finding sanctuary…

In seeking to find solace during these daunting times, it is often difficult not to feel overwhelmed with concern and sadness for humanity.  While navigating through the many challenges at hand and often in isolation, there is still much comfort in knowing that we are not alone in doing so. Indeed, living in solitude has amplified a thankfulness for supportive others, with so much encouragement offered by so many.  My heart is truly overflowing with love and appreciation.  

These days I feel especially blessed to have found sanctuary in the Pacific Northwest in the home and studio near Pilchuck where I have lived and worked for 27 years.  The wooded enclave is shared with an array of critters who are unaffected by current events.  Deer linger in the yard with their newborn fawns, rabbits abide in hopes of raiding the vegetable garden, an occasional bear comes down from the hill in search of berries or apples that fall from the trees.  Bobcats and coyotes patrol the back meadow and raccoons come around seemingly just to annoy the dogs and barn cats.  My rural neighborhood teems with farm animals as well whose little ones frolic in their pastures.  The presence of assorted four-leggeds and observing the constancy of their lives brings a certain peace and hope for the future for us all, and a perspective in simply carrying on as they do.  

During times of adversity and in the midst of an uncertain world, there is still goodness and beauty to be found, always.  My wish for everyone is to stay safe and well as we look forward to better times ahead, in hopes of reconnecting soon with a renewed faith and sense of gratitude for each other.              

Veruska Vagen updates the centuries-old technique of mosaics with her dot de verre process, and the results are astonishingly beautiful. She also pays tribute to the past with her choice of subject matter: famous and obscure paintings from art history ranging from the 15th to the 20th century.

Vagen explores a variety of paintings from different cultures and time periods, and excerpts from them to create her unique compositions of grids of tiny glass dots. Historical landscapes and portraits of people and animals become contemporary through Vagen's process, and we approach these works with new eyes. From the Cobbe portrait of Shakespeare, 1610, to Van Gogh's Starry Night, 1889, Vagen scans the span of art history for intriguing subjects and her work is made in homage to these past painters.

Originally a painter, Vagen developed her dot de verre (dots of glass) process while working for the William Morris Studio nearly twenty years ago. Having come to Pilchuck Glass School from the southwest, Vagen found in the northwest a community and a technique, both of which have sustained her creative pursuits. Since 1993, Vagen has lived in Stanwood. Her background includes a BFA in Painting with an emphasis in Art History, twelve years as archivist and researcher for glass artist William Morris, and exhibitions throughout the country. Vagen's work is in many private collections, and has received numerous awards.

Her technique distinguishes Vagen from the typical glass artist. Working with 3 millimeter glass dots, she first separates them by color, then arranges them in grids to capture the likenesses of the paintings she is honoring -- an exacting process that takes many hours and requires intense focus. Thousands of dots are used in each piece. Once the image is made, the composition goes into the kiln for two firings, where the dots soften, tack fuse to the backing tile, and fire polish to produce the shimmering images on view. The glass dots are in finite supply, as the factory that produced these forms closed in 1993. Due to the complexity of the material, no attempts have been made to reproduce them.

Kathleen Moles, Curator Museum of Northwest Art

Vagen selects from her “palette” as she works on the image the color of each dot to fit into her image before placing it very carefully into the small kiln. Above is a portrait of Tova-dog in the kiln, commissioned by a loving husband for his wife on their anniversary. Below, two Scotties in progress.

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Veruska Vagen’s photos and words bring to mind this poem by Walt Whitman to compliment her photos of the four-legged friends who visit the artist during her days.

“I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain’d, I stand and look at them long and long.

They do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things, Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago, Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.”

~Walt Whitman