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Left to right: Greg and Barb Chapman, Craig Sherman, Brook White, Lee Ann Lyle, Betsy Tyrell, Janie Langan, Debbie Wheat, (not shown: Kathie Sauer)
First stop: Meeting with Brook White, owner of Flame Run in Louisville, at the site of his memorial to Stephen Rolfe Powell
Brook studied under Stephen Powell before opening his own studio, and initiated the idea of a memorial to Stephen Powell after his death. He decided on a design that reflects the shape of the artist's series of vessels, call "Teasers." As the sun shines through the glass, it reflects on the area below, leaving interesting shadows and colors visible. At night, a light is shown upward through a heavy glass at the base of the memorial, lighting up the glass designs in its own spectacular display. The memorial is about 25 feet high and 27 feet wide.
Many thanks to Brook White for a fascinating and first-hand description of the memorial and back stories!!
Brook speaking in front of the glass panel through which lights shine upward onto the memorial at night.
The bench includes some of the last glass panels Stephen Powell created. Powell's love of tennis is reflected in the tennis racquets as armrests.
The "Keyhole" is made of rock and bits of murini glass. Murini glass is what Powell used to make the circle of glass in his vessels. The shape of the walkway reflects that of the vessels. This area is used as an outdoor classroom, with the benches circling the keyhole.
Second stop: Tour of the GLASS National Art Museum in the Art Center of the Bluegrass in Danville and lunch at the Murrini Cafe
Our tour guide was Executive Director Laura Elwyn, and she walked us through the 5 stages of Stephen Powell's work as well as some of his early work as a student. His first work was called Teasers, followed by Whackos and Screamers, then Echos and Zoomers
Teasers
Whacko
Screamers
Zoomers
A room full of "Echos"
This is the last piece that Stephen Powell worked on before his death. Students and associates worked to complete it.
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