Origin Story
I have been thinking a lot recently about how my love of stained glass and glass art began. As an Air Force brat I spent most of my childhood moving to different locations. My two sisters and I were all born in different states. Not uncommon for military brats. The summer before my 3rd grade year in elementary school my family was lucky enough to embark on a three year posting in Fulda, Germany. At the time I had no idea what that entailed and how truly lucky I was to have such an influential experience so early in my formative years. I just knew we were going to a new posting and it involved flying in an airplane for the first time in my life (that is a long and humorous story I am more than willing to get into over a glass of wine if anyone is interested).
After we arrived in Germany and got somewhat settled my Dad & Mom took our family on a boat tour of the Rhine River. There are over 40 castles along the Rhine River and castle Neuschwanstein is one of them. Neuschwanstein is located on a rugged hill in the foothills of the Alps in the very south of Germany, just north of Austria. Our cruise allowed us to get off the cruise ship and walk up the hill to the castle. This was so impactful to me and really began my love of all things stained glass and glass art. The interiors of Neuschwanstein feature many gorgeous stained glass windows and glass art forms. I have some of my favorites below in the photographs.
After this incredible experience I started noticing the stained glass windows and glass art that are everywhere in Germany. Throughout the three years we were posted in Germany, my parents took us three girls to different cities and locations to explore the country and there were often monasteries and convents that we would visit. My parents went because the monks & nuns often made their own beer or wines and my parents wanted to sample & taste them. But for me it was all about the beautiful glass that decorated all of the buildings.
I will never forget how much pride the German people took in their lovely, clean cities and also how they decorated buildings inside and out through murals and glass art that made the cities simply lovely to my eye.
