From Their Drawings to Glass

While I was creating HELD for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Indiana, there was another piece quietly taking shape in my studio.

This one wasn't going to the auction.

It was for the family.

I was asked to create something that would belong specifically to them, but I didn't want to be the one who designed it. Instead, I asked the family to do that part.

Six Little Hearts

Shecara and Thomas Reives are parents of five children: Carmine, his twin brother Rook, Reaux, Tatum and Kourtland. Rook's life was much too short, and it was through his journey that the family was first introduced to Ronald McDonald House.

I sent the family a simple heart design sheet and asked them to draw.

There really weren't many rules. They could divide their hearts into shapes, choose colors, draw pictures or simply make marks that meant something to them.

What came back was wonderfully individual.

My job was to figure out how to turn those drawings into stained glass while keeping as much of each person's original design as I could.

Some translated naturally into pieces of colored glass. Others needed a combination of glass, painted details and a little creative problem-solving.

The goal wasn't to make six perfectly coordinated hearts. The goal was for each one to still look like theirs.

Bringing Them Together

Once the individual hearts were finished, I started working on how they could become one piece.

I bent metal into a large heart-shaped frame and worked out the placement of each smaller heart inside it. Curved lines connect the individual hearts, allowing each one to remain distinct while still becoming part of the larger design.

That ended up being my favorite part of the idea.

Six very different little pieces. Each made from someone's own marks, colors and imagination. Brought together inside one larger heart.

Something Just for Them

HELD was created around the Reives family's journey with Ronald McDonald House and was ultimately auctioned to support the organization.

This piece had a different purpose.

It was simply something for the family to keep—a small piece of stained glass made from their own drawings and brought together in one heart.

And I think that may be why I love it so much.