Annapolis artist Bobbie Burnett does not consider herself a deeply religious woman. But ask her about her life's mission, and she will look you straight in the eye and say the angels had a hand in it.
As if to support her claim, Burnett points to a table in the center of her basement studio filled with examples of the three-dimensional stained-glass angels she has spent the past decade creating. In the late-afternoon sunlight, the figures radiate a kaleidoscope of lavender, blue and gold.
"Aren't they beautiful?" said Burnett, running her fingers along the curved edge of a wing.
Since 1982, Burnett has made and sold thousands of stained-glass angels with the help of a crew of volunteers, and donated all of her profits to cancer research. Caring Collection Inc., the nonprofit organization she founded in 1993, has given more than $400,000 in proceeds it divides equally between Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center and Anne Arundel Medical Center's DeCesaris Cancer Institute.
"It seems everyone is touched by cancer," said Burnett, 65, whose husband, Jerry, is a cancer survivor. "We make the angels to give love, hope and, for those who have lost someone, peace."
Burnett studied art at the State University of New York at New Paltz. In 1982, several years after she and her husband moved to Annapolis from San Diego, Burnett's friend, Susie Lyttle, discovered she had leukemia. To bolster the spirits of Lyttle, a mother of three, Burnett designed a blue-and-white angel out of stained glass, a material Burnett had been using to custom-make windows for local churches and bars.
"Everyone was helping Susie by bringing her meals," Burnett said. "But I can't cook, so I brought her an angel."
Lyttle died of cancer in December 1983, and Burnett set up a fund in her name at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Encouraged by friends and family -- all of whom wanted glass angels -- Burnett made and sold enough angels to donate more than $3,000 to the hospital in one year.
Since she began Caring Collection, Burnett has built a loyal force of 70 volunteers between the ages of 12 and 90, many of whom have been affected by cancer.
"The work is good therapy for all of us," Burnett said. "The studio is always alive with energy."
Every Monday and Tuesday, volunteers fill the studio in Burnett's suburban home. Besides the angels -- and pieces of glass piled in plastic bins around the room -- the space is dotted with bowls of pretzels, candy canes and brightly-colored jellybeans.
