Back in 2014 I wrote a feature story about Richard “Dick” Macdonald whose studio and showroom, Macdonald Stained Glass, is in Boothbay Harbor. During the interview he said, “If I'm still here at 80, I'll still be doing this.”

Well, guess what? He is – on both counts.

My curiosity piqued by Macdonald’s Facebook posts of projects, I decided to give a shout out to the region’s stained glass master last week. I had to find out about these cool creative pieces taking shape during these weeks of sheltering in place.

The first project I had to ask about was the commissioned blue fish that got rave, I mean rave reviews on Facebook … like “gorgeous!” “beautiful and genius!” “stunning!” and “ … Love the arrangement, so alive, and how the light shines through that blue.”

Quite the set up, eh? So, an old friend of his asked him to make fish for his 4-foot windows in shades of navy blue and yellow.

“Starting a new design/ commission is very hard and it may take days of false starts and living with the final pattern before picking colors, again often not easy, before I cut and finish,” he said. “The first thing I asked myself with this project was what would this blue and yellow fish look like? I had a line of fish from awhile back that were featured in national magazines. So, I took that fish design and made half size models, then I scaled it up (great unintentional pun there!) and doubled the length to 40 inches to make his fish.”

What did the new owner of the fish have to say? “The colors re-radiate the lingering rays of the sun. The lead lines add drama in just the right amount. I'm very happy with this fish.”

I would be too! The movement within the blue fish is really beautiful … I can just imagine that movement changing, charged by sunlight shining through …

Macdonald has been making mirrors, sconces, stained glass scenes and floral/snowflake designs to catch the light … and capture the imagination.

What’s up next? Well, you know there’s something – and you know it’s going to be cool.

“I’m really excited about the whole idea of doing weathervanes … but for the garden,” shared Macdonald, who became more excited as he talked about it. “Not in glass, but in mirrors. I have a mirror fish I’m working on and as it moves the reflections spin and change and does all kinds of wonderful things … After the fish I think I’ll do a feather. The whole mirror thing in motion has just really captured me. Garden art is where it’s at today ...”

His studio is jam-packed with work – hundreds upon hundreds of pieces, mind you – that, if Covid-19 hadn’t descended upon us, would have been shipped or delivered to the four galleries carrying his stained glass art: The Maine Craft Association in Portland and Gardiner; Island Artisans in Bar Harbor and another out in Arizona.

“To me the creative process can be like a dream where very unrelated things somehow connect and something new coalesces in a rush and I run out to the studio and put it together.”.

When he’s been able to tear himself away from the studio, Dick has also been spending this sheltering in place time to rearrange the showroom.

A visit to Macdonald Stained Glass is always staggering. There is so much too see …. the colors … the designs … it’s hard to know where to start; yet it’s always the same: so, say a lamp has caught your eye. While you’re gazing at it, checking it out from different angles yet acutely aware of that nightlight, box, tea light sconce, sun catcher, mirror, or terrarium nearby is vying for your attention. Darn that peripheral vision!

Macdonald said glass just talks to him. Aren’t we the lucky ones?