LONG REACH resident Lynda Horsman and her business partner, Jean Mettee of Ellicott City, will make their debut, showing hand-crafted glass, Saturday at Artfully Wilde, a craft show at Slayton House in Wilde Lake village.
The women have been working together for two years, selling their unique creations by word of mouth. Their business name - Pridemark Glass Crafts - was chosen because they are proud of what they do.
Horsman, 53, has been an artist since she was a child. She began painting on china with her grandmother when she was 3 years old, she said. In high school, she painted in oils. She attended the Maryland Institute College of Art.
She took her first class in stained glass four years ago - and has been hooked ever since.
"I can combine everything I know about art with glass," Horsman said. "I can paint on it, sculpt it and etch it. I can make three-dimensional shapes, or two-dimensional objects and add color and texture."
Mettee was in the advertising business when she took her first stained-glass art class at Columbia Art Center 11 years ago.
"I took the class because I thought it would be a nice way to meet some interesting people," she said. "I didn't know it would lead to a new career."
Shortly after finishing the class, Mettee left advertising and took a job in a glass studio. She is a designer at Art in Glass Inc. in Frederick.
The two women met when Horsman took a stained-glass-box class that Mettee was teaching in Frederick.
"We complement each other really well," Mettee said. "She really likes structure. I like to let things flourish and grow. She knows a lot about fusing glass [melting pieces of glass together]. I know a lot about designing."
The women have fond memories of pieces they have created.
"I knew a woman who was legally blind that wanted me to make glass panels for her front windows of her house," Horsman said.
"I used clear-textured glass. I made three panels in quilted patterns. When the sunlight is diffused through the windows, it makes a rainbow pattern on the floor in her home. She loves it. She can't see colors, but she can see the glass sparkling and the patterns that it makes."
Mettee has made stained-glass windows for churches.
"It's wonderful being able to realize that what you make will go on for generations," Mettee said. "Centuries from now, someone will uncover a stained-glass panel and say, 'Wow, who did that?'"
The pieces they will sell at the show include glass boxes, leaf-patterned plates and butterflies. But, the team can make just about anything anyone asks for, Horsman said.
"We love a challenge," she said. "We can't quite make a kitchen sink yet, but we are working on it."
Artfully Wilde, which will include 30 local artisans, will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.
Information: 410-730-3987.
Tradition of excellence
Six children from Oakland Mills Middle School received red carpet treatment for their fund-raising efforts.
The children participated in the school's annual magazine drive. Every child who filled five magazine orders had his or her name entered in a drawing. The prize was a limousine ride for themselves and a friend and lunch at McDonald's.
A Tradition of Excellence Limousine Service arrived at the school's front door two weeks ago. Chauffeur Wayne Lucas literally rolled out the red carpet. The young passengers were taken to lunch at McDonald's in Owen Brown.
The children treated were sixth-graders Rebecca Johnston, Caitlyn Jackson, Greg Rosenzweig and Keith Ligon and seventh-graders Mark Schiffer and Jack Plum.
Family fun
Kings Contrivance Village Center will hold bingo from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Nov. 15. Eight bingo cards can be purchased for $1, sodas are 50 cents and snacks are free.
Information: 410-381-9600.