NSCAD teacher retiring after 25 years on the job

Respected educator has lasting impression on students

Terry Smith-Lamothe teaches his stained glass class at NSCAD University’s school of extended studies. Photo: Kim Hutchison

Terry Smith-Lamothe began working full-time with stained glass in 1979 and, as his talent began to progress, so did his desire to share his techniques and talent with others.

He heard about the school of extended studies at NSCAD University and began teaching weekly classes there in 1984.

When his course, which focuses on lead and copper foil stained glass construction, ends in November, he'll retire after a 25 years as an educator.

"My time at NSCAD had been exciting. It has been great for my career in stained glass and it has been great getting to meet new students ear after year who have such enthusiasm for the work," the 59-year-old says. "It was a way to recharge the batteries."

His successor, Philip Doucette, who has been running his own studio in Halifax since 1987, was one of Smith-Lamothe's first students.

Doucette says he always had a deep appreciation for Smith-Lamothe's work because he often tackles the most difficult techniques where other artists would fall back on simpler and more profitable solutions.

One of Doucette's favourite pieces of Smith-Lamothe's work, which can be found throughout the province, sits in Halifax's Beth Israel Synagogue.

"There is over 100 square feet of glass etched with a twisting check pattern on clear glass, in the background of a vividly coloured wall of heraldic designs," says Doucette.

"Terry's work is very inspiring. It challenges me to think of posterity and to literally paint with light."

Smith-Lamothe's favourite piece to date sits in a church as well. It has been at the Grand Pre National Historic Site since 1985.

A national competition that year called for a window depicting the proclamation expelling French-speaking Acadians from Nova Scotia in the 1750s. It was personally significant to Smith-Lamothe, who was born in Louisiana and is of Acadian descent.

His 20-by-10-foot-high creation took eight months to complete and brought in a nice paycheque. But that wasn't always the case.

Smithe-Lamothe said it was difficult not having a steady income when trying to support his wife and daughter.

"With this profession, it was either feast or famine. Some days we ate steak for supper and some days it was Kraft Dinner."

He enrolled in a master's degree in architecture but, when he graduated in 1990, a recession meant work in this field was scarce. He says he was lucky he had stained glass experience because he immediately went back to it as his primary source of income.

His retirement will be busy. He plans to continue his full-time position as a provincial architect specializing in infrastructure renewal, to play in his band Grou Tyme Gumbo, and to work as a stained glass artist.

"Terry has been an invaluable instructor who has fostered an appreciation for glass work for many years," said Joann Reynolds Farmer, program coordinator for the school of extended studies at NSCAD University. "We will miss him."

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