The Corner Gallery will start out the new year with a new featured young artist. Solana Rubino, an impressive stained glass artist, has lived most of her life in Mendocino County, and describes herself as a product of the Waldorf school system here. Currently 20 years old and taking nursing classes at the Mendocino Community College, she looks back at her early education with pride. In her words, "The Waldorf school teaches its students musical instruments, knitting, painting, embroidery and all kinds of other arts. I think this upbringing made a positive impact on me and how I appreciate the arts now. I've always loved working with my hands and I think the education I got at Waldorf helped me feel comfortable starting up an art like stained glass."

Solana's artistic family also plays an important part in her interest in art. "A lot of my family," she says, "participate in art in some way. Whether it's cooking or playing music, my family has always been artistic... and that's made me more interested in art. It was my aunt, Aldina Rubino, who initially started me making stained glass. She is a professional stained glass artist who's been doing stained glass for more than 20 years. A couple years ago she started bringing glass and materials for me and my siblings to try and make our own projects."

Solana continues, "I loved stained glass from the beginning! It's amazing how beautiful glass can look in the sunlight and how the process is so intricate with every step. How there is so much to learn through the process and how even if a design isn't totally great the glass always looks good in the light. My aunt taught me the basic steps, and since then I've been figuring more of it out on my own. Sometimes I look for information online and that is always very helpful for me as well. And now in this last year I've gotten more involved in doing art, and I feel more confident making pieces. My goal is to continue to get better and be able to follow through with my own creativity."

Not surprisingly, Solana is also drawn to the art of mosaic, through she hasn't had much experience yet with that medium. She likes the idea that mosaic uses similar materials to stained glass and sees some experimentation in her future.

When asked about her favorite piece in her show, Solana was quick to point to a piece that she and her aunt made together. "It is two geometric shapes layered on top of each other," she explains, "and I'm excited to be showing this piece because it involved family. Not only did my aunt and I make it together, but my brother helped me frame it as well. Because of this I find it a very sentimental piece."