It was a moment of awe for Lauren Carter as the logo she designed was unveiled before Howe Sound Secondary’s graduating class.
The Grade 12 student’s creation, featuring two feathers and the Roman numerals MMXVI, represents the grads of 2016.
The Dry Grad Committee had Carter’s design turned into a stained glass window that has become a permanent focal point at the school.
Glass artist Judy Bourhis put together the window with 220 pieces of hand-cut glass, and due to its dark black hue, special “Bullseye glass” was shipped in from Oregon.
“I freehand drew it to start off with,” said Carter, “then, once I finished it, a graphic designer put it on the computer to make it crisp and perfectly symmetrical.” She chose black and white to make this year’s logo stand out from those of past graduating classes.
Carter, who is usually interested in dance, sports and gymnastics, doesn’t have any training in drawing or design and let her natural artistic abilities guide her.
Instead of mountains and trees, which are common for logos at Howe Sound Secondary, she opted for a design that is similar to a clothing logo, with symmetrical elements and bold lines.
The stained glass window is a legacy of the 2016 graduating class and their dry grad, an end-of-the-year event that provided students with a safe drug and alcohol-free environment to celebrate their graduation. Carter and her classmates attended this year’s graduation, which had a Las Vegas theme with mocktails, a casino, a food truck, photo booth, comedy and magic shows and an appearance by a hypnotist.
Bourhis, owner of Our Glass Works Studio, was commissioned to bring Carter’s design to life through stained glass.
“Each sheet of glass is made individually,” said Bourhis, who searched for a glass source that would perfectly match the colours used in the logo. The sheets were shipped from Portland, Ore. to her studio in Birken.
“I was sent a small drawing and blew it up, and I knew I wanted to fuse lots of little pieces together,” she said.
This is Bourhis’s fifth stained glass window created for Howe Sound Secondary. For an earlier one, the graduating class chose a Hollywood theme, complete with a limo transporting students along the coastline.
Bourhis, who has specialized in custom stained glass for 35 years, had also created one with a ship and trees for a Howe Sound theme for another student group.
The unveiling of this year’s stained glass window was a surprise to Carter, who didn’t know in advance that the ceremony was going to take place on June 14.
“I saw cardboard covering the window when I got to school, and I wondered what it was for – maybe it was broken – but I had no idea,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting it at all, and it was a total surprise when they revealed it.”
