A Visit to Vermeer Glass

 A guest post written by Rachael Sitzman. The views expressed are solely hers, and

may not represent the views of Red Stone Art Studio.

 

Ugh. If I have to listen to my daughter (who is the reason my heart continues to beat because I love her so completely) whine and pout about wanting another Barbie, baby doll, or any other kind of toy, my eyeballs may literally pop out of my skull with the force of the eye-roll that will trigger. At five she is already a consumer-driven being. No matter how many times we watch the “Monkey Jocks” episode of Bluey (if you know, you know) I just can’t seem to unload enough toys to make our home feel less cluttered.

It was this intrinsic panic that guided me into Spring Break (also known as Easter) this year. I had no intention of getting her, or her younger brothers, anymore toys. No more cheap crap to fill their baskets, none of the plastic toys that are discarded or broken within a week, no spending oodles of hard earned money on material goods that they will outgrow. Although her brothers were too young to partake, Fred was just the right age to have her first “big girl” art experience.

*Insert sparkly flashback transition here*

On March 4, 2023 I discovered my newest hyper fixation, making art with glass. Haley, your blogger extraordinaire, and I had our first date together alone since… IDK, before she got married and we had kids. It was great, we had brunch, caught each other up on our daily lives, and with the promise of the latest matinee movie to end our day together, the highlight of our time together was creating a unique piece of art at Vermeer Glass Art.

Vermeer Glass Art is a small business in Spencer, Iowa owned and operated by Jim and Julie Vermeer. They have a great corner building on main street where they sell hand-made glass art in the charmingly cozy and clutter-free front portion of their building. In the back, glass art in the charmingly cozy and clutter-free front portion of their building. In the back, however, is where the magic happens. Jim and Julie have opened up the world of glass art to anyone and everyone that would like to have a new experience.

*Insert super sparkly flashforward transition here*

I bought Fred a pair of purple kid’s safety goggles in preparation for her first experience at Vermeer Glass Art. I didn’t need to, they supply goggles for both kids and adults, but I did it as a teaser. I didn’t tell her where we were going to go. All she knew was that it was going to be fun. We started the same way I had with Haley, and the friends I went with the time after that, we had a meal at my favorite sit-down restaurant (shout out to Family Table in Spencer!).

After a delicious meal of pancakes and eggs we were on our way to our “surprise”. Every time Fredders had asked what we were doing, what her surprise was, I would reply that it was an experience. It was something fun that we would get to do together. I don’t know how excited she was, but I was so stoked to help her create her own glass art. I had no idea what to expect, what she would design, but I was excited to find out.

We were at Vermeer about an hour early, some numbskull had forgotten what time their appointment was (spoiler, it was me). Jim had no problem letting us start early which was nice of him. Having been there twice already, and having taken notes like a nerd both times, he asked how much of the presentation I wanted him to give Fred. I wanted Fred to understand that what we were doing was a privilege and a responsibility, so I asked him to give her a simplified version of his normal presentation. Afterward the real fun began.

 

I asked for and was given a piece of blank paper where I drew a rectangle about 5x7 inches. I slid the paper over to Fred and told her she could draw whatever she wanted and we would turn it into glass art. After designing on paper with pencil I asked if she was done. She said she was so then we got to start picking out glass. I did my best not to interfere with any of her choices and many of them surprised me. Fredders picked out blue for the base of her project.

After the blue base, we went through the tubs of smaller glass pieces. These are the pieces that are left over from bigger/other projects. When Fred had picked out her five colors we went back to our seats and I gave her a silver sharpie to draw the tops of her flowers on the glass.

The only part of the experience that Fred didn’t take part in was cutting out the flower tops she had drawn. I got to do that part myself. I followed the instructions and techniques I had been shown the first time I visited Vermeer to cut steadily around the silver sharpie marks. I positioned Fred, safety glasses on, where she could watch me cut and got down to business.

 

Side note: It is super fun and somewhat exhilarating cutting glass with a big saw thinger. At any moment I could cut my finger, and that makes it edgy. Just dangerous enough to make me feel like the Fonz jumping a shark on water skis. /End side note.

 

After cutting out flower tops, Fred helped apply a tiny dab of glue to the back of each flower and place it on her blue base. Then she picked out her favorite green raw-spaghetti noodle-like glass rod. I showed her how to measure how much of the rod she needed and then to break it with her fingers. She used an angled tweezers to apply a little glue to the rod and then place it under her flower top. We sprinkled super fine frit with a sifter around the noodly glass rods so that they didn’t roll around. Then we finished up the flowers by adding a single piece of coarse frit to the center of each flower top in the colors Fred picked. She did an amazing job wielding those tweezers, way better than I did the two times I had worked on my own projects.
 

When Fred had finished her creation she was so proud of herself. I had her pick out a little glass button to use as her signature. This was a move I totally stole from Haley, and one that I plan to steal for as long as I continue to go back and work on glass creations. Fred liked the idea so much she picked out two, one for each bottom corner.
 

In the end, our experience was only 45 minutes, tops. Fred is five and a half years old though. 45 minutes of intentional and purposeful creation isn’t something to scoff at. She was engaged and entertained by the entire process. Creating together was something you couldn’t put a price on. There was no fighting, whining, begging, or tantrums. She didn’t become bored with her choices or have regrets because she was asked to choose her favorite anything. Best of all, Fred was so proud of her work. She was ready to start another one as soon as she was done with the first.

Now that I’ve doubled the amount of words Haley asked me to use when writing, I should probably wrap this up. This latest experience at Vermeer Glass Art in Spencer, Iowa was on par with my first two experiences. Even though I wasn’t really the one being creative, I enjoyed helping my daughter create. It was probably even more fun because I got to experience the joy of doing it all again for the first time but through the eyes of a young human.
 

