Richard MacDonald Stained Glass

Bio

I started out in White Plains, New York,  My father was a very fine plein aire  painter, engineer, and  theater set designer, and mom was a business woman and entrepreneur at a time when those things were rare for a woman.  It meant that i had a great deal of unstructured, unsupervised time, so I spent much time escaping to far off  (sometimes pretty darned far off for my age) places exploring things on my own and developing an imagination and independent way of doing things that makes up much of my approach to life today.

There was much classical music and art in my early life as well as a practical side that included running a home enterprise complete with travel, meetings and shipping things.  I had an early affinity for glass that I can't explain. I took offense when neighborhood kids broke bottles, and of course, it was a glass world in those days before plastic became ubiquitous. My mother collected Chrystal wine glasses form Sweden and I remember being entranced with the form, texture and weight of them (when I was allowed to touch!), We also frequented a restaurant that served water in deep red cut glass goblets, and again, I loved them.

  I never did anything with glass until my twenties, when, while working at a research project, a friend's wife told me where I could get COLORED GLASS!! Holy smoke! I was off.  In those days the hobby movement had not begun, there was no such thing as a craft shop, and the stained glass industry was almost dead. Only two or three suppliers in the whole country and the very few studios still open, guarded their methods like a dragon on its gold. There were no books except some antiques. I was told, bend some copper around the glass and  put melted lead on it. So there I was with a Bernzomatic torch and fish weights putting together my first projects, Whew!

I  learned a bit from a more accommodating artist and worked from his scrap bin for a couple of years and quickly went from my kitchen table to a  studio storefront in Cambridge Mass, when a guy walked in, invited me to dinner and introduced me to my mentor to be.  Peter Mollica was working for Christie Rufo who had a studio in Somerville, and both opened me up to what I needed to know. Peter was an early leader in what became a modern glass revolution in California, and Christie Rufo was designing gorgeous windows for churches and temples.

I learned painting and firing, traditional window construction, and was introduced to suppliers in New York. Christie taught me a little about business and more about color.  Peter later moved to California and became an influential artist there.  I opened a studio in Arlington, married and had my first child, then twin girls and in 1972, moved to Maine.  

We moved with our three year old and month old twins with pocket change in a Nash wagon into an abandoned house just at the time the Japanese bought up all the colored glass made in the US. I created   a line of terrariums which were all the rage and could be made of window glass, It was the beginning of the craft movement and we all pioneered barn shows, demonstrations and education of a public totally unaware that there was value in hand craft. Slowly, craft shops and galleries appeared and a national movement and excitement ensued.

For forty years, I participated in national shows from New York to Florida and my studio flourished with many workers and shipments to nearly every state, even to Japan and Saudi Arabia. 

In 2009, the studio burned to the ground and I rebuilt a modern building. Since then, I have concentrated on fewer galleries, less production, and more individual pieces. It's actually a bit more complicated, but very satisfying and I am driven to create new things.  I work every day, talk to my cat, mutter at the TV news, and ride a motorcycle to get away.

Expertise

It always amazes me how frequently someone will  email me or come up to me at a show to tell me about a piece they bought thirty or more years ago and how treasured it still is for them. or sometimes, a broken something will show up; some times a thing I made in great numbers, to be repaired because the owner can't bear to be parted from it. 

 I have always aimed to create mood with light and reflection. I create lighting that no one anywhere else does, my candle lit sconces glow, and my lamps sparkle and project their patterns and colors any feet  over ceilings and walls. Put a table lamp in a corner and the whole place warms up. Small mirrors are popular for Fung Shui and as brighteners for little dark places, or as that last glance at makeup on the way out the door. Larger mirrors fill a hallway or function as practical works of art.

Because there was no information in the early days, I found my own ways of putting glass together and developed techniques out of necessity and design that were not discovered or copied by other artists for decades. Some few things are still special to my studio. In addition to creating new work, I can rebuild your broken Tiffany lamp, that broken but nice window you've bought at an antique shop or been bequeathed, or other antique item, rebuild and rewire your precious table or floor lamp. I can cut tile slate or stone, and I work with craftsmen in other disciplines to create or rebuild almost anything.

I tell folks I do everything from earrings to airports.  There are transoms side lights, windows, panels,  hanging lamps and other work  of mine all over the world,  lights up to thirty inches tall, Larger is possible as well in the right space.    I am able to do single or multiple items and work with many galleries, catalogs ( I once did seven thousand stars for one catalog) and institutions. I have lights in Hospitals, businesses, and homes.

I do outdoor signs that basically last forever, are  beautiful, and require little or no maintenance.

Last but certainly not least, is my collection of crosses, sold for years through major cathedrals such as St John the Divine in NYC, the National Cathedral, and others.  I have made custom processional and display crosses up to several feet tall. These feature my trademark faceted glass and are truly rich rugged and beautiful.