It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world.

This is the story of my first Public Art Commision.

Fall foliage pilgrimages are something that I have done for years. It is my favorite season. I love colour, and Alberta has great colour ,

I have travelled a little bit but I am happier in my own province, and city. I once took a photography course in Zion National Park (Utah, US) to capture their Fall season brilliance.

The photograph was my jumping off point, but because the site had orange in its palette I shifted towards that hue to tie the art glass to this place specifically.

The design had to be refined from the early concept stage to accommodate things like the fire alarm sensor and the clock placement that were not able to be relocated.

I enjoy building scale models of the installation sites. They offer a greater chance of getting the size and proportions right. They also help convey to Public Art juries the site situation, because adjudicators are not always familiar with the nuances. Maquettes are often requirements of art proposals. It was a component required for the short listed artists in this RFP#14.0118 (request for proposal)

I used CAD (computer-aided design) to ensure that I was working in the real constructs of the site which is important when creating site specific installations.

AND glass spoke to me while on the Oct 22nd, 2014 site review. As I walked the Terminal it had a solemn quality; reinforced by the grey cool weather. I felt like I was in a cathedral… though perhaps the address on Bethel Drive added to the spiritual vibe.

I was introduced to glass in 2004 through Panache Glass & Ceramics. They hosted interior designers to come paint glass in an after-hour event. That was my day job: architectural Interior Designer with a healthcare specialty. But I was born an artist.

Stained glass was not going to work on a solid block wall but contemporary-urban-slumped-back-painted-textured glass tiles would. Watching a sunrise reflected in the glass was my type of a spiritual experience.

I liked the fact that the sun was going to light the work at varying times of day during the seasonal shift. I wanted the transit riders to have an interesting and colourful experience on their commutes. Particularly during our dark winters or fall nights.

The paint is infused with mica particles and the application on the textured back side means that the particles fill the crevices and highlight the organic texture. Many thin layers of multiple colours catch and refract the light into deep rich complicated colour.

The effect is just like today’s modern tri-coloured automotive paints. You get a shimmer and depth that is more complex and engaging to look at.

The open Art Call closed on November 13, 2014. I received notice that I was short listed December 3, 2014. I was ecstatic. The proposal presentation was on February 11, 2015. I was awarded the contract on April 30, 2015

I spent many hours on different days gathering site photos and dimensions.

It all begins with an idea.

I was particularly entranced by the organic shape of the Transit Centre. The Art Call referred to the building as an abstracted Forest Copse.

The light was amazing to witness; it danced off the glazed surfaces. I knew I wanted to create a glass mural for the stoic grey block wall.

The curves inspired me to think outside of the typical rectangular picture frame.

Connection in so many forms: bus schedules, people, bus to bus, place to place, hub and route. That lead me to the idea of using CONNECTION as a abstract design concept and influenced the physical glass shape and pattern.

Glass is cut into the required shapes. For Bethel I had it waterjet cut at Hydrosion Design Limited from my CAD file. Each piece was tagged with a number to be able to assemble the 105 piece puzzle.

After the glass was cut it needed to be cleaned before stage two; kiln texture slumping. It was a feat to keep each piece numbered throughout the process.

To prevent inhalation of glass particles from the refractory a respirator is required.

Large flat bed kilns were used to melt the glass over refractory blanket and sand. It takes 24 hours to heat and then cool the glass so that the kilns can be opened. After the firing the glass again needs a thorough cleaning to remove the refractory particles.

To minimize glass waste and maximize kiln area I had to divvy the pieces up randomly. Once again I used CAD to accomplish this task.

The first puzzle was the waterjet cutting pattern; it was based on the float glass dimensions. The kiln bed was another puzzle to solve to minimize wasted space during texturizing and another layout was required for the paint firing. The fourth puzzle laid out the waterjet cutting of the aluminum sheets used as a substrate for the glass to block wall. The final puzzle laid out the pattern for waterjet cutting of vinyl to mark the puzzle on the block wall.

Even at this stage I could feel the grand scale of the future mural.

The plate location guide addressed the conflicts of mounting pins with grout lines. To securely mount each section required that a block face was drilled.

The math was extremely important for the success of the installation. Weight per section needed to be calculated for point loads on the mounting pins. And for the sake of the installation team’s backs.

Once the glass was ready for painting I needed to lay out the puzzle so that I could paint the pieces.

Here I am in my basement home studio.

The pieces are coming together very nicely.

The painted back side is face up for this firing.

This was a welcomed phase as the 105 pieces now dropped to 23 sections.

A special silicon needed to be sourced that would bond the glass to the aluminum and allow each to expand and contract at different factors. It required a high room temperature and humidity to cure. It was a hot summer in my house for 21 days.

The silicon dots needed to be big enough to grab and secure the glass but small enough to actually cure in the 21 days. Tile spacers were used to provide spacing between the aluminum plates and glass ensuring air flow and humidity exposure. I hired an assistant to help me with this phase.

Sportcon Glass provided pickup and site delivery of the mural sections from my studio to the Bethel site. They did an amazing job of the installation which was a two day process.

Day one required drilling the pin points and cementing in the Hilti hardware, it required time to cure.

These photos are from day two where in a few short hours 2 installers and one small scaffold completed my mural project.