109
ART
death at the age of 88 in Boynton Beach. His son,
meanwhile, earned a degree in business and art at
the University of Wisconsin before going to work
for a stained glass studio in Milwaukee. Paul
Pickel moved back to Vero Beach in the 1970s and
has been operating Conrad Pickel Studio, now at
7770 20th Street, ever since.
The art of stained glass dates back to the 12th
century and the process hasn’t changed much
since medieval times. Artists begin with a sketch
that they then turn into a full-size drawing, or cartoon.
Then they apply the glass. Pickel’s studio uses
hand-blown glass, so each piece is different. The
main concessions to modernity are electric kilns
and electric soldering irons.
The studio has done work for hundreds of largescale
projects over the years, all over the country. Recent
local work includes 14 windows for St. Mark’s
Anglican Church, nine windows for the Post
Chapel at Indian River Medical Center, a window
for Faith Temple in Gifford, and a window for the
chapel at the Gifford Youth Activity Center. Pickel
is also currently doing windows for the former
Wackenhut mansion on the ocean in Indian River
Shores, and a window for a bathroom in the new
home of Vero Beach stockbroker Mark Ashdown.
He says the satisfaction of stained glass art is in
the result. “You don’t realize the magnificence of it
until it’s in place, and then you’re in awe.”
St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Vero Beach dispicts the story of Christ in their stained
glass windows created by the Conrad Pickel Studio. It took the studio over a year to
complete the panels.