. They are open in the evening by appointment for special evening workshops for those who still have to go to work each day. Both Carl and Arlene are most accommodating with time schedules as they know people have less "spendable" time then ever. Both feel at the ages of 75 and 77 their job is to spread the "art" word and create their own replacements in these fields. Arlene says, "When we took our workshop we paid $96.00 each for the instruction and then had to pay for everything else from pattern books, pattern enlargements, glass to foil, solder and tools and before we were finished together we had spent $1,700.00. We learned from that and Avalon offers complete packages starting as low as $89.00 that include not only instructions, but all material, enlarged patterns and use of our tools. When the student is finished they will know whether they should make a further investment in themselves to set up their own home studio or new business."
During their open hours they offer free tours, demonstrations, will answer just about any question you can come up with, do special commission work and will ship all over the world. Their guests who fly in for vacation workshops do not have to worry about carrying their creations home on a plane as Avalon will ship them out for them.
Yes, one is never too old to let their creative juices flow and learning the lost art of stained glass creation and any of the other 22 artistic workshops that are taught at Avalon Stained Glass School and Creativity Center is only a phone call away at 270 524 9567.
Come and visit,
"Tread the Earth Lightly" and in the meantime... may your day be filled with...
Peace, Light and Love,
Arlene Wright-Correll
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)I love reading about people who start life after the age of 50, and the photos show such gorgeous work! Thanks for sharing.Thank you Jennifer. Aren't these people wonderful? None of them ever cut a piece of glass. They were thrilled with their results and so proud of their results and those who stayed had a great time staying at the Creativity Center.They went home with great memories and future family heirlooms and some of them are all ready enjoying income from their new hobby business that has paid for their initial workshops and we are happy that we have created our future replacements and opened up their creative juices. This is one of the most rewarding and easiest of the arts to learn so why not make your next vacation a learning vacation?Thanks again.Arlene Wright-Correll
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