"Eyes Wide Shut"...

is the most personal piece that I have ever created. It came after the death of my bloodhound and after about a six year period when I served as a volunteer bloodhound handler for a Search and Rescue team. I searched the country to find Bella, she came from a long line of proven "sniffer dogs" and in the process of training and working her I learned so much about when a child goes missing.

The children whose names are sandblasted into this glass piece did not make it home and one name in particular, Jimmy Ryce, hits close to home as he was the motivation for me to decide to work a scent specific dog. I met his parents at a training seminar and have never forgotten that.

I have primarily worked in glass, first stained glass and later kiln formed glass. This particular piece is a wallhanging piece, the glass is about 1/2" thick and was backpainted with fusible paints to create my "sidewalk". The photo of Bella was printed on aluminum. I hope it isn't too maudlin for the first Friday but it is the piece that is closest to my heart and every time it goes on display it makes me remember...