Well, I’ll spare the details on how this mirror ended up in my lap.
I have a client, they had a mirror. You could say, “It was well loved?!” And, I guess a little dated.
They saw my Chunky Glass Mirror in my gallery, and wanted to know if my magic wand was capable of whipping their trusty reflective orb into something similar.
Um, sure! I love a challenge! It took me a while to really wrap my brain around how I was going to transform this mirror! I had it in my studio and kept glancing at it periodically, trying to see if any ideas popped into my head.
Finally, I got sick of trying to figure it out and decided to lay it on my operating table (sometimes, I feel like a surgeon…) I thought about trying to glue little pieces of glass to each strand of the design (misery!)…then I decided that I was going to have to fill it in.
But how?! My first idea was to make a paste with glue and water and use strips of paper to fill it in. I knew that the resin would eventually make it nice and hard, but it also seemed like I’d spend a lot of time on it. THEN, in my drawer-of-artsy-things, I remembered I had picked up some plaster strips for my son’s volcano project and had leftovers!!!!
This stuff is GREAT and easy to use! It’s plaster mache that comes in a big roll. You just cut it in whatever size or shape you want, dip it in warm water, wipe off excess water, lay it on your surface, and it’s dry and rock solid in 20 minutes! Perfect! I filled in the gaps easily and waited for it to dry.
Then, I coated the frame and plaster with a tinted primer, followed by another coat of aqua paint. Let dry.
Then, I sat and looked at it for another couple of days. I still wasn’t sure how I was going to get glass to stay on it!!!! Then, I realized that the deep valley of the frame would hold probably TOO MUCH glass.
When I’m working, I’m not only considering aesthetics, I’m also thinking about WEIGHT! There would be too much unneeded glass on the frame..so..I’d need a filler that was lightweight! Yep..I just filled it in with resin and my little bubbles (they are a very light “void” and would be a perfect filler!)
I was almost there! I finally added medium sized chunks of glass to the inside and outside border, and smaller chunks in the middle. The end result is exactly what I was going for! Another beautiful transformation!
Thanks for peeking!
Peace Love Glass,
Mary
