Tisha Burke
Centreville, VA

I started with the camel and went from there...

I searched my mythology books, my books on symbols and talked to friends. What can I do with a camel? The main theme I kept coming up with was King Tut. I searched the Internet for ideas and thought of course, his mask will easily accommodate the jewel and wings. I drew up the design and wanted to emphasize the heat of the desert sun and I had an image in my head of an old Stevie Wonder album (Songs in the Key of Life), which also gave me the size: 12" x 12" just like an old album. I also used the scalloped edged foil on the outside rays of the sun pieces to give it the radiating look like on the album cover. I carefully picked the texture and color of the glass for the sun and the sand and I always pay special attention to the swirls of color when I cut out my pieces. The bright blue in the mask is Bullseye and the face is gold glue chip. I have been looking into incorporating items other than glass into my work and because Micheal’s was out of the copper sheets for embossing I settled for the copper wire mesh. I really liked the shimmer it had and used it for the stripes on the headdress. I can’t wait to see what Major Pane has in store for Round 2!