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Nature’s phases of life, birth, death,and rebirth are stunningly revealed inKathy Barnard’s 12 carved glass doors,“Beauty in the Cycles of Life,” at theGrace Covenant Presbyterian Church inOverland Park, Kansas. The set of entrydoors form a wall 40 feet long that

brings together the force of blown sandwith the incandescence of light. Theresult is an entrancing, multi-layeredvista featuring the flora and fauna of therolling Kansas prairie.

The newly formed Grace Covenantcongregation approached Barnard in thelate 1980s as plans for a building began.Congregation members were familiarwith Barnard’s etched glass and contact-ed her to discuss creating the doors.Upon meeting with her for many hours,the members decided to commission notonly the set of 12 doors, but also fourstained glass sanctuary windows incor-

porating the elements of air, earth, fireand water. Work proceeded on the twovery different types of windows with thegoal of creating an integrated themerooted in nature’s beauty.

Barnard began her research for thespan of carved doors with the church’ssymbol, an acorn sprouting into an oaktree. With that genesis, her love andknowledge of nature took over. An oaktree does not live alone but depends onand provides for an entire landscape,captured in the stretch of doors that sep-arate the church’s entry from the sanctu-ary. The wall encompasses the creatures

KATHY BARNARDand the Grace Covenant Windows

by Susan Jezak Ford

Opposite: Air, from Grace CovenantPresbyterian Church, Overland Park,Kansas.

Above: Raccoon (detail) from GraceCovenant.

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and plants that surround the growth, lifecycle, and ultimately the decay of theoak tree’s terrain in the Kansas grass-lands, where the church is located. The

cyclical nature of the landscape isrevealed in various examples. Forinstance, the bird sitting in the tree feedson the plant that grows nearby. The

wildflower under the oak tree shelters ananimal. Although the concept for all 12doors was designed at the onset, eachdoor was carved, constructed, and

Detail of apples and insects from etched door set installed at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, Overland Park, Kansas. OppositePage: Fire, from Grace Covenant.

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installed as the church’s financesallowed. The project began in 1988 andwas completed in 2006.

The span of doors is well-integratedinto its setting, providing a divisionbetween the two spaces for entry and

worship. Barnard’s art creates a focusfor the church’s concourse, just as thebuilding provides a fitting backdrop forher work. Barnard filled the etched pan-els at the sides of the landscape withheavily wooded scenery with its abun-

dant creatures and activity. The centerpanels include open water and life at thewater’s edge, allowing a clear view ofthe church’s sanctuary. The etched land-scape reflects the building’s plentiful

Water, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, Overland Park, Kansas.

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light and blends perfectly with the inte-rior finishes of natural stone and wood.

Each door could stand alone as anindividual work of art, but the six pairscome together to create a magnificentsetting. As in nature, the scene is layeredwith details that gradually reveal them-selves to the observer. Viewing the wallpatiently allows light to catch the petalof a flower, a tiny animal or the shadingof a hollow. The panorama begins with

oak trees and a surrounding landscape infull foliage. Leafy branches laden withplump acorns shade the ground below.An owl roosts, having just caught amouse for its dinner. Other mice andsquirrels scurry away in the underbrush,escaping to safety. Tiny roots extendbelow ground from a dropped acorn.Rabbits browse for a meal, not far frombutterflies and other insects. A brokenbranch and vegetation rest among native

flowers, providing sustenance for mush-rooms, beetles, and ferns. Even a rab-bit’s underground burrow is revealed.

The central water scene begins witha prairie marsh, partially hiding a rac-coon and a cluster of birds’ nests in astand of blooming cattails. Dragonflieshover above the surface of the pond. Inthe open water, we can spy a water spi-der diving for a meal, several fish, a tur-tle poking his head out of the water, tad-

Grace Covenant Etched Doors

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poles and a frog narrowly escaping thebeak of a hungry predator. As the watermerges again with the landscape, theshore’s blossoms include cone flowers,foxtails, morning glories, and QueenAnne’s lace. A spider web shimmersamong the tall grasses at water’s edge.

