Art atHome by Clark Cayer Photos courtesy Caroline Parent
Caroline Parent: Fusing Glass with the Natural World In today’s modern world, art presents itself in countless ways and serves a multitude of purposes. Art is used as a way to express imagination, to communicate, to entertain, to work as a symbolic metaphor, and even to inspire social and political change. However, for Caroline Parent, an artist based in Dover, New Hampshire, art serves as an embodiment of healing others. Through her love of art, Caroline is able to spread the gift of spiritual and emotional healing and is proud to have her work located in several medical and long-term care facilities throughout New England. A New Hampshire native, Caroline uses New England’s natural beauty as inspiration and is fond of the idea of combining glass art with nature. Her pieces almost always incorporate the natural elements of beauty found in New Hampshire and Maine, including mountains, lakes, rivers, trees, and coastal scenery. Her ability to grasp this connection to the natural world emits a sense of comfort when people are experiencing strenuous times, especially when combined with the strategic placement of light sources behind the art to give off a feeling of warmth and comfort. To form these beautiful pieces of artwork, Caroline buys sheets of glass and cuts them into pieces, then assembles and fuses the glass in her kiln to make one large majestic creation. These pieces can be found throughout New England, with installations in numerous large healthcare
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facilities and medical establishments. While presenting a story on Caroline Parent, The NH Chronicle stated that “Her fused glass installations inspire peace and tranquility and adorn the walls of hospitals and clinics to provide comfort to patients.” Caroline has a gift for using her talent as an artist to spread healing and comfort even in the hardest of times. atHome Magazine recently had the wonderful opportunity to have a Q&A session with Caroline Parent. When did you initially learn about luminous art and the various ways in which it is expressed? Light is a vital part of making good art, it reveals the colors, shapes, textures and mood/emotion in a work of art no matter the medium, but with glass, it becomes a whole new level of expression. With my fused glass pieces backlighting, the glass became more interesting to me to enhance and better express the themes I work with. So as a way to better my art, I have been experimenting with how light can be used to enhance my art. What inspired you to use your artistic talent as a form of healing and comfort for others? Actually (many years ago), I was so moved by the dreariness of a hospital lobby I visited. It made me want to make the space better with art and help others who would wait in this space too. I actually sought out the hospital president and asked if I could
