Stillwater couple wedded and leaded

Were it not for that loan from a "Mrs. James Storm" 30 years ago, Michaela Mahady and John Pietras's stained-glass business never would have gotten off the ground.

The husband-and-wife duo used the $3,000 loan from Storm -- a neighbor of Mahady's mother -- to open Pegasus Studio Inc. in 1976.

Today, the Stillwater business has evolved into an acclaimed and financially viable art studio that specializes in architectural glass work and mixed-media sculpture. Over the years, the company has made thousands of distinctive works used for public art projects, corporate offices and private homes across the nation.

Mahady, who's also an architect with Sala Architects, designs the pieces while Pietras, a glass artist, does the hands-on work and installation.

"John and I met in a glass studio in Minneapolis in 1974. He asked me to start a studio with him before he ever asked me out for a date," Mahady said, laughing. "It was clear that we were compatible and that eventually we'd be starting our own business."

When they got married, they asked for wedding gifts of cash so they could buy glass. And dear Mrs. Storm came through with that $3,000 loan, enabling the couple to start their original studio in south Minneapolis.

In the early days, Pietras and Mahady sold mostly stained-glass windows for homes and churches, along with stained-glass light fixtures and panels for restaurants. On average, they made some 25 to 30 small pieces a year.

Now, they make fewer art projects, but they're larger in scope. "This year, we're probably working on four to five large commissions and that would represent a very busy year," Pietras said. Some of their best-known works, displayed on the company's website, range in commission from $7,000 to $250,000.

For most art enterprises, explained Mahady, it's not like you're doing it for employment. "Now, it's funny. Maybe it's because we're older and more savvy, but we get good commissions and sell them for prices that we know can bring in enough cash. In recent years, the projects have been satisfying both monetarily and ideally," she said.

Mahady's training as an architect altered her view of how glass and other materials can be used in a building.

"We do use stained glass, colored glass, but we focus more on the window being an intermediary between outside and inside," she said. "We use a lot of clear glass so you can see what's outside. We also try to integrate the window with the architectural expression of the building."

Most people, when they think of stained glass, tend to see that "Tiffany lamp" glass -- with rich, jewel colors and ornate patterns. "It's more like seeing a painting in the glass," Mahady said. "We did a lot of windows like that, but when I became an architect, I started to think of the window more as a part of the building. It celebrates light more and image less."

Each piece is a custom design for a specific place.

"Compass Rose," for example, was designed for the EDS Corporation in Plano, Texas. The large sculpture is composed of steel, bronze, stone and leaded glass. "Procession," a public art piece made of etched glass, was commissioned for the LeBaron Auditorium at Iowa Sate University.

Having their work viewed by so many in a public setting lends its own marketing opportunities.

Compass Rose led to another, current project in Texas. The owner of Hunt Oil Corporation in Dallas spotted the sculpture at EDS Corporation and told Pietras and Mahady that he'd always liked it and wanted them to make something for his company's new corporate headquarters.

The project is a setting for a pendulum that swings back and forth slowly at a "mesmerizing pace," Mahady said. "It appears over time to actually go around in a circular pattern as it goes back and forth. It marks the movement of the earth, because the earth is rotating, and so is the building."

Working with the glass and other materials used in a sculpture is not difficult, Pietras said, but it requires focus, care and above all patience. "At every stage," he said, "it's an exercise in patience."

Allie Shah • 651-298-1550