Susie Middaugh’s life colored with glass

To Susie Middaugh, life is a journey, and she enjoys it through rose-colored glass. Or green or blue or beveled.

She has been a stained-glass artist for more than 25 years and feels fortunate to have found something that has made her journey that much more sweet.

As a child, Middaugh remembers visiting a great aunt who had beautiful colored glass objects displayed in her kitchen window. “I started trying to do that by collecting clear glass bottles and filling them with food coloring and water. They were always sitting on my windowsill in my bedroom,” she said, “Little did I know it was all leading to a career as a stained-glass artist.”

She grew up on a cattle ranch near Lakeview, Ore., took college courses in Oregon and California, married and began raising a family. In 1979, her husband, Charlie, presented her with a certificate for stained-glass art classes, and she was captivated.

Middaugh has a knack for color and design. Eager to learn, she continued to take college art classes, apprenticed with a studio in Carmel, Calif., and attended seminars at stained-glass conventions.

With the support of her husband, Middaugh decided to pursue her artistic expression full time. Her first commissioned job came from a family friend. She went on to build windows for restaurants and dental offices in Monterey, Calif., where she lived.

From 1984 until her move to Liberty Lake in 2002, she owned retail studio space, had employees and a long list of clients. Celebrities, including Alan Funt, Kim Novak and Clint Eastwood, purchased her work. One of her pieces was presented to the visiting king of Spain by the area’s chamber of commerce.

Thousands of her windows are in homes, businesses and churches. “Each window is my child, the result of my effort to view and create what the client has in mind,” she said, “The joy I feel when the client receives the finished product is like giving new life.”

Her style of choice is traditional with subjects that include landscapes, flowers and hummingbirds. She has also done parrots, cats, dogs and abstract patterns. Her portfolio is huge and her range is wide. Her work is alive with light.

In 2002, Middaugh and her husband moved to Liberty Lake to be closer to family and to enjoy the four seasons. An estimated 1,200 pounds of glass that she had been hoarding for 26 years came with her.

Last year, Middaugh got her business license and Susie’s Stained Glass began. Several residents of Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake own her work, as does Caffe Liberté, and she is currently working on two commissions.

She is a member of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture and active in the Valley Arts Council. She has begun dabbling in photography and has joined the Spokane Valley Camera Club. “Being around so many talented photographers is inspiring,” she said, “When they are capturing a photo scene, I also see a potential stained-glass window in my mind.”

Middaugh is young for her 60 years and she gives the credit to her love of stained glass. She hopes to still be brightening the lives of clients into her 80s.