密歇根新闻广播 密州的工匠 彩色玻璃镶嵌画

The Thompson family has been constructing stained glass and leaded glass windows in Michigan since 1929.

"You know, we're not interested in making sun catchers or little things that we sell at craft fairs. That's just not our business. Our business is stuff that's much longer lasting¹ than that," explained Dirk Thompson.

The family's stained glass windows have been installed in churches, colleges, businesses, and high-end homes. Thompson Art Glass also does a lot of restoration work.

They day I visited his son, Dirk Thompson, Jr., was piecing together a leaded glass window for Cranbrook Academy of Art.

It seems there was a stray soccer ball at the school.

The younger Thompson held a piece of glass and began to scribe an arc freehand. 

The Thompsons work all over Michigan, parts of Ohio and Canada. Work is steady, but over the last couple of decades a major source of business has slowed.

"But, demand for church windows, there hasn't been as many church windows built in the last 20 years, so the demand is down."

Not a lot of new churches, but there are some additions to churches and so stained glass windows are still in demand, albeit² at a slower rate.

Thompson says there has been growth in other areas: homes. And in Michigan a lot of those stained glass scenes are not necessarily biblical. They're often hunting scenes.

"We get a lot of wildlife requests. We get a lot of requests for flowers and for foliage³ scenes, grapes and leaves, and again more wildlife," the elder Thompson said.

On the walls there are sketches⁴ of completed jobs. Included were designs of moose, an otter⁵, deer, hunting dogs, wolves, cardinals⁶, and more.

"Yeah. (Customers) bring us their ideas. If they have any photos, they bring those along. And then we do composite drawings and develop the concept," Thompson explained.

It's no accident that Dirk Thompson, Sr. continued the family business. It was encouraged. Planned.

"When I was a kid, our grandfather sent four grandsons that seemed to be inclined. In grade school, he sent us to art class every summer. In high school, he sent us to art class at Cranbrook Academy. To be honest with you, I worked here at the shop on Saturdays with my dad since about seventh grade. I had no question what I was going to do because I just absolutely loved the art work," Thompson said.

Dirk Thompson, Jr. is the fourth generation of the family to get into the business. Dirk Senior says he's glad the family craft, art, and business is still going strong.

"I'm just thrilled as can be. I've got –currently got three young grandsons and I hope they're going to be the fifth generation. But, again, that has yet to be seen," he said, smiling.

Both of the Thompsons say they can't imagine doing anything else. Seeing a concept come to reality is rewarding in itself.

The senior Thompson recalls a particularly rewarding job: three walls of stained glass at St. Mary's in Pinckney. The job led the Bishop⁷ to pull Dirk Thompson aside.

"He told me personally, he said, 'You know, this was a beautiful building, but now that it's got the stained glass in it, it's a place of God.' And, I mean, that's worth any amount of money in the world, to get a compliment like that."

1 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

2 albeit   

conj.即使；纵使；虽然

参考例句：

• Albeit fictional,she seemed to have resolved the problem.虽然是虚构的，但是在她看来好象是解决了问题。
• Albeit he has failed twice,he is not discouraged.虽然失败了两次，但他并没有气馁。

3 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

4 sketches   

n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概

参考例句：

• The artist is making sketches for his next painting. 画家正为他的下一幅作品画素描。
• You have to admit that these sketches are true to life. 你得承认这些素描很逼真。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 otter   

n.水獭

参考例句：

• The economists say the competition otter to the brink of extinction.经济学家们说，竞争把海獭推到了灭绝的边缘。
• She collared my black wool coat with otter pelts.她把我的黑呢上衣镶上了水獭领。

6 cardinals   

红衣主教( cardinal的名词复数 )； 红衣凤头鸟（见于北美，雄鸟为鲜红色）； 基数

参考例句：

• cardinals in scarlet robes 身披红袍的枢机主教
• A conclave of cardinals was held to elect the new Pope. 红衣主教团举行了秘密会议来选举新教皇。

7 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。