"Lazy Mans Aquarium"

This piece was fun to create - very whimsical. It could be displayed in a window or against a wall. I have photographed it both in a window and against a beige wall. You can see how the image casts shadows against the wall. The border is two sections of grouted mosaic tile edged with glass beads. The clear section between is dotted with vintage rhinestones surrounded by glass beads. These seem to "float" like bubbles. The fish are on a back layer of clear iridized water glass. It is recessed about 1/2" behind the front glass which contains the floating grasses. The fish are decorated with rhinestones, beads, milifiori, etc. They each have red "kissy" lips. This would be a fun piece for a bathroom window or wall. It measures about 16" x 20".

"Texas Royalty"

This is a multilayer piece illustrating fields of Texas bluebonnets. It is difficult to see the layers but the back group of bluebonnets is spaced about 1/2" behind the front group. The border is made up of green glass tiles and beautiful cuts of albalone shell tile. The flowers are created using glass enamels, glass beads and vintage glass and crystal rhinestones. The piece measures approx. 11" x 14".

"Crystal Tree"

The past two weeks I have been helping my husband recover from back surgery so have been unable to work in my studio. Instead, I have worked on a few smaller pieces on the kitchen table. This piece has a mosaic border made with vitreous glass tiles and glass beads. The image area was created with metallic paints and powders, vintage crystal leaves, micro glass beads, and very tiny transparent milifiori. The outside dimensions are approx. 15" x 9 1/2".

A CHALLENGING Commission

A daughter and granddaughter approached me about creating a special gift for "Grandma" for her birthday. She has a favorite painting that they brought over to request that I make a glass on glass window of it. They said that certain elements could be enlarged (the girls picking flowers and some of the flowers too) One child needed brunette hair and the other is a curly blonde to represent the two granddaughters as children. Also there were to be no facial features on the girls. I used mostly stained glass but the flowers are created using vintage rhinestones and millefiore. I am not sure how successful I have been - they haven't seen or picked it up yet. Hopefully it is what they are looking for. If not, it has at least been a terrific learning project for me. Many things I tried here will definately be used in later pieces.