We recently connected with Beth DeVerre and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Beth thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
I have had the opportunity to work on several meaningful projects. One of them was designing the chapel windows for Highland’s Oncology in Rogers, AR. I met with the chaplain Pamela Cicioni Rhoads to discuss the desired feeling of the space and what the clinic hoped to achieve for their clients.
After meeting with her and seeing the space I immediately knew I wanted to depict the four seasons of nature. Specifically how water is different in each season. The four window openings were tall rectangles and water is generally wide and flat; I was faced with the challenge of how to design images that created the desired look. I started with a frozen waterfall to depict winter, it splashed down into the spring window and then settled into a lake for summer and fall.
I wanted each season to depict the emotions of the journey of a cancer patient. Winter depicting bitterness and cold, the empty cold feeling of getting a diagnosis no one ever wants to hear. Spring depicting hope of a cure, starting treatment and making a plan. Summer is the long days of sunshine and heat, sitting for hours in chemo and radiation treatments. Fall is the falling away of the cancer cells as they go into remission, a time of transformation, to prepare for a new life.
I had lost one of my best friends to breast cancer a year before I met with Pamela. As I worked on this project I was able to process through many of my emotions and grieve for her in a way I never expected. It was very healing for me. I have heard from many people over the last 13 years how the windows have provided peace to them as they have struggled with their own journeys with cancer.
Another meaningful project is providing memorial stepping stones for Circle of Life Hospice in Springdale and Bentonville, AR. I collaborate with the director of giving at Circle of Life to learn of people’s lives that others want to remember. I create a 16″ stepping stone designed to go in the walking gardens on the campus grounds. It brings me great joy to learn a little bit about someone who is well loved and create an artistic piece for them. I have created over 100 unique stones for individuals and animals for Circle of Life Hospice.
I’d love to share about a specific client of mine, Debbie has ordered many stained glass windows over the last 12 years. She has filled almost every window in her home with my work and given gifts to others. I stopped counting after 23 windows, I am guessing it is up to over 30 now. Many of her commissions have been on my bucket list of windows I had hoped to create. Her support of my work has been humbling and I am forever grateful.
Beth, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I love my family, friends, jigsaw puzzles, animals, singing in my church choir, and motorcycles. One of my favorite things is to take road trips with my partner on our motorcycles. I love experiencing new and exciting things.
I get asked regularly how I got into stained glass, I love answering this question because I feel that it was rather ridiculous. I was in college finishing my art degree and needed one more elective class to graduate. The one I wanted to take did not fit into my schedule and I was rather disappointed. The only elective that worked well for me was Stained Glass 101. It came with a hefty supply fee and I was a broke college kid. I dug into my grocery money and got the supplies. The first session of class, it was an evening class, we were taught how to cut glass, I was instantly enthralled! It was like nothing I had ever seen and I LOVED it. I went home and cut glass for another few hours, til midnight, that night. That was almost 29 years ago, I still get excited cutting glass, it is just the coolest thing for me. I quickly learned that I was naturally good at the process of creating a stained glass window. It requires a level of OCD and patience that I enjoy, I thank the fact that I love jigsaw puzzles for honing my skills. I was very blessed to get a full-time position at the local stained glass studio right after college, I actively learned as much as I could while I was there. I knew early on I wanted my own studio in the future.
I own and operate my brick and mortar studio, Beth DeVerre Glass also known as Cutting Edge Glass, located in Northwest Arkansas. I offer custom stained and leaded glass windows, handmade mirror, etched glass, and fused glass pieces in both 2D and 3D forms. I work with homeowners and designers to achieve their goals using glass. I am happy to deliver as well as pack and ship my pieces nationally and internationally.
Most of the time my clients know what look and feel they want to achieve; they do not know how to achieve it. I love taking their ideas and putting it together for them. I believe my art medium is light and I play with it using glass. My style is open and delicate. My clients enjoy how I translate their ideas and create it without it feeling heavy and dark.
One example of how this works: I have a client that gave me full artistic license for their master bedroom transom. The space is large and colorful. The goal was to not compete with the other elements in the room and create a restful, peaceful piece. I created a design of lines that were tethered to the edge and then connected. The design depicts the individual lives of the husband and wife before they met, (separate lines) each of them had moments of joy (faceted jewels) and families of their own. Then as their lives connected they experienced even more moments of joy with more color and vibrance than before. My window depicts a timeline of sorts of their life.
I have had major challenges in my past personal life, it was hard to be creative while I was going through them. I am proud that I never gave up on creating windows for my clients despite feeling very much like I was barely surviving. I always made a point to find a place where I could allow my creativity to flow. My situation has improved greatly and has created a stability that makes it easier than ever before to be creative.. This has opened doors for me to serve my clients in an even better capacity.
I’d love my clients to know that I put all of my energy into the projects they commission from me. My core value is integrity, I love to tune into what my clients want and provide it in the best possible way. I often can see a design idea while I am chatting with them about the project. I always make sure to do work that is accurate, thorough and exactly as I agreed I would do. Glass projects can last 100’s of years, my client’s safety and their investment in my work are my first priority.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Just over three years ago I was destitute and had huge business debt that became my sole responsibility. 4 days later I was riding my motorcycle and crashed, I broke 6 ribs; gratefully I had no other injuries. I had a choice, I could quit and work a corporate job to slowly pay off the debt. Or I could try to see if I could work out how to make it , I had no idea how. It felt like it couldn’t get much worse, it had to be uphill from there.
Breaking my ribs meant I had 4-6 weeks where I couldn’t lift anything and for the first 3 weeks I couldn’t really get out of bed. I was supported by friends and family, I sold gift certificates to clients to redeem when I was healed and asked for extended terms from creditors. Once I healed I kicked everything into high gear. I was determined to succeed in the very challenging process of reducing the debt load. Operating a manufacturing/creative business with no credit terms to buy materials and supplies is almost impossible. Generous friends, family and lots of frugal living made it possible. My financial recovery has been almost miraculous. I wanted to quit a hundred times, probably more, but in the end I could not give up on my clients. They trusted me with their money and homes to create a piece for them. I would not respect myself if I didn’t provide the projects they ordered. I never knew how I’d make it, some days I would take it one minute at a time. I could do minutes, for a long time I could barely do days. Now I am able to enjoy things weeks at a time.
During this time of recovery I have been blessed to create windows and glass I never dreamed I would get the chance to create. I am so grateful I did not give up, I would have missed out on learning new techniques, creating some of my best work so far and working with some amazing designers and friends.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Honestly, my goal when I started my creative journey was to make some extra money for my young family, nothing more. My situation changed and the studio became the only source of income. It was not what I wanted, I lost valuable time with my children and missed out on things I had hoped to enjoy as a mother. I did not fully embrace my creative journey for years due to that situation. After some therapy and healing I now fully embrace my creative journey. I cannot go back in time and enjoy the things I missed; I am focused on enjoying every moment I get with my children and family now. My goal is to be the best version of myself; I’ve learned when I am at my best I provide my best work for my clients. I’d love to continue to provide beautiful and inspiring glass pieces to my clients. I have some large public art pieces I want to create and launch in the coming years. I am working on how I can make those happen.
I look forward to the projects I get to create in the future, it all just keeps getting better!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bethdglass.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bethdeverreglass?igsh=ZnZ2b283NjNrYmcz&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CuttingEdgeGlassCreations
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beth-deverre-9891a837?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
Image Credits
All photo are my photos