On an average of once a year, I break a piece of glass and it is usually a special piece.  Well, it was my turn again recently. While it does not look very special lying on the table, it was indeed a very special piece. It became my 'next project'.

After a couple days of looking at the glass from various angles and pulling matching glass from my inventory, I came up with a design. Now I have to admit that my sister was right when she taught me that a broken sheet of glass can be the beginning, rather than the end, of your project.

I created a new piece this week - Considering Change From All Angles - these pieces created with clear textured glass have amazing character and personality which is almost impossible to capture with one photograph. They will always pick up on background colours and changes in lighting so will look different as the seasons change. In a window facing a busy street, they would pick up on the blue, white, yellow spectrum of headlights of passing vehicles as well as the red from the tail lights. They can also pick up and reflect the range of colours of sunrises and sunsets. This one is designed to allow the full light in but to soften and blur the lines, shielding you from the harsh realities of life, if only for a short time.

To further explain my concept of 'Out of Chaos', I am sharing this photo of chaos ... the bits that are left at the end of a large project. I am now pushing myself to use some of those pieces to create a smaller but creative project. The pieces in this photo were left over from a lampshade which I created. The lampshade is not shown on my Commissions page yet as the panels are completed but the lamp will not be fully assembled until March when I travel to Halifax.
I actually put the glass scraps from the lamp to use for two purposes. First, I created 'Frankenfish' which is a statement on my concern for the environment. This piece will appear on my website soon. Then, I had just enough of the dark pink cranberry left to create two flowers which evolved into 'Rennie's Roses Revisited'.  
It can be difficult and overwhelming to walk into my glass workshop, survey the many large and exciting pieces of glass in my stock, and try to create a masterpiece each time. Pushing myself to use smaller bits as the central focus of the next piece of glass keeps me creative. Having just finished three consecutive pieces based on the chaos remaining from previous projects, I am giving myself permission to start with a clean slate tomorrow morning. Let's see where inspiration takes me! 

Rene's Roses Revisited - and shown in full sunlight. This will have to move to The Galerie Old Chelsea quickly or I won't be able to part with it.