I will definitely be going back soon, like, the weekend after my next payday soon. If you are in the area and looking to create both memories and art, Vermeer Glass Art is the place to go. I don’t have any catchy phrase or final nugget of classic humor to end with. But imagine something cool I could say here, and then pretend I said it…

Well done, us.

Artist Interview: Brooke Peterson, Brooke J Art

I was introduced to Brooke Peterson’s art about a year ago. She’s based out of Glidden, IA, and her studio name is Brooke J Art. She describes her artwork as “a little all over the place right now.” I’d describe her artwork as representational paintings – sometimes in acrylic, sometimes in watercolor, but always with a recognizable subject and often with a bit of whimsy thrown in! Her subjects range from animals to landscapes, vehicles, flowers, and sometimes she adds a pun (which makes me instantly fond of them, because I’m a huge fan of cheesy jokes!) “Art is a way to express what you feel when there are no words,” she told me. “I love how art can bring people of all walks of life together and I enjoy observing how people react differently to a piece.”

She really captured the feel of an old photograph in this piece!

“I enjoy painting in great detail with acrylic paint and I also enjoy decompressing in between complex pieces with some fun splashy watercolor projects,” said Peterson. “I really focus on light and the finest details with my acrylic paintings which take me quite a while to get just right. I usually find that once I have reached the point where I paint over an area and regret it because it was better the first time, then I am done and need to walk away. (Now to just figure that out first before painting over would be ideal!)” This is so relatable as an artist – I always say that I ruin each of my paintings at least once (sometimes multiple times) and just have to “work past the ruination.” But Peterson also paints with a fun, splashy style of watercolors, and she uses those pieces as a way to loosen up between her more intense, layered acrylic work.

I love every single one of these so much!

One artist that she has admired for many years is Andrew Wyeth, an American realist painter. “I even painted Christina’s World in high school. I could look at his paintings all day,” said Peterson. “I enjoy his use of muted colors, the facial expressions of his portrait paintings (especially his Helga paintings, and how his paintings make you wonder. I often look at them and wonder why the trees were usually bare of leaves or dead and uprooted, what his subjects were looking at in the distance or why they appear sad, or how he accomplished so much feeling with such a muted color palette.”

Peterson didn’t go to college for art, instead focusing on business, which is still quite useful for artists. Right now she’s working on several acrylic projects. “I’ve participated in many art shows and vendor/craft shows in the last year,” she said. “I’d like to focus more on art specific shows in the coming year. I’d also really like to do more human figure studies and practice portrait painting.”
  

"The Things I've Seen", Acrylic

I asked Peterson if she has a favorite piece (of her own artwork), and she said she actually has two: “The first is an acrylic painting of my daughter that I painted through the pandemic to try and keep my sanity during the times of uncertainty. This piece is really what pushed me to start sharing more of my work and to keep pursuing my passion. My other favorite piece is Dorothy,” Peterson added. 2022 was her first time submitting artwork to the Iowa State Fair and Dorothy ended up placing 3rd in the Acrylic/Tempera category. “It was a fun experience to go to the fair with my family and find my painting on display with so many other talented artists’ paintings. Dorothy also helped me win Best of Show Emerging Artist at Art on the Square in Oskaloosa this year.” Congratulations!!
 

"Splashy Dancer", Watercolor

I love asking the artists that I interview what their favorite tool for making art is, because the answers are like fingerprints: unique to each person. Peterson said hers are a makeup brush and a straw! “My favorite tool for my acrylic paintings is actually a makeup brush. It’s my favorite tool to blend with. For my watercolor paintings, my favorite tool is a straw. I use a straw to make my splashy, messy, fun watercolors paintings.”

What’s an issue or stumbling block you’ve encountered? “A lack of time is what I struggle with most. I’m incredibly thankful for all of my commission requests in my first year of taking this on as a side business but that comes with many time-management struggles. I work a full-time job, have A LOT of hobbies, and have very active kids so the lack of time is a big stressor for me,” Peterson admitted. “The lack of time is also another reason why I haven’t created a website yet. I find that trying to stay relevant on multiple different social media platforms is hard enough so finding time to create a website and keep that up-to-date sounds like a nightmare right now. Hopefully, I’ll try again to overcome that frustration soon and get my website up and running, though.”
 

"Moose", Acrylic

Her advice to artists just starting out is excellent for all artists. “Accept the compliments and brush off the criticism! There have been people that have walked by my booth and shower my work in compliments, and there have been others that criticize my prices and state that they can make the same thing at home.” And what artist doesn’t LOVE to hear that? It’s about as welcome as the “my kid could do that” one. Peterson’s response is full of grace, however: “I usually tell them, ‘you probably can. I would even be happy to teach you, because at the end of the day we usually just want to see others succeed and if creating brings you joy then I can relate.’” *Insert cheering and fist-pumping here!* Last year I wrote a post about why art is so expensive, with a breakdown of many of the costs of selling art. It can be eye-opening to non-creatives, who don’t understand the process of making art.
 

"Isabella", Acrylic

“I still struggle with this to this day, but make sure that you understand that your time is valuable. Do not sell yourself and your abilities short by underpricing your work. As your talents grow with practice and experience, your prices should grow also. Those that understand that they are not only purchasing this piece, but a portion of all the other pieces that you have worked on prior to this point, will ultimately pay what you are asking.” YES, a thousand times YES! It’s so hard to know your worth as an artist, especially when starting out or when struggling with imposter syndrome (guilty). I believe that the people who really understand and connect with your art will value it as much as you do.

If you’d like to learn more or purchase some of Peterson’s artwork, you can follow her on social media! She has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. She’s also open for commission work as well!