Arts

Light Is A Many-Splendored Thing: Stained Glass Demonstration by Aldina Chiara Rubino

Felton Covered Bridge County Park
Sat May 28 8am - 4pm Ages: family friendly
Artsartstained glass
Aldina Chiara Rubino

About Light Is A Many-Splendored Thing: Stained Glass Demonstration by Aldina Chiara Rubino

EVENT: FELTON COVERED BRIDGE FESTIVAL?, ?SATURDAY, ?MAY 28, 2016, 8 AM - 4 PM

Light Is A Many-Splendored Thing:
Stained Glass Demonstration by Aldina Chiara Rubino

Some would call it fortuitous to grow up in a large family of entrepreneurs and artists, under the blue skies and orange-blossom-scented breezes of a sun-drenched cultural mecca on the Mediterranean.

Renzino Barbera, poet, artist, author, and actor, has written of this special place:

On the sixth day,
God accomplished His work
And, pleased with all the beauty
He had created,
He took the Earth in His hands,
And kissed it.
There, where He put His lips,
That's Sicily.

while centuries before Marcus Tullius Cicero called Syracuse, Sicily: “the greatest Greek city and the most beautiful of them all.”

Aldina Chiara Rubino, Ben Lomond stained glass artist and native of Syracuse, would agree.

When not assisting her family as a young girl to operate its popular summer resort for European tourists (complete with cottages, camping sites, a swimming pool, pizzeria, restaurant, bar, and disco), Aldina Chiara could often be found by the sea, in the piazzas, or traversing the archeological ruins under the shadow of Mt. Etna, sketching in chiaroscuro.

Her exposure to foreigners at the resort intensified her desire to learn languages and at 18, spurred north by her dream, Aldina enrolled in the University of Saarbrücken, Germany, where she studied to become an interpreter. Even before she had completed her degree, she was offered a lucrative position as a translator for Italian companies Franci and Valmadrera and German corporations Opel, Volkswagen, and Audi.

It was in Ramstein where she lived and also taught Italian that Aldina Chiara discovered her fascination for stained glass, passing a little shop each morning on the way to work. At the urging of her mother, she eventually stopped in to speak with the artisans and quickly signed up for a beginner’s course. This was the start of Aldina's life-long love for making stained glass works of art.

After a decade in Germany, Aldina was invited by her brother to visit him on the West Coast of California where he had purchased a restaurant in Felton, close to Santa Cruz. She and her son Federico gladly accepted and soon Aldina found herself putting all the skills she had learned in her youth to excellent use at the restaurant. Under the accomplished hand?s? of the Rubino Family, La Bruschetta became an oft-visited culinary attraction on the Central Coast, noted for its exceptional Italian dishes, festive weddings, elegant events, and catering service. ?The restaurant also exhibited a number of her stained glass pieces and customers regularly requested private commissions.

?When the restaurant was sold, Aldin?a was able to dedicate her talents full time to her art. She began working in stained glass shop Kiss My Glass in Santa Cruz and increasingly participated in art showings. Her work has been on display in galleries and retail stores throughout the Santa Cruz region.

Aldina Chiara has created hundreds of pieces of stained glass art and now specializes in large works for churches, ashrams, meditation centers, private homes, wineries, restaurants, and similar venues. Drawing from the rich and eclectic history of her land of birth – Sicily was influenced by the Phoenecian, Cathaginian, Greek, Roman, Vandal, Goth, Byzantine, Arab, Spanish, German, and English cultures – her current work features mythological, religious, and sacred figures, and universal motifs and symbolism. In her collection you will find images of Cleopatra, Isis, Tut, the White Buffalo Woman, the Tree of Life, the Buddha, Our Lady of Guadalupe, to name a few. She encourages collaboration between artist and client and finds great joy in teaching her art.

Aldina Chiara cordially invites you to spend May 28th with her at the Felton Covered Bridge Festival where she will demonstrate and discuss her unique style and technique and where many of her classic pieces will be available for purchase. A stained glass workshop is now forming; it will be possible to sign up for it there. For all those interested in experimenting with making a small stained glass piece of art, come let Aldina show you how.

Be prepared for an extraordinary day with an extraordinary woman and artist. ~
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