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TAKING FREDERICKSBURG TO NEW HEIGHTS Stafford artist updates 19th-century bird's-eye view
Stafford artist Dale Glasgow updates a 19th-century bird's-eye view of Fredericksburg 150 years later.Date published: 2/3/2006 A hundred fifty years ago, Baltimore printmaker Edward Sachse used an observer's eye and artist's imagination to capture the Fredericksburg cityscape. His 1856 three-color lithograph, hand-tinted and sold by subscription to the civically proud, captured a peaceful image of a community about to be shocked by the Civil War. Sachse later updated his bird's-eye view in a somber black-and-gold printing. That work, dated November 1862, shows burned bridges and soldiers in the Stafford County foreground. Stafford artist Dale Glasgow has rejuvenated the idea once again. He'll unveil his contemporary "Bird's Eye View of Fredericksburg, Virginia" Sunday at Gari Melchers' Belmont, where a reception and signing will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Glasgow, who left the security of an artist's job at USA Today to forge a successful commercial art business of his own, embraced the idea of updating the bird's-eye view in the early 2000s. The dot-com boom had waned, and the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, further dried up his commercial art workload. Glasgow, who works from a studio and farmhouse office in Hartwood, chose to view the dearth of business as an opportunity. He decided to combine an interest in history with a longtime interest in creating fine arts pieces that would satisfy both his creative interests and his practical need to support a family. He and his wife, Sharon, have five daughters. Heather Young, 23, is married and works as an artist. Jennifer, 20, is an artist as well. At home are Hannah, 17; Rachael, 15; and Ellie, 10. Then there are the animals--three sheep, a goat, a cat and a border collie named Sparky to keep everyone in line. Glasgow embarked on the bird's-eye view project three years ago. And in the romantic tradition of the masters, he suffered for his art. He hired a pilot to fly him and daughters Ellie and Rachael on a picture-taking mission over Fredericksburg. It wasn't long before Glasgow got that uneasy, queasy feeling and lost his lunch. Twice. The group landed, switched planes and went back up. That was in February 2003, just before the Embrey Dam was breached in a step toward its eventual removal.
Date published: 2/3/2006
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