New Vision with Old Work

I started this mosaic awhile ago, but I got stuck. Now I know what I want to do with it. Actually, I already started. The leaf was only the orange stained glass and the gold lizard charm. My initial thought was to make the leaf all orange, but my new vision is as you see it and with another leaf  on the right side.

 I added a drawing of a key that was inspired by a 100 year old French key.

As you can see, I changed the key's shape to fit my vision. Art is not about duplicating, but about expressing the way you see the world. I am beginning to understand what my mosaic vision is: it is the way that I would like the world to look if it were made up of glass, gems, beads, charms, found items, etc... Aha moment.

 When I started to do this leaf I felt a shift taking place inside my thought process. Excited to be taking a risk, challenging myself, and believing that I have nothing to lose if it goes terribly wrong. Working in this beautiful medium, my missteps are glittering works of art. How cool is that.

 Of course, I would prefer not to make a misstep, but that is impossible. Life and art are rife with faux pas. Why would anyone want to keep creating art when you know it could all go so terribly wrong? For me, it is the adventure, and believing that this is what I am meant to do; to express myself in glass.

The sun has finally set. I can hear the fireworks beginning to go off.  Happy 4th of July! Hmmmmm how would I express that in glass...