Original artwork description:

I like the idea of duality in symbols, so here is an eye, but it is also the sun (pupil) in the sky (iris). It is an apocalyptic vision; a chorus of birds within the sun are trying to escape as the sun dies and turns black. (In the mosaic the sun is made using an iridescent bronze/ gold glass that in some light turns black) At the same time it is a beautiful eye-catching decorative piece of work.
The mosaic was made over 3 years, a painstaking process using pieces of stained glass cut into strips and ground to a point to fit into the circle. The strips are set on edge to show the lovely fleck in the middle of the blue glass that you wouldn't normally see in a stained glass art piece. The birds are made by cutting the glass around to leave the shape and filling it with grout (my "drawing in grout" method). The mosaic was made indirect to make a level surface. The mosaic has been exhibited widely, including the gallery at the 2013 Delamore Sculpture Garden, Devon and in 2014 as part of an international mosaic exhibition at the Musee de Beaux Arts, in Chartres, France.

Materials used:

stained glass, gold leaf glass, smalti, gold mirror, on plywood

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