Album - E. Washington, Petaluma
February 2004 through March 2006
Vangie founded Aurora Colors in 1996. Opening a public studio and store was only a dream until Lyndon came into her life in 2002. Soon he became her first student. Lyndon was looking for a career change and Vangie wanted to retire from the law firm she'd been with nearly 20 years. She suggested that together they could fund and manage a stained glass store, provide glass related services and teach. Lyndon didn't get hooked on the idea until she took him to the Las Vegas Glass convention in 2003. When he saw there were more men than women in this glass world, he had no more reservations about making glass art for a living (having previously owned a roofing business in Arizona, Lyndon was used to working outdoors.) Vangie continued to work and commute to San Francisco from Petaluma, managing administrative tasks for Aurora Colors during the day on the bus and breaks (it was crazy!!!), arriving in the evening at the studio and store to teach, deal with inventory, work on commissions and problems of the day, and decorate the store. Lyndon took care of day-time customers, worked on commissions, and served as handy-man for the building and tenants. He remodeled the kitchen, knocked out extra walls in their space and built all of Aurora Colors' work tables. Building owner, Kerri Davison even offered him a job, which he had no time for. Back then, Vangie and Lyndon were teaching or had others teaching special classes most evenings and weekends. Crazy busy times, they were open for business every day, closed only for national holidays. They have never had employees. Vangie finally took the leap, retiring from her job in San Francisco in August 2005. Their 1600 square feet with a kitchen, office, storage room, gift shop and studio was really great. However, Vangie was always looking for a better location as they were left out of Petaluma's downtown activities and apparently their drive by traffic saw Whole Foods across the street, and didn't look in their direction. Constantly they were told "I didn't know you were here and I shop at Whole Foods all the time!" And so, they moved uptown...