Kathleen Mitchell, a Glass Artist
San Diego, California
When Larry McQueen asked us to re-create this brooch, we were intrigued by the prospect of recreating this gem.
He wanted us to remake Carole Lombard’s brooch and the very same one that she wore in “My Man Godfrey” without spending the fortune it was worth.
The beaded gown would be on exhibit at the Academy Museum of Motion Picture Arts. Little did we know that between our resources in the East and here in the US there were no sapphires to be found that would even come close to the gem she owned. Like the iconic movie star this star sapphire was rare and unique, 152 carats. No one could make us one and no one could find us one. So we had to decide to have the next best thing and commission the creation of a new star.
We contacted a San Diego glass artist that worked closely with us on this challenge, Kathleen Mitchell. Kathleen carefully experimented with glass working over several weeks to create the star we needed.
Here are some of the samples Kathleen Mitchell made for us.
We started with this image. We wanted the glass “gem” to match the sapphire in this photograph.
Our first round of glass samples.
What we discovered is that this was REALLY difficult.
Working on where the star effect should be placed. On the back side, inside or on top of the glass.
If you could just see Mitchell working in her studio - an artist in front of a hot kiln, rolling molten glass, adding color and then laying fine threads of white glass to create the star across a cooling dome of glass.
Only thing we could say is that Kathleen Mitchell is a true artist and did a wonderful job.