Each holiday season Coral Bay artist and designer George Hollander creates an awe-inspiring light feature which he erects on his Chicago Hill rooftop area for all to enjoy.
Below is Hollander’s explanation for this year’s light piece, Stairway to Heaven, in his own words. Happy Holidays!
“I had this on-going music buzz in my ear. It was a song by Neil Sedaka, the early 1960s song writer/singer, called ‘Stairway to Heaven.’
It’s that time of year I start thinking of ‘lighting’ for the holidays, something I’ve been doing for the past number of years. Making something, I think is special, from found materials.
This year, I’ve been playing with Styrofoam boxes from our local St. Thomas Cost-U-Less. Their construction is interesting, as is they’re use, for shipping fruit around the world.
After placing a bulb inside its confines, I was surprised by its translucence. Perfect for creating a light “piece.”
But what should it be? I was thinking “columns.” But how to make them sturdy? That’s where the song comes in. It’s funny where that “spark” comes from. That moment when an ‘idea’ becomes a little more. Here are some of the words to the song:
‘I’ll build a stairway to heaven,
I’ll climb to the highest star,
I’ll build a stairway to heaven,
cause heaven is where you are!’
If that’s not love, I don’t know what ‘love’ is.
There’s also of course the song by Led Zepplin. Their words for ‘Stairway to Heaven:’
‘And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our soul,
There walks a lady we all know,
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold.
And if you listen very hard,
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll.
And she’s buying a stairway to heaven.’
Both do it for me! Enjoy and Happy Holidays!”
– George Hollander
