OK Libraries' Growth in Last Century

Marrilyn Adams knows several media. She's a painter, sculptor and stained-glass artisan. "I'm an emotional artist," she says, "and I have realized that the duse of color and light is in stained glass. It's a medium that will move into the front of the artworld. It's pure expression of beauty. I'm always looking for beauty and truth, then reinterpreting it in stained glass.

"Oklahoma has its youth," says Marrilyn Adams. "We still believe that we can do
anything we want to. We have a lot of individualism. We're not tied down with freeways and congestion. We still have our freedom."

Adams proves that Oklahoma stained- glass crafters can do anydung. Her studio testifies to her diversity of styles. She creates images you'd never expect to see treated in glass-Native American work, for instance. "Thunderbird" is the name she gives an energetic window of corals, turquoises and blacks. Its strength is in its smooth, uncomplicated lines, or, as Adams says, "the beauty of natural things. The Indian's artwork expresses it a lot more than we do. We overpolish, put in a lot of frou-frou. Their lines are simple. Their colors are earth tones and natural colors."

Gary Adams, an Edmond artist specializing in art glass creations, and his wife Marrilyn, opened Draegon Gate Studios in Edmond in 1978. Their designs include carved, stained and hand-beveled glass doors and light boxes.

The Adamses chose the dragon as their mascot and use it as their signature mark on many of the items. "We chose the dragon because my wife was born in the Chinese year of the dragon and I was born in the year of the snake," Adams said. The popularity of their work is demonstrated by their well-known design of the Capitol office door for Lt. Gov. Robert S. Kerr III.

Creating art glass creations appealed to Adams because of its many possibilities. "It's a very viable medium. I like to take a medium and explore with it. With art glass you get to play with the effect of light."