Every year the Parkside Arts Council over in Bellaire sponsors the Antrim Artists Studio Tour to introduce the art-buying public to the artistic nooks and crannies of the County. I am all about nooks and crannies, so there I was on an extremely hot Sunday in July wending my way along the back roads looking for Mary Ellen Murphy’s stained glass studio. I like to go on these little expeditions with no particular expectations. Ditching preconceived notions leaves room for delight.
It turns out that Mary Ellen does mostly architectural stained glass on commission. On the day of the tour she was working out a panel she designed around a nice swirly glass. She does formal traditional windows. She does eye-popping contemporary windows. And she has a playful side, yes indeed she has. This is one of those times when I really wish I’d had Babs or Katherine or a Laidlaw or two with me, but you’ll have to make do with my snapshots.
Ka-POW!! That baseball just knocked me out. No, not literally. But I was delighted with it. A lot of other people liked it too. (See Ball Buster wins First Place People’s Choice award in show at Cycling Salamander.) If you are from, or visiting, Around Here you can see the piece for yourself at the Kuhlhaus Gallery in Harbor Springs.
Mary Ellen is just finishing another playful piece. I can hardly wait to see how that comes out. Her son, Michael, is a photographer (Michael Murphy IV), so maybe we’ll get to see a really good shot of the new work.
Torch Lake Views 
rapidcityrecess
August 10, 2011
What a cool idea! I love how unconventional a use of glass it is…much more eye-catching than those ball-lodged-in-car-window pieces 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Gerry
August 10, 2011
I walked up to that piece and said WOW!!! with a big grin plastered on my face. It was just perfect. (The new panel in process was pretty darned wonderful too. I wish I could show you how rich the flame color is, and how deep the snowy bits are, and how exquisitely swirly that clear glass is.)
P.j. grath
August 10, 2011
Very beautiful and surprising–and yes, the baseball was a riot! “Antrim Insolite,” Gerry has you nailed.
Gerry
August 10, 2011
OK, I had to think about that one. Unusual Antrim?
Joss
August 11, 2011
We’re a bit sensitive about windows being smashed over here at the moment. One can’t help comparing and contrasting the skill of the architectural stained glass artist with the work of the rioter.
Gerry
August 11, 2011
Oh my. I had not even thought of that connection, Joss. A baseball through a window over here is pretty much a Nostalgic Sign of Summer–a reminder of way back when the kids played ball in a vacant lot next to somebody’s house, and an errant fly ball could sail off to disaster. I’m flummoxed at the riots in cities across the U.K. I keep thinking that these are perilous times indeed, but I have very little wisdom to offer.
Karma
August 11, 2011
I love the baseball sculpture – so creative. And your snapshots did just fine!
Gerry
August 11, 2011
Well thank you ma’am. Sometimes “good enough” is OK. Took me an awfully long time to learn that.