The sound of breaking glass is smooth, a click and you have, under the guidance of a master, a leaf, the ear of a kitten, a bird’s wing … parts of an art piece in stained glass. Margaret “Margie” Murphy is the stained-glass master who is guiding the hands and creativity of students through the auspices of the Town of Marcellus Recreation Commission.
Like all skills, Margie’s mastery took time and persistence to develop and flourish. It began in Oregon at the “bus farm,” a hippy gathering of young people searching for simpler life styles, artistic freedom and that elusive something that makes life meaningful. And Margie was there seeking that too. You may remember that era or have read about it … mullet hair styles, clothing made out of piano shawls, hand crafted weavings. Even the more conventional were caught up in this DIY craze.
“I always liked working with my hands,” Margie said. “I was the one who shadowed my father and worked alongside him at any of his building or crafting projects.”
She found that something as she watched a fellow explorer create a stained-glass window for his bus.
“Will you teach me?” she asked.
He said, “No” but his refusal didn’t dampen her fascination with the art. When she returned home to Marcellus, a newspaper article took her further along the 50-year path she was to follow, a journey that spread her craftsmanship and artistry along the east coast
While her last studio was in Florida as the artist in residence at the marvelously-named Fish House Center in Port Salerno, Margie’s work is well known in Central New York. Her hand at design and execution has produced exquisite windows for churches, restaurants and private homes throughout the area.
Slow down as you come to the intersection of route 41 and Rose Hill Road and take a minute to view the result of the congregation’s wish for windows that depict God in nature. The stained-glass birch trees have translated those wishes into parables of light and color. They are the glass artist’s version of voices lifted in song.
Further down the road, the Marietta House, a venue for special events along route 174, displays Margie’s interpretation of the four seasons, four windows …. each capturing that turning of the year into flowing movements designed and cut by an artist’s hand.
These windows are represented in her portfolio, which Margie always carries with her. “You can mosey around the Ethernet and see pictures there, but these are better,” she will tell you. Just in case, her Facebook page is “Margie Murphy Glass.”
Margie is a local gal, born and raised in Marcellus. She picks up the story of her craft journey:
“After Mr. Oregon Bus Farm said no, that would have probably been the end of my fascination with this art except for the time after I returned to Marcellus when I read an article about a stained-glass studio closing,” she said. “The renowned Stanly Worden, who had studied and worked with Henry Keck, a student of Tiffany, was retiring. You know that saying, ‘If you don’t ask, the answer is no’…so I went to the studio and asked if he would teach me. He said ‘no,’ too, but handed me a cutter and told me to start cutting glass. I worked and studied with him until he really retired. That ‘no’ was the beginning almost 50 years ago.”
What Margie leaves out of her description is that she is not only the artist but she is also the consummate teacher, a gifted ability to guide neophytes in the processes of turning sheets of glass into art. She has been successfully teaching the rudiments of the craft for years.
Her classes are designed specifically for the rookie, where each person, in a class no larger than four, is guided through the exacting practice of cutting glass to fit the cartoon (meaning drawing) beneath. This is the truth of art where the results are reassembled through a process of foiling and soldering into a piece to take home and hang up with pride
Are these the stuff of the 14 windows that Margie did for the Winter Olympics in 1980? Not in content, but in execution and delight…yes.
Registration for her six-hour class, which is offered once or twice each week through the Town of Marcellus Parks and Recreation: marcellusny.com/parks/adult/trips/.
