When we commissioned Washington, DC glass artist Teddie Hathaway to create the Gary Maker Award, we asked that the piece express the energy and creativity of live performance and the idea that the award recipients are stars among audience members.
Stars as seen in a nighttime sea sky became a captivating image since Gary Lee Maker, who served in the US Navy, referred to himself as “this old sailor”, and it is stars, of course, who guide the sailors home.
Teddie Hathaway on creating the Gary Lee Maker Award
“The Gary Maker Award is made of five layers of glass, two of cobalt blue with three layers of clear glass sandwiched between them to control the overall color. The layers are initially kiln cast to a high of 1500 degrees – a process that takes nearly 24 hours. The “plate” is then cold worked using grinding equipment to smooth and polish all the edges. The stars are painted on using a formula of white enamel and silver mica. Dichroic glass chunks are added to create the sparkle. Then it is reheated to 1350 degrees to set the additions, requiring another 24 hours in the kiln.
Once the embellishments are firm, it goes in the kiln for one final day, this time over a mold to soften the glass so that it will conform to the final shape for the design. Finally the bottom is worked through several grinders to make the piece stand firm.”
“I’m thrilled to have been asked to create the Gary Lee Maker Award, both because I love working with glass and because I’d been intimately involved with theater in the DC area for many years. There couldn’t be a better way to leave my mark on a theatre scene I have loved for so long.”
Teddie hwas often seen attending theatre on the arm of her husband, long time theatre reviewer Brad Hathaway. Brad, who created the groundbreaking Website Potomac Stages, is now a free lance author, who has written for DC Theatre Scene (Theatre Shelf), and other publications around the country.
Teddie and Brad now live on their houseboat in San Francisco where Teddie creates new glass works from her studio with a view of the sky.
