Fired Up for Glass - Mystical Reflections
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ART & CULTURE
Fired Up for Glass
At Mystical Reflections in Calabash, Judy Rodriguez, Lisa Bason and Felecia Blair
practice the art of stained glass and share their passion with others.
BY BETH A. KLAHRE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRENT GALLANT
F Felecia Blair and mother-daughter pair Judy Rodriguez and Lisa Bason are
as vibrant and artistic as the stained-glass artwork they produce at Mystical
Reflections, their stained-glass shop in Calabash.
Originally just a hobby for the three glass enthusiasts, Mystical
Reflections has grown into a professional stained-glass art studio, glass-
supplies shop and artist gallery named Gallery 17. Blair, Bason and
Rodriguez have all become crazily obsessed with stained glass in the six
Felicia Blair, left,
and Lisa Bason
are co-owners
of Mystical
Reflections
along with Judy
Rodriguez.
Spring 2021 67
ART & CULTURE
years they have owned the Calabash location. Artists of all ages and all skill levels
come here to learn and practice the intricate process of creating traditional stained
glass and trendy fused-glass art.
Rodriguez is the first person you meet when entering the shop. She started
experimenting with stained glass in 2004 as a retirement hobby.
“My first project was an angel,” she says. “After taking that class I was hooked. It’s
amazing to me that I could take a pattern and glass and turn it into something so
beautiful. Each of my projects is special to me.”
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Bason, who originally had
absolutely no interest in stained glass,
is the resident creative design artist.
She attended Alamance Community
College in Graham, North Carolina,
learning commercial art design. Now
EDWINA ST. PIERRE MELONY RICE KAREN MESKILL she admits she’s caught the stained-
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“It’s my Zen. When I’m busy on a
Living Coastal T E A M
project, I become lost in the process
and lose all track of time.”
At the studio, Bason helps customers
L I V I N G C O A S TA LT E A M . C O M transform their ideas into art.
68 South Brunswick Magazine
ART & CULTURE
Lisa Bason is the resident
creative design artist.
“I am inspired by my clients’ visions,” she says. “Sometimes magical watching a piece of square glass change into
they know exactly what they want and sometimes they only something like a delightful hummingbird. The multiple pieces
have an idea. It can be an abstract piece or something more eventually fit together, just like a puzzle.”
specific.” There are multiple steps to creating stained glass art. It
Since the piece of art will eventually hang in the client’s starts with choosing a pattern, picking colored or iridescent
home, Bason ensures that it makes the client happy. glass, tracing the pattern onto the glass and cutting out the
Blair is responsible for marketing and public relations. She pieces. Next comes grinding the rough edges so the pieces fit
too has become obsessed with the artform and uses stained- tightly together, wrapping in copper foil and covering with
glass projects as a way to relax from her full-time corporate flux, soldering, polishing with patina and then final
job. polishing.
Stained glass refers to colored glass and the art created “It takes a lot of practice to make a beautiful bead of solder,”
from it. Blair explains it in simple terms: “It’s the glass seen Blair says. “And polishing can sometimes take an hour to
in church windows and in sun catchers.” There is considerable achieve polished perfection.”
symbolism behind the colors and patterns in stained glass. Fused glass, while similar to stained glass, does not require
Blair adds, “Stained glass is a very old, almost lost art. It’s as much cutting of the glass and is more versatile. Blair says,
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ART & CULTURE
Mystical Reflections has a
full line of stained and
fused glass supplies and
offers instructional classes
for those that wish to learn
to make these artforms.
“A round disk can end up as a truly functional piece like a plate or
a bowl.”
Blair is currently experimenting with enamel painting, a
combination of glass and paint that requires kiln firing. The shop
has two kilns that reach more than 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Blair is designing sea life pendants. “Giving these pendants as
gifts is immortality,” she says. “They can be handed down many
times. I get a good, deep feeling from doing this type of piece.”
In January 2020 the artists moved to a new location, growing
their studio from 1,000 square feet to 5,000 square feet.
“We started to get calls from people at the beach on vacation
who wanted to take a stained-glass class,” Blair says. “But our
space was too small. We were actually turning down business.
Classes became a way to expand our business.”
The new location accommodates beginner, intermediate and
advanced workshops in stained glass, lead glass, fused glass and
mosaics. Beginners start with a project with three to five pieces.
After two beginner classes, students are ready for intermediate
work with either more curves or a larger piece.
The larger space also accommodates a supply store that carries
all the tools necessary to get started, including grinders,
glasscutters and soldering irons. And glass, of course, which
comes in freight shipments of 50 pieces weighing an astonishing
500 to 700 pounds. The store offers art supplies and gift cards,
both in-store and online.
Gallery 17 sells stained- and fused-glass art, jewelry, baskets,
70 South Brunswick Magazine
ART & CULTURE
poured acrylic art, photography, folk art and pottery from more than
20 artists as well as pieces from each of the three owners.
“If you want a unique, locally crafted gift, we are the hidden gem,”
Blair says.
She adds that the gallery has a small-town feel and is the place for
artists to meet other artists and for customers to interact with artists.
“We greet everyone,” she says. “Our customers are not just
customers. We treat everyone like family.”
It’s easy to understand why Blair becomes emotional when she
talks about Mystical Reflections during COVID-19.
“We appreciate the community’s business,” she says. “Without it,
we would not be here. The generosity of strangers as well as our
repeat customers is overwhelming.”
Smaller classes with social distancing, masks and cleaning protocols
throughout the spacious facility have enabled workshops, Gallery 17
and the supply shop to continue to operate during the pandemic.
Blair concludes, “Come visit us. Take a class. Come see what it’s all
about. You just might get fired up for glass.”
Want to go?
Mystical Reflections
225 Koolabrew Drive NW, Calabash
(910) 575-3503
firedup4glass.com
Spring 2021 71
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