![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.glassartguild.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/egg-photo-1.jpeg\")
<\/a>The ovals – referred to as nesting eggs – will tour with up to seven stained-glass panels called the Seven Pillars of Humanity created by Tom Holdman of Holdman Studios, Lehi. The two completed skylights are one and one-half inches thick, 81 inches tall, 42 inches wide, and largely made from tiny pieces of colored frit glass. In addition, the eggs each have added elements. The ocean scene has over 100 add-ons including dozens that were created from sculpted clay, which was then molded in glass, kiln fired, then added to the larger structure, said Tuescher. Each oval took months to design and complete. The firing time alone for each piece took more than a week in a specialized eight-foot kiln.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The nesting egg concept began several years ago when Holdman, a Roots of Humanity Foundation artist, discussed with Transtrum and Teuscher his dream to build the largest glass facility and education center in the world. The finished building is expected to contain at least 11,000 square feet of stained and kiln-formed glass when it is completed in approximately four years. Holdman\u2019s Seven Pillars of Humanity are seven feet tall and three and one-half inches wide and are already world-famous. They were created to illustrate seven key characteristics that humans are capable of: Knowledge, Creativity, Faith, Love, Unity, Freedom and Courage. When the Roots of Humanity complex is completed, these panels are expected to be placed as walls in the planned glass facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe glass scene in Utah is relatively small, so everyone knows everybody,\u201d said Transtrum, as to how he and Teuscher ended up working on the Roots of Humanity project. \u201cTom is good at stained glass and he knew we were skilled with fused glass,\u201d he said, noting that Holdman approached him last year to do the first skylight for a Salt Lake City fundraiser. \u201cNow we\u2019ve finished two of the skylights and hope to work on the next twelve, as well. The pillars depict scenes of humanity, but the skylights are about nature and how nature is crucial to our survival. And like the pillars, the eggs are meant to tell a story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He explained that the first nesting egg is all about bees because honeybees around the globe are in danger of dying out, largely due to pesticide sprays. \u201cWe have had bees since ancient times,\u201d he said, \u201cand if they die out natural pollination, needed for all our fruits and vegetables, will cease to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bee egg, named \u201cBee Remarkable,\u201d depicts a large honeybee in a sunny nature scene that includes all the areas that bees can be found including the dessert, mountains and gardens, Transtrum said, noting that a large flower at the base of the piece contains a honeycomb center that is also a globe of the earth highlighting the Asian continent where bees were first found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSince bees are considered a keystone species the sun at the top of the piece is in a keystone shape, as well as having a beehive design,\u201d he said. \u201cIn addition, the entire piece was designed in horizontal layers depicting the horizontal lines on an actual bee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is hard to see in the photos but a separate clear glass wing has been overlayed onto to the skylight to complete a bee shape, Transtrum said, and etched into the wing are actual ancient bee petroglyphs found in Egyptian caves. Also, painted into the glass is an ancient Spanish pictograph showing how beekeepers used to scale mountains cliffs to obtain honey from the bees, said Tuescher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second egg, named \u201cWe All Live,\u201d shows a vibrant ocean scene with a variety of sea plants and animals including an orca whale, several fish species, a sea turtle, several star fish, various sea anemone and waving kelp made with glass stringers, said Teuscher. The skylight also includes a yellow submarine on which is written \u201cWe All Live,\u201d taken from the Beatles\u2019 song \u201cYellow Submarine.\u201d Less visible objects in the design include a family of polar bears, a human heart and two jellyfish that were created by recently deceased glass artist Onno Mattheus. In addition, a polluted city fills the left skyline, and a discarded water bottle and plastic ring from a six pack have been included in the art piece to bring attention to the toxic garbage that is filling our oceans. Plant and animal life will not survive if pollution continues at its current rate, said Teuscher, noting that messages such as recycle, and re-use are written on the flowing kelp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Working on the eggs brought both Transtrum and Teuscher personal awareness of how fragile our environment has become. \u201cIn working on these two skylights,\u201d said Teuscher, \u201cI have become a better person in humanity. I am also focused on bettering myself. I have focused on the idea that we are all humans with more similarities than differences. And we all need to work together on our planet. We are all part of the human race.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen we first learned of the Roots of Humanity project, we never dreamed that we would become so involved,\u201d said Transtrum, noting that the eggs have taken all their knowhow and ingenuity to produce. \u201cWe have used every technique we know and made up some new ones,\u201d he said, adding that in the process of creating the first two eggs he and Teuscher have educated themselves about bees and the ocean. One fact that many might not know, he said, is that sea plants provide most of the earth\u2019s oxygen. \u201cThat seems enormous,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>