Great Celestial Beast, 38×27.5”, stained glass, 2024.

I imagine Great Celestial Beasts as the darkness between stars, creatures of liminality and transformation. As such, I imagine they appear a bit differently to everyone. Unlit, the window is nearly black, with the Beast hidden in the solder lines, who then comes to life with color in sunlight.

This Beast appeared to me as I struggled with advancements in my degenerative disability. When it felt my life and abilities shattered, I used the shards to create new stories: of transformation, movement, and magic hidden all around me. I needed a sky with teeth, a fierce guardian to remind me of the great beauty and strength found in the dark.

Great Celestial Beast, 38×27.5”, stained glass, 2024.

I imagine Great Celestial Beasts as the darkness between stars, creatures of liminality and transformation. As such, I imagine they appear a bit differently to everyone. Unlit, the window is nearly black, with the Beast hidden in the solder lines, who then comes to life with color in sunlight.

This Beast appeared to me as I struggled with advancements in my degenerative disability. When it felt my life and abilities shattered, I used the shards to create new stories: of transformation, movement, and magic hidden all around me. I needed a sky with teeth, a fierce guardian to remind me of the great beauty and strength found in the dark.

Spinning Toward the Sun, 12×18”, stained glass, 2025.

Created for Nora Shalaway Carpenter’s anthology Spinning Toward the Sun, published by Burlwood Books, 2025.

This stained glass piece will be auctioned off, with all proceeds benefiting BeLoved Asheville and World Central Kitchen, both of whom have done so much to care for WNC (Western North Carolina) after Hurricane Helene.

For this piece, I combined fiery sunrise colors representing the strength and resilience of WNC with rich, textured hues showing the diversity of our mountain community. Opalescent rivers collect light as they flow through the mountains, gathering into a great pool of light to be shared by all. Movement swirls through the glass, symbolic of our work rebuilding, healing, and moving forward together.

Detail shot of the “Great Celestial Beast” stained glass window.

Detail shot of the “Great Celestial Beast” stained glass window.