Modern Mississippi Part 1: The Stained Glass Lady
If there is one thing that Mississippi is not short of, it's artists and stained glass creator, Jane Mullins sits with them. Jane has always had a love for creating and artistic expression. She comes from a large family, all of whom have a creative background. It might be hard to come by now, but Jane’s parents always supported their children’s creative interest and never stunted their imaginations.
The medium of stained glass is extremely unique and not one that many artists run towards. In Jane’s case, the beauty and captivation of the colored glass has always followed her, ever since she was a young girl. “It might sound cheesy, but I remember in my early childhood driving down North State Street in Jackson with my mom and admiring the stained glass in the old churches. I guess it just stuck with me after that.”
In the 1980’s, Jane started her glass business in Raymond, MS after several students at Hinds Community College were interested in taking a class on the art. After that, the community formed itself around the captivating beauty of what she had created. Around this time, Jane decided to open a shop in downtown Raymond, The Glass Garden. This creative space is dedicated to her brainstorms, late nights, masterpieces and believe it or not, her home in the back of the shop. The beauty of this set up for Jane is that inspiration for a piece can strike at any time, even 2am. When that happens, she has the convenience of just walking a few steps to her work table to crank out the idea so she doesn’t lose it. She stated, “Many times the glass colors just fall into your hands at random times. It is honestly a miracle when they come together like that.”
As much as Jane loves to create for fun when inspiration strikes in the middle of the night, her main pieces tend to be commissions of larger window displays, primarily in Churches. She might have the commissioners come into the shop to discuss ideas or she will meet them at the location where the piece will be installed. Sometimes her day might just require a simple phone call or quick trip to drop some of her pieces off at The Yellow Feather in Raymond to be sold. As an artist and a creative mind, Jane says it is nice to not know what each day holds rather than being on a strict 9-5 schedule.
Jane has an extensive portfolio of incredible displays she has created but one stood out to her as one of her favorite pieces she has worked on. She had been working on this gorgeous oval shaped, art deco style piece with a woman’s face on it and it was time for the firing part of the process. When she went to check on it, it had broken down the middle in a large crack. After the initial disappointment of the crack of such a beautiful work of art, Jane realized that the crack had formed itself into a shape around the face that complimented it perfectly. The beauty of the final work was not something she could have recreated, she said. This led to a beautiful quote by Jane, “What happens in the universe is what you do with it.”
Jane’s heart has a very special tie to Mississippi. This is where she grew up and many members of her family still call it home. She has also formed tight knit bonds with her Raymond community of clients and sees no reason to leave the town. “I love Raymond and the people in it. It just plays my song.” She mentioned that her work has to do with, “location, location, location,” of course because of operating costs, but mainly because she has found support in Mississippi. Her dedicated “Mississippi family” will always cherish her and her work. One of her favorite parts about the state is that MS is full of “art appreciators”. Everyone might not be a creator themselves, but the people love to support local artists and further their careers. That is something she sees as unique to Mississippi and is eternally grateful for.
Lindsey Howard