Photo Provided The baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in stained glass.

PARKERSBURG — Tom Pralley is a stained-glass artist, a 1983 Parkersburg High School graduate and the man behind a 12-panel stained-glass creation installed at the Cedar Grove United Methodist Church on Route 47 near West Virginia University at Parkersburg.

His work can be viewed at Parkersburg and Parkersburg South high schools.

“I made the Big Red Indian glass work in Memorial Fieldhouse in 2009 and in 2015 I made the Patriot for Parkersburg South,” he said. “I also made the glass work for the Parkersburg High School 100-year celebration last year.”

The seven-month construction project for Cedar Grove United Methodist Church consists of “probably 1,500 pieces of glass, if not more,” he said.

“The 12 panels are 21 inches wide and range anywhere from 38 to 54 inches high. I’d build a few panels, test the panels to make sure they fit together and then bring them to the church,” he said. “They stored the panels until it was finished.”

Photo Provided Tom Pralley, left, oversees the installation of stained glass at Cedar Grove United Methodist Church.

The panels go together to show scenes of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus and Jesus holding a lamb and walking by a stream.

“There’s about 90 square feet of stained-glass work from the floor level going up to about 15 feet,” Pralley said.

There is a slight catch with wanting to view the work. It can’t be seen from the outside. It can only be seen from inside the church, he said.

“It’s inside other glass,” he said. “People from the church helped install the glass. It took about seven hours over the course of two days.”

The project began taking shape last year when Pralley taught a class about stained-glass art, with several members of Cedar Grove United Methodist Church attending. Pralley has lived in Charleston for three years.

Photo Provided The section shows Jesus walking beside a stream while holding a lamb.

“The church had been raising funds for about 10 years and was about to go with a company from Texas because they didn’t think they were going to be able to afford the final cost,” he said.

“We discussed the whole idea and I agreed to do the work. We started talking and went through three or four ideas and weren’t satisfied with anything. Then Linda Rhodes, a member of the church, had the idea and it went from there. We worked it. We molded it. Then it was a couple more times before the original idea became the final decision,” he said.

The project was dedicated last Sunday at the end of the morning service. Pralley was in attendance.

“I was relieved to see it done. It was about 10 months from beginning to end,” he said, “but it was bittersweet as well. I was glad to be done but in a way I wanted it to continue. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

In the end, he was happy with the results. “We wanted it to be appealing and satisfying visually,” Pralley said. “I think those goals have been achieved.”