I find that I do my best work when I am inspired to make something for someone I know and care about. My son, David, lives in Southern California and I live in Northern California. When he comes to visit, he looks at the collection of my created work and mentions that Connie, his friend in Arizona, would really like a certain piece because it is purple. Connie loves purple, and she loves dragonflies. While I was making this piece, I was inspired to put in the bumble bee and the butterfly by the delight they would bring to Connie. The piece has a mirror in the center, but I took this photo before I removed the protective masking tape from the glass.
Every year my son, David, and my daughter, Christi, and I spend a week in a house on the beach near Morro Bay. We spend many hours on the beach and I am always collecting shells, stones and sea glass. David and Christi will join in occassionally, and we find tons of great stuff. In 2007, after returning from our vacation, I decided to create a mosaic for David to have as a momento of our vacation. Once again, I felt I was successful with this piece because I wanted to create this mosaic using the shells David had found while helping me with my collecting mania. This was inspired by a picture Christi had taken while standing in an outdoor shower by the side of the house, which looked out into the garden and the beach, just beyond.
I am working on another dragonfly mosaic in blue because I fell in love with the whimsy in the puple mosaic and wanted to continue that expeprience. I am also creating a Key holder and a long slim board in squares and rectangles to practice mixing things up. Then I will begin a piece that has been haunting me for months and has to be faced and attempted to the best of my ability at this time. Like the Indian purse piece below, I know that this new one will be exacting in its execution.
