In honor of sister city

POST FALLS – Kathy Pierce has never been to Herborn, Germany, but her vision of Post Falls’ sister city, culled from photographs of the picturesque town, will be the dominant feature decorating the centerpiece atrium of the new Post Falls City Hall.

Pierce has been commissioned to design and create an 8 1/2-by-12-foot stained glass window depicting the city.

“I was overwhelmed by the scale of the building,” said Pierce of the new City Hall. “This will be my flagship.”

Pierce has been creating stained glass art for 30 years, and the Herborn window will be her ambitious creation. The German town scene will be filled with stone buildings, a flowing river, flowers, swans and a sidewalk cafe.

“We were looking for something to be able to honor and recognize our sister city, Herborn, Germany,” said Post Falls Mayor Clay Larkin. “We’re going to hopefully be able to tie this in with the Herborn band visit over the Fourth of July.”

The art will be paid for with corporate donations, Larkin said.

As for the artist, Larkin said that Pierce was an obvious choice. “She does really good work,” he said, adding that Pierce has also contributed many pieces to charity auctions.

Pierce came to stained glass by accident.

More than 30 years ago her grandmother was taking a stained glass course and was unable to finish all the classes, so Pierce took her place.

After a slow start, she’s been making glass art ever since, creating everything from small nightlights to large-scale, custom-designed windows for high-end homes through her business Images ‘n Glass.

Sometimes the designs are a collaborative process with clients. Sometimes Pierce dreams about glass windows, and wakes up in the middle of the night to sketch her ideas.

Her favorite subjects are angels, but Pierce has also crafted many Northwest scenes of picturesque hills and local wildlife. She will take on about any subject requested by a client.

She works on just one piece at a time. “I do it because I love it. I’m not Kmart,” Pierce said.

Rather than using a leaded glass process, Pierce uses a technique developed by Louis Comfort Tiffany in which copper foil is applied to the edges of each piece of glass that makes up the entire picture.

Angel Gallery owner Pat Kovatch has been selling Pierce’s work for about eight years.

“What caught my attention is that typically a lot of stained glass is stagnant, but hers has a wonderful flow to it,” Kovatch said.

She added that Pierce deserves the Post Falls City Hall job: “I wasn’t surprised because she is one of the best in the area.”

Pierce said her inspiration comes from her family and her passion for glass is being passed to her grandchildren who help her with small tasks in her studio when she watches them after school.

Now she’s pleased that her work will live on in the new City Hall.

“My family would be very proud of me. It’s like a dream come true for me,” Pierce said.