Light will shine to honor man who began art project

Published 11:17 pm Monday, May 25, 2009

When he went into the hospital in early January, Robert Dokka told his wife to tell the teachers at the Covenant Glass shop that if he didn’t show up for the lamp-making class, not to hold his spot.

Dokka knew others would want to take the popular class on making Tiffany-style lamps and he didn’t want his slot to go empty.

Dokka never did make it to that class. But his Tiffany-style lamp will get finished.

Covenant Art Glass shop teachers Tami Bogdanoff and Nancy Alexander are finishing the lamp for Dokka, who at 72 died Jan. 6 from complications following heart surgery.

“My heart does wish he can rest in peace knowing his wife could have this everlasting memory of him,” Bogdanoff said. “Every time she pulls that chain on that lamp, he’s there with her, and I think he would have wanted that.”

Bogdanoff, 47, and Alexander, 62, plan on presenting the finished lamp to Dokka’s widow, Barbara, during a special exhibit Saturday in Everett. The public is invited to admire what all eight of the Covenant Art Glass students have produced in this year’s Tiffany class.

Barbara Dokka, who helped her husband pick out the pattern for his reproduction, said she was bowled over by the women’s offer to finish what her husband started.

“The amazing thing is he had no idea the effect he had on people like that,” said Barbara, 65.

Born in Everett, Robert Dokka retired after a long career with the Snohomish County Public Works Department. Dokka was one of those jack-of-all-trades, Renaissance-man types who did remodeling around the couple’s Marysville home and also pursued the finer interests of photography, wood carving, gardening and creating artwork out of glass, such as stained glass windows.

“If anybody enjoyed his retirement, that man did,” said Barbara, who was married to Robert for 35 years.

Though Robert was always willing to challenge himself, even Barbara was amazed when he told her he wanted to make something as complex and elaborate as a Tiffany-style lamp, a process that involved a trip to Portland, Ore., to pick the glass; a high degree of commitment every other Wednesday evening from January to May; and hours of cutting, grinding, fitting, wrapping and soldering literally hundreds of pieces of glass.

“He was the kind of person, though, that would say, ‘Well, gee, I’m going to try,’” Barbara said.

Robert Dokka had taken several classes at Covenant Art Glass but was “absolutely excited” about the lamp class and was the first one to sign up in August, said Bogdanoff.

Dokka had to undergo heart surgery in September but still made the glass-gathering trip to Portland. Dokka had even picked his pattern — a modified version of an existing pattern because he wanted to change the tulip in the lamp to a Mackintosh rose.

“Nancy and I, we looked at each other and thought, ‘Oh, one of those students who are going to go off the deep end and who just want to make this difficult,’” Bogdanoff joked. “So we sat with him an extra hour that day and he traced the Mackintosh.”

Bogdanoff realizes now that if she and Nancy had not spent that extra time with their student, they wouldn’t have gotten to know him as well and wouldn’t have known how he wanted his lamp to look.

Dokka became ill in December and never returned to the class.

Neither Bogdanoff nor Alexander realized Dokka had fallen ill with a spreading infection. When they had received the message about Dokka’s death, both women broke down in tears.

They knew then they had to finish his lamp. Though highly trained in Tiffany reproductions, the two teachers have been challenged making a lamp for someone else, especially a man like Dokka, who “marched to his own drum and everything he did, he did with a little twist,” Bogdanoff said.

The teachers also face extra pressure because they know the lamp will take up a prominent public place in Barbara Dokka’s living room.

“How do you fill somebody else’s shoes? It’s impossible. These lamps are individual,” Bogdanoff said. “But we are doing our best, and it’s our hope and we pray it will be close enough.”

See the lamps

Covenant Art Glass is holding an open house from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday at its studio, 3232 Broadway, Everett, to celebrate eight students who have completed Tiffany-style lampshades.

The exhibit will have a festive atmosphere, with appetizers and artists dressed in vintage clothing. Guests have the chance to vote for their favorite lamp. The Tiffany-style lamps are on display through June 5.

Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424, goffredo@heraldnet.com.