This stained glass piece is on auction to support Ukraine.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Ray Hellmen
March 26, 2022 - 12:33 PM
A Kamloops artist with more than 40 years of experience with stained glass didn’t want to feel helpless amid the war in Ukraine.
Ray Hellmen, a Kamloops native, said his home-based stained glass business was put to use earlier this month to support the Canadian Red Cross with humanitarian efforts in the country. Last month, Russia invaded Ukraine, causing Europe's largest refugee crisis since the Second World War.
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“With the incidents going on in Ukraine, I felt helpless. I thought how much am I able to do? Because we’re not able to do a lot over here so I thought ‘OK, at least I can make stained glass,” Hellmen said.
The sunflower, Ukraine's national flower, has become a symbol of resistance against the country's invasion by Russian forces. Hellmen decided to create a piece using the popular symbol.
The money donated through an auction for the stained glass work at The Art We Are, a cafe in Kamloops, will be directly donated to The Canadian Red Cross.
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As of Friday, March 25, the bid is currently at $650, he said, but he’s hoping it will raise more by the time the auction closes at the end of the month.
To create the pieces, patterns are first traced onto paper before they’re cut out and traced onto stain glass, Hellman said. The glass is then wrapped in a thin piece of copper foil and solder pieces together.
He’s been creating glass art pieces since 1982.
To bid at the auction, visit the The Art We Are on Victoria Street.
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