Mythical Swim was a very special window. It was the first window I made where I incorporated glass fusing and
slumping in a stained glass panel.
I drew the pattern from a picture I found in an art nouve book. The image seemed to lend itself to texture.I used clay to sculp the face. I then made a mold of the face by pouring a plaster/silica mixture over the clay image. I used the mold to "slump" the glass to form the face shape. When I soldered the window together the first time, the face cracked across the bridge of the nose so I removed the face and remade it. The mold can only be used once so I had to go through the entire process again. The woman's shoulder was made the same way. As were several of the fish at the bottom of the window.
When I started putting the window together I realized that I would need to transition from the flat elements in the window to the shaped elements. Therefore, some of the hair of the lady was soldered on top and at an angle as if the hair was draped over her shoulder. The picture below shows some of that detail.
What I really like about this window is the wonderful texture that it has. When people see it they do a double take because they just don't expect stained glass to have that kind of dimension.
This window won the Judges Choice Award at the Oregon State Fair in 2001.
