Stained Glass by KLC
by Anne Hemphill
I met Kathleen Ledger Cassidy five years ago at Ladies Night at the Wintergreen Art Center in Presque Isle , Maine . We had a “ show and tell ” time to talk about ourselves and what we were working on as an artist . She showed us pieces of stained glass she was working on to create jewelry . The next time I met her was at a book club I had joined . In the entryway of the home I saw a beautiful stained glass garden stone and learned that Kathleen had made it . Being an artist myself , but knowing nothing of how objects were made with the glass , I wanted to get to know Kathleen better . Eventually she invited me to see her pieces that she had made and I was very impressed with her work . I was on the Board of the Wintergreen Art Center and on the First Friday of every month we featured artists , so I encouraged Kathleen to do a showing of her stained glass art . At that point she had her pieces in stores throughout the State , but had never had her own showing . She was nervous , but the show was a great success and she sold several pieces .
Over the years we have become good friends and I wanted her to tell me her story of how it all started . Kathleen told me that as a child she remembers how fascinated she was with the beautiful stained glass windows in Presque Isle ’ s Catholic church . Although she grew up in a family of artists and craftsmen and felt the desire to create , she didn ’ t find her passion until 2008 . With the “ empty nest ” looming , she decided to enroll in a stained glass class being given at the Adult Education Center in the local high school . She loved the class and immediately knew that she had found her passion ! After a few years she furthered her skills and knowledge by taking more classes at the Phoenix Studio in Portland , Maine .
Kathleen started making jewelry and mosaics and was struck by the beautiful , leftover fragments of glass . One day while working on a project , she dropped a piece of glass . As she was picking up the fragments of glass , she realized that picking up these pieces was a perfect metaphor for life . While each fragment is beautiful , some rougher than others , when the fragments are put together they create a beautiful whole .
Family and friends told Kathleen repeatedly that she needed to start a business to sell her work to a broader audience . She decided to call her business “ Fragments ” by Kathleen . A website was created , but almost immediately she received a “ cease and desist ” order from a lawyer in New York City . Apparently , there was a large import / export business that had the rights to the name “ Fragments ”. She found it quite hilarious that her little stained glass business in northern Maine was a threat to their large corporation . She
20 FALL 2017