Tools:

Thin Flat blade
Various diameter rods
Flat Surface
Heat source
Lapidary equipment

Technique (see photos HERE):

I have worked with hot glass for over 30 years and have focused my work on mosaic glass for the past 12 years. During this time I have developed and refined various techniques for creating imagery within a cane or rod of glass. I have now undertaken a study of various of the ancient Ptolemaic mosaic glass plaques in an attempt to determine if the techniques I use in my own work are in any way similar to those techniques used in the ancient past.

As my method of investigation I have chosen to replicate the visual style seen in some of the representative mosaic glass plaques of the 1 st century B.C./A.D. My first step was to ‘deconstruct' on paper the imagery that I chose as my models. I then progressively created in glass each of these design elements as shown in the illustrations. Working over a period of 3 months, I gradually assembled these many pre-made components into a unified whole with the continued application of hot glass.

I was surprised to discover the great amount of cold work (lapidary) that was required to achieve the intricacies of these designs. These pieces are of extreme complexity and, I feel, required a highly skilled artisan who had the sensibilities and patience of a jeweler (inlayer). I am now convinced that the pieces that I have created show similarities to their ancient models so that it might be concluded that the originals were constructed using basic techniques similar to those that I show here.