Kevin’s Pyramids

NEW SHARON – Patricia Barnes was not always an artist.

One morning, just weeks after her son, Kevin, passed away in drowning accident, Trish woke up feeling that she was ‘supposed to create stained glass.’ She found herself at a studio that same day, learning the basics of stained glass making.

“It was certainly strange – I had never worked with glass and never considered myself an artist – I am an investment advisor by trade. But even so, I began working with glass 14 years ago, and I’ve never stopped, and show no signs of slowing down,” Barnes said.

Once she began working with glass, it became integral to her life. Working with glass became a way to work through her grief, a way to survive her loss. Her son Kevin lived with epilepsy, and after years of care-taking followed by sudden loss, stained glass filled a huge vacuum left in her life after Kevin’s death.

“I can’t describe what it is like to lose a child,” Barnes said. “Grief is overwhelming, all-consuming; but glass gave me a new way to be in the world. It was like the Universe gave me this tremendous gift, to help me find a way through grief.”

Once she began working with glass, Barnes quickly filled all the windows in her home, and turned to pyramids to create a free-standing, lighted glass sculpture. After creating three pyramids, she decided to create a series of 20, with a goal of raising $1,000,000. She intended the money would be used for funding new therapies for those who live with epilepsy, and for creating awareness about epilepsy, which Barnes says more common than most people realize. One in 26 people will suffer from seizures and be diagnosed with epilepsy at some time in their life.

In addition to the pyramid collection, which Barnes completed in 2011, she has written a book entitled Kevin’s Pyramids, and has also been the subject of a short documentary film produced by the Epilepsy Foundation, entitled Last Pyramid. The film describes Barnes’ journey through grief and healing, and has been traveling to film festivals across the country and as far afield as Guam. It was shown in Maine at both the Maine International Film Festival in Waterville, as well as the Camden International Film Festival, in Camden. It has been nominated for and won several festival awards, and continues to travel to film festivals, raising awareness as it goes. Additionally, it has been showcased at many conferences and events hosted by the Epilepsy Foundation, located in Landover, Md.

“I just keep going, working along. Kevin was such a happy and helping spirit, and I am grateful to continue that legacy. I work to alleviate the difficulties that people who live with epilepsy endure every day, and I hope someday, perhaps in my lifetime, to see a cure,” Barnes said. “For those who live with epilepsy, relief cannot come soon enough.”

If you, or someone you know, lives with epilepsy, be sure to visit www.epilepsy.com for support and a wealth of information. To learn more about Kevin’s pyramids, or to purchase a copy of the book, please visit www.kevinspyramids.com. 100 percent of the proceeds benefit new therapies in epilepsy, and awareness, through the Epilepsy Foundation.