This beautiful stained glass window at Joslyn shows a vine of ivy on a blue background. The ivy plant is a symbol of friendship and devotion, because as it grows, it clings to the wall. Also you will notice, its leaves are heart-shaped. Sarah Joslyn requested an ivy motif for these windows to signify her love for her husband George, in whose memory Joslyn Memorial Art Museum was built in 1929-1931.

The artist who made this window design, Josephine Hills Beckman, said she borrowed her next door neighbor's ivy houseplant to get inspired.* Beckman probably spent a lot of time looking carefully at the plant, and made sketches of the leaves and vines before finally coming up with the design for these windows.

You can see the artist used repeating shapes and colors to accent and add rhythm to her ivy design.

Wouldn't it be fun to make an artwork inspired by plants or flowers--especially if it looked like a stained glass window? Find out how to make a "stained glass window" out of things you are likely to have at home.

Then print out the instructions and you can make your own "stained glass" artwork and put it in your window!

IMPORTANT: In order to open and print these instructions, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. Many people have this program already, but if you do not have it, please ask an adult to help you download this free program.

 

*as reported in The Dundee News, Wednesday, July 24, 1940.