Stained Glass Art Expo and Sale by Stanley Levinson

Like thousands of ex-pats before my wife and I arrived here in San Miguel, we fell in love with the people,  the architecture, the streets, the electrical lines in a maze of tilted poles, the flowers, the galleries, the  small shops and I could go on and on. After just a few hours upon arrival in 1995 for a visit, we both felt  that we had found our Camelot. When I retire from my commercial glass and architectural metal  business  we might move to Mexico. But first I needed a plan. What will I do to keep busy in retirement? I  needed to know when I woke up each morning that I must have a project. Like a plant without water, it  will die on the vine. Over the years I tried various projects. I built furniture, took classes in watercolor  painting, a course in neon fabrication, welding, and metalwork, Here in SMA classes in jewelry making,  and sketching, and even tried oil painting when staying at Toller Cranston’s home and studio. One day  while walking on Umaran I passed a small shop with stained glass in the window. After speaking with the  owner, he offered to give me some classes in stained glass. This I loved. After all, all my life I was in the  glass business. After class one day my wife and I went for lunch at El Correo. On the wall was a painting of  a fish. I said I wonder if I can do that in stained glass. I sketched it on a napkin and after returning  back home it was my first project. I was hooked by a fish. I still have it hanging in my studio.

I feel everyone has deep inside them, some artistic desire trying to get out. It is easy to say” Oh I can’t do  that”. But you have never tried. I have friends who tried painting and produced fantastic works of art. It  may take a while, but with time and patients, you get better. You may not be great but you can get  personal satisfaction.

When you first view my artwork, you right away know what I am “ saying” with my glass cutter. You do  not think ‘ what is the artist trying to say” Right away it puts a smile on your face. That’s my goal. Today  after creating over 150 works of art in the USA and here in Mexico I still have them in my studio with 80  on display. Over the years, I have displayed them in Colorado, Florida, and New York galleries. Art fairs in  Vail, Aspen, and Breckenridge Also a number of private showings in my studio. There are 75 homes in the USA and Mexico that have one or more of my art. That gives me more satisfaction than the 100s of  commercial projects my company has completed. I have spent my working life producing what Architects  designed. All were interesting but my name is nowhere to be found. Now my name is found on each work  of mine. Years from now someone looking at my name at the bottom will say “who was this guy, Stanley  Levinson”

Each work varies and is different depending on that AHA moment. That I defined as “When looking for  the answer that I did not know what I was looking for and suddenly found it ”. Like Don Quixote, I felt I  have been battling windmills all my life. On my first visit to SMA, I met my quest and met the impossible  dream.

As I am in my 90th year my one fear is that someday after I am gone my work will end up in the Tuesday  Market. After a private showing of my work, 40 have found homes here in SMA and the USA, and I will  have my first public exposition of stained glass in San Miguel. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, March  3rd,4th, and 5th. At my studio at Mesa Malanquin, Pueblo Antigo 5, Time 10:00 to 5:00. Call 415 145  7054 for directions. Plenty of free parking. Come and put a smile on your face. If my work does not put a  smile on your face, Do not buy it.

I dedicate this art expo to the memory of Toller Cranston who encouraged me to look beyond what I felt I  could do. He would sketch on paper a drawing and have me reproduce it in stained glass. At first, I said,  “I  can’t do that”. His response was “why not? To which I had no answer. Within a short time, I created  these sketches into works of art. Toller liked what I had done and created oil paintings based on my  stained glass and his sketches. I still have four in my studio.

When I look into the work of others I try to find something that will capture my imagination. Then try to  recreate it in a style of my own. We all have been given our own separate talents. We can then use our  imagination to reveal the true beauty as we see fit. Each piece of mine is This a tribute to the many  talented artists that have encouraged and inspired me.

To all I say, thank you.