The scene culminates with a large,verdant tree, heavy with fruit. A serpentis twined within the branches of the tree,waiting patiently. Rabbits graze oblivi-ously at the base among lettuces, wildgrapes, and dragonflies. Leaves and fall-en fruit at the tree’s base are just begin-ning to decay, providing nutrients for thenext season of growth. Barnard createdan overall perspective for the scene byplacing larger-than-life insects and ani-mals at the base of each window in theforeground. A perhaps unintended out-come is that these details, placed at theireye level, especially attract the attentionof the congregation’s children.

Barnard began experimenting withglass while working at Hallmark Cardsin Kansas City in the 1980s. The youngartist, newly graduated from theUniversity of Kansas with a degree inillustration and graphic design, found anunused sandblaster and tried her hand atetching and carving glass. She soonfounded her own studio, refining hertechniques for windows, doors, andglassware. Today her studio at 1605Locust Street in Kansas City, Missouri,contains a customized booth for sand-blasting. Her commissions have includ-ed carved multi-story windows andcommemorative art glass pieces, as wellas stained glass walls and windows.

Barnard’s ethereal creations evolvefrom a carving process that is nearlyindustrial. After transferring an originaldrawing to masking material on glasspanels, she traces the illustrations with aknife. After she peels away sections ofthe design, she loads each panel onto atrolley and wheels it into the blastingbooth. Barnard then dons protectivegloves, goggles, and a respirator.

Viewing her art-work throughan adjustablewindow in thebooth, shesprays silicacarbide sandthrough a noz-zle that variesbetween 20 and140 pounds ofpressure, fromairbrush intensi-ty to deep carv-ing. She spraysthe exposedareas and thenpeels anotherlayer to sprayagain. Shadowsform, wisps andtendrils arerevealed, and ascene emergesto catch andhold the light.

Grace Covenant PresbyterianChurch now sees Barnard’s work as asignature for the congregation. Thecarved doors and accompanying stainedglass windows appear on the church’swebsite, calendar, and note cards sold tofund the final door.

Each member brings a different per-spective to the artwork, notes KyWeekley, associate pastor. “The congre-gation is pleased to recognize the signedpieces, as well as celebrate them,” hesays. He feels that the installation ofBarnard’s final stained glass windows inthe sanctuary help the congregation rec-ognize the artwork of the doors.

While children often bring attentionto the vast number of “critters” in thepanels, each member seems to have afavorite bird, flower, or scene, he says.As for his personal favorite, Weekleystates, “I’m really partial to owls, but Iappreciate the, serpent too. The ants and

lacewing are fun and have incredibledetail. You have to do some explorationto find them.”

Grace Covenant’s carved glassdoors provide a metaphor thataddresses the heart of its congrega-tion. Just as the Kansas oak thriveson and supports the surroundingbirds, plants, and animals, the con-gregation lives and grows strongerthrough connections. Some connec-tions are plainly visible, while oth-ers are hidden in the shadows ordeep within. What is below the sur-face — deep roots and inner growth— add strength to the forest as wellas the congregation. GraceCovenant grew from a small groupof worshippers into the large flockit is today, sheltering many groups

Opposite Page: The Raccoon panel Above: Grace Covenant Presbyterian’s

etched entry doors.

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and their activities – just as an acorn sprouts into a large, strongoak tree.

Kathy Barnard Studio, 1605 Locust Street, Kansas City, Missouri64108; 816-472-4977; www.kathybarnardstudio.com

Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, 11100 College Boulevard,Overland Park, Kansas 66210; 913-345-1256; www.gcpc.org

Editor’s Note: Kathy Barnard will be teaching a two-day pre-Conference workshop on abrasive etching for glasswork at the StainedGlass Association of America Annual Summer Conference in June 2012.For more information, see www.stainedglass.org or contact the SGAAHeadquarters at 800.438-9581.

Kathy Barnard is also the keynote speaker at this year’s Conferenceand will speaking about “The Art of Glass.”

Presented on these two pages is additional work and installationsby Barnard.

e

Deep carved and etched starfire glass wall (spanning 12' X 8') set infront of stained glass wall in the “Chapel of Mercy,” Wichita, Kansas.

Sullivanesque gallery piece 24" x 40" x 1⁄2" deep carvedplate glass

5'x5' stained glass panel (detail) for KIM School,Jefferson City, MO, a private Montessori School.

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White Theatre & Recital Hall at the Jewish Community Campus Center, Overland Park, Kansas – TheTree of Life is made from Lamberts’ glass and is 15' diameter with custom steel framework by Austin’sIronworks of Kansas City.