Stained-glass window business focuses on restoration

The odds of finding someone in Cape Girardeau that creates stained glass art is pretty slim. That's why Belinda Schearf said meeting Dick McClard "was a God thing."

When Schearf moved to Cape Girardeau, she joined the Gold Wing Riders Association, a motorcycle riders club of which McClard was a member. They quickly discovered they had another hobby in common.

"I went to get parts for my motorcycle. She was at the parts store, and we just got to talking, " McClard said.

He has been involved in stained glass art as a hobby for 10 years, Schearf, who also is self-taught, for 18. McClard and his wife Judy cleared out a space in his shop to make room for Glass Art by MSM, a business they run with Schearf.

It's not a retail business, where anyone could walk in and buy a window panel or art piece, Schearf said, but they are doing work with local churches.

Belinda Schearf uses a soldering iron to fix glass panels in place on a stained-glass window being restored Tuesday at Glass Art by MSM’s studio. (Adam Vogler)

The team's most current project is the restoration of 21 window panels from a 75-year-old sanctuary that once was used by the First Church of God in East Prairie, Mo. The church is renovating a newer worship center that will feature the remodeled stained glass window panels.

Originally, the church members didn't think this would be possible, since they were told the stained glass panels couldn't be removed. Schearf and McClard said the panels were in "really bad shape" and many were falling apart, but they had no doubt they could be repaired.

"We looked at them and thought 'no brainer, we could do it,'" said Schearf.

The biggest challenge in renovating the decades-old panels is consistency, McClard said. Each glass panel has to be the same color and thickness, as does the iron used to solder the pieces together.

While restoration of large panel pieces is the type of work McClard and Schearf primarily want to do, they sometimes create original pieces.

The window on the left is an original while the one on the right has been restored. (Adam Vogler)

They donated a panel to Bald Knob Cross of Peace in Alto Pass, Ill., which features a stained glass depiction of the recently restored 111-foot-tall white cross. Schearf designed the piece with a unique three-dimensional look, using plans drawn up of the cross during the renovation.

"When we finally showed up with the piece, they were thrilled, because it was such a big item," she said.

Schearf and McClard also donated a panel to Shadow Rest Ministries in Cape Girardeau and plan to donate a piece to the Pink Up Cape silent auction, which raises money for breast cancer awareness. Eventually, they also hope to offer glass art classes to the public as well.

Judy and Dick McClard said they are surprised at how much and how quickly interest in the business has grown, and they hope to continue working with other churches and facilities. McClard said restoring stained glass panels such as those from the East Prairie church help preserve local history.

"We use everything we can of the original when we do the restoration," he said. "There's a lot of detail involved and a lot of pride when you can take a piece and give it back to them with most of the original pieces."

Schearf said being a part of her own glass art business has always been a dream.

Belinda Schearf, one of the proprietors at Glass Art by MSM, works on a window Tuesday at the company’s studio. (Adam Vogler)

"I'd love to be able to drive by some place with my kids or grandkids and say 'your mom did that' or 'your grandma did that.'"

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau, Mo.f