How to go
What: "Stained Glass Panels" by Matthew Warvel
Where: Cannery Art & Design Center, 434 E. Third St., Dayton
When: Featured artist through the month of July, also has permanent spot at the gallery.
More info: (937) 610-3463 or www.cannery arts.com
If you are an artist struggling with the medium of stained glass, don’t read this article.
Matthew K. Warvel has some amazing glass works at the Cannery, and he has taken no classes or workshops for it. He is completely self-taught. And not only do his pieces look like they were done by a seasoned professional, but they are widely varied in style, color and composition.
About five years ago, the Kettering resident went into his basement and found some tools his wife Nancy had from stained-glass classes she had taken. So he just bought some sheets of glass and started cutting it up. He went online to see how it was done, and looked at other artists’ works at street fairs.
“I didn’t want to make traditional or figural work. I try to keep away from someone else’s patterns and do something different,” said Warvel, who works full time in the heating and air-conditioning industry.
It started out as just a hobby, until he had about 20 works lying around, and his wife asked what he was going to do with it. He showed his works at Short North arts district in Columbus for a year and a half, then Second Street Market and O’Ney’s Salon in Dayton. But this is his first official exhibit in a gallery.
Many of his geometric patterned works have a surprise. It might be a pendant hanging in negative space, or fused epoxy, glass and glaze elements. He also has unusual 3-D concoctions with small vibrant shapes or dragonflies jutting out from the base.
The ease with which he has mastered this medium may be explained by his family genetics. His mother is an artist in Brookville. His oldest brother does metal sculpture, and his oldest brother’s three nieces are all involved in art: graphic art, ceramics or painting.
“What I like about stained glass are the endless possibilities. There’s no end to the shapes and colors,” Warvel said. “I’ll go downstairs and play around with it for a little bit. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. And when it doesn’t, it’s time to get up and do some chores.”
Contact contributing writer Pamela Dillon at pamdillon@woh.rr.com.
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