Meet spin dunbar | Stained Glass Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with spin dunbar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi spin, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
As a life long artist, I would have to posit that for creative people such as myself, it isn’t a necessary choice, but a mighty leap of faith to choose to scale that particular mountain of ideas and all the pitfalls that come along the way. My particular leap happened 52 years ago when I started designing and making stained glass windows. As I developed my art and commission work, I found one of my talents was in creating empathetic relationships with my clients, interpreting their desires into stained glass windows, always improving my skill sets to accomplish our collaborative visions into the problem solving aspects of each installation.
As a commission glass artist, each project/installation was a building block for establishing my reputation. In 1976 I was chosen to design and create a stained glass window for the entrance to The State Pavilion Building, Montpelier, Vermont. The Pavilion Building houses the Governors Office, the Attorney General, the State Treasurer, and the Vermont Historical Society. I was commissioned by the NEA Arts in Public Places program.
Based on the success of this project, I was offered a scholarship to study Art and Music at Bennington College. As my creative foundation formed, my projects took on a wider sense of movement and facets, figurative painting for some religious installations, both in restorations of entire churches and new commissioned work. A variety of larger abstracts, more intimate private commissions and Public work projects seem to fill out my work schedule

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My designing is propelled by the type of project the commission calls for. Every client will have a different experience in regards to stained glass, and my role will be to guide them to best achieve the correct solution to their particular environment and setting. My latest installation were full size portraits in glass of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha and Nicholas Black Eagle. A previous installation were the 7 House Sigils of for the book Game of Thrones for George RR Martins personal library.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Since my studio is in Nambe, NM, about 18 miles north of Santa Fe, I don’t have to do much encouraging for visitors to head south to visit the City Different!. There are many attractions surrounding me here; north to Taos, west to the Valle Caldera and Los Alamos and Bandolier, and east to New Mexicos’ own Las Vegas. And we have the original Meow Wolf!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My success over all these years is the quality of clients my work has drawn to me. We start with the premise of a need, identified but without a solution. Through the exchange of ideas and process, the journey we take builds a rapport of trust and respect between us.
What was once a void now contains beauty.

Website: dunbarstainedglass.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dunbar_stained_glass

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/spin-spin-dunbar-743a7729

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spin.dunbar/

Image Credits
Audrey Derell Robert Bradford