Head to Arbor Crest Winery for Glass on the Grass
There will be an abundance of paned expressions this weekend at the Arbor Crest Winery.
The winery overlooking the Spokane Valley will host its annual Glass on the Grass festival next Saturday and Aug. 21 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
A sunny summer weekend and the delicate beauty of glass art combine to make for a colorful – and popular – weekend each year.
“My studio used to be right there near the winery, and I used to go up there for a glass of wine,” local glass artist Sherry Yost said. “We got to talking, and the idea just came from there to do a glass show on the grounds. We started it 11 years ago.”
The scenery, the sunlight and the open air make for an ideal location for displaying glass art, Yost said, adding that she is quite pleased that the show continued to prosper in her recent absence.
After taking several years off from displaying her stained glass and other artwork at the show, Yost returns this year with several new pieces, including examples of liturgical stained glass.
“I’m working now on stained glass windows for St. Aloysius Church and I’m on a deadline for that,” Yost said. “Because of that I’m really not sure what all I will be able to show there. Mostly I’m just looking forward to being up there and being around all of the other artists.”
Yost’s liturgical stained glass already has found homes in other Roman Catholic churches in the area, including a series of windows at Carmel of the Holy Trinity. She also restored a stained glass window depicting Jesus Christ for St. Michael’s Church in Worley, Idaho, after it was damaged by vandals.
Examples of her work can be found on her Web site www.lostartoriginals.com.
The fact that there is an abundance of high-quality glass art being created in the Greater Spokane area was a creative force behind the show’s origin.
“I kept hearing about people going over to Seattle to find glass art,” Yost said. “They do great work over there, but there was plenty of great art being created right here. We just needed a way of showing that to people.”
Past events have celebrated the myriad forms glass art can take, from stained glass to cut glass, from spun glass to blown glass, and from glass beads to glass figurines. Attendees could find large pieces, like glass birdbaths, to tiny, delicate pieces that turn light itself into the very essence of art.
Not only will there be examples of the many and varied art forms, but a number of artists will offer demonstrations.
“There is so much you can do with just silica and potash – glass really is a simple formula,” Yost said. “(As an artist’s medium) there are just so many things you can do with it. There are new and innovative things being done with glass all the time.”