I love fall. It’s my favourite season, by far. Spring comes a close second, but it’s a bit too muddy for my liking. Summer? Too hot. Winter? Too cold (especially here in Ottawa). But fall… Fall makes me want to go for a hike and grin at the satisfying crunch of fallen leaves underfoot. Other reasons I love fall: hearty soups, apples (especially my favourite, Tolman Sweet), that “back to school” energy in the air, Thanksgiving dinner, and, oh yah, the colours. Who doesn’t love fall colours? So rich and earthy. And I think that’s what I love so much about these 2 mirrors: the fall-like colours.
Now, this first one was actually the first mirror I made in this little ‘series’. It was a while ago, so pardon me if I’m a little fuzzy on the details. I do remember we watched “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” while I was cutting and glueing all those squares. Not a great movie – it definitely didn’t live up to the first “Elizabeth“.
The second mirror is my favourite one of the whole bunch. I love the colours and I love that you can see the grain of the wood through the glass – I think that sort of organic aspect is a great contrast with the hardness of the glass. This mirror is a great example of me having a plan and not following it (and the end product being much better because of it!). Originally I wanted to split the mirror into 4 differently coloured sections radiating from one corner (can you picture it?). But then I looked at the colours of the glass that I was being drawn to and thought that a sort of fiery freeform design would be much more interesting. And I do believe it was! It was also nice to work with the existing shapes of the glass scraps again – that’s really what I love doing and it’s when I feel most inspired.
I was home alone the weekend I started work on this mirror, so I needed something (read: a TV show) to entertain me while I worked. You know, take my mind off of my knotted shoulders, bleeding hands, and blurry eyes. The trick was that it needed to be a show that I found interesting enough to have it on in the background and not get annoyed, but one that I wasn’t dying to see, otherwise I would spend my whole time watching and my mirror would sit unmosaicked. My solution: Degrassi TNG. Yes, this mirror was made to the soundtrack of Season 7 of Degrassi TNG (that gives you an idea of how long these things take to make, eh?). This does not embarrass me. No, au contraire. I am a proud Canadian: I love CBC, Degrassi, maple syrup, and the fall colour palette. And I hope you love this mosaic.
