Details Wright to Scale

September 9, 2016

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s belief in gesamtkunstwerk or “total work of art” meant that all the components of his designs matched each other, as seen in the art glass cabinetry, windows, and furniture in the William Martin Breakfast Room. In order to get the sharp geometric details just right in miniature, artists Allison Ashby and Steve Jedd had to rely on some pretty clever techniques to emulate the look of leaded glass. First, Jedd fabricated the art glass panes out of strip styrene glued to 1/8 inch glass. Ashby then applied several layers of acrylic paint, bronzing powder, and gel medium to emulate the texture of leading.

Prairie Style accessories in the room include works by a variety of other artists. Ceramics by Jane Mellick and Carol Mann sit on a matching table in the window. Delicate glassware by Jacqueline Kerr Dieber is kept in the built-in cabinets. And of course you can’t get much more “prairie style” than the floral arrangement of grasses and black-eyed Susans on the table by Nancy Van DeLoo.