Married artists Scott Rosema and Suzanne Hiza-Rosema have seen the light.After toiling for years in their Muskegon home's cramped, subterranean basement, the couple opened Temujin Studio, 1046 E. Sternberg, 18 months ago.
The spacious, ground-level studio provides plenty of elbow room for both working artists, and a light-filled storefront to display Rosema's illustrations and Hiza-Rosema's stained-glass creations.
"The gallery is our living portfolio," Rosema said.
Temujin -- a Tibetan word meaning "to reach" or "to strive," -- is not only the studio's name, but the artists' mantra.
"That's what we like to do with our art," Rosema said.
Rosema, 50, who studied illustration and advertising at Grand Rapids' Kendall College of Art and Design before joining The Muskegon Chronicle's artistic team in 1985, said his interest in art goes way back.
"I started drawing at age 4 and never stopped," he said.
In 1991 Rosema decided it was time to "shake things up a bit," and plunged into the world of comic illustration, taking the part-time freelance work he had done for the comic industry and turning it into a full-time career.
The gamble paid off with steady assignments from Disney, Marvel Comics, D.C. Comics, Dream Works, Cartoon Network, Archie Comics, Warner Bros. and Looney Tunes. The work he did for Tiny Tunes took his work to Brazil, Italy, Germany, Spain and Belgium, Rosema said.
While his work in the comic industry continues, Rosema also challenges his imagination and skills as an illustrator creating elaborate "fantasy" portraits of mystical characters, which he markets at comic industry shows.
These days the couple team up for the shows, with Hiza-Rosema crafting elaborate stained-glass comic book icons, such as Dr. Doom, Spider Man, Elvira, Godzilla, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, into tabletop or hanging art -- all designed by Rosema.
"These are something I would never have done on my own," Hiza-Rosema, 55, said of the stained-glass comic characters.
Hiza-Rosema, who worked for 20 years as a dental technician, picked up stained glass as a hobby more than 30 yeas ago.
"I just started playing with it and I loved it," Hiza-Rosema said. "I love what it does to a space."
A regular customer of a Grand Rapids stained-glass supply shop, Hiza-Rosema was asked by the owner if she would submit a drawing for stained-glass panels being commissioned by Bethel Pentecostal Church. The design, a collaborative effort by the couple, was selected and Hiza-Rosema found herself spending the next year working on the nine window panels, each 17-feet high and 3-feet wide. The enormous task was the first of many commissions to follow and brought her to the Stained Glass Place full-time for the next five years.
Although her church commissions are impressive, Hiza-Rosema also enjoys crafting decorative boxes, hinged pocket mirrors, or small charms she calls "light dancers."
"When I'm working on them, they kind of create themselves," she said of the charms.
Antique glass or unusual trinkets often find their way into her glass creations.
"If you work with glass you can work with found objects," Hiza-Rosema said.聽"You can incorporate a person's memories."
Interpreting customer's memories into meaningful and lasting works is something both artists take pride in.
Using their respective mediums, both artists are regularly commissioned to create portraits -- of loved ones, beloved pets or houses.
"We work with the customer, their sensibilities, their interests," Hiza-Rosema said.
Occasionally Hiza-Rosema is charged with restoring a vintage stained-glass piece. A 1910-era window, sadly in need of attention, rests dismantled on her workbench. A rubbing of the original design is mounted on the wall for reference. Hiza-Rosema said even the broken panes will be re-cut and returned to the original piece, keeping the amount of new glass to a minimum.
"We take the time and the care to do Old World craftsmanship," Rosema said. "We're doing something that's going to last beyond us."
from http://www.mlive.com/
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