Karl Lawrence
Lexington, KY

When I first received my round one theme items, I immediately started thinking about what I could make with them. I thought possibly a desert diarama - the filigree could be palm leaves - no, too obvious. Next I thought I could use the filigree as petals and the jewel as the flower center - but then what do you do with the camel. After several days of getting nowhere on my own, I decided to ask for opinions, many were ideas I had already discarded. I decided to get a child's fresh perspective, I asked the four-year-old son of a friend: "What can you make with a camel, a jewel and a pair of wings?" - I knew I was in trouble when he responded: "I don't know, what can you make?"

So I decided not to think about it for a few days, when I came back to it I approached it from my art history background - what did these items have in common from an art history perspective, and then it hit me - Islamic Art. The wings and jewel could be used as part of the intricate filigree carving and the camel would be great as part of an architectural frieze.

I decided to make a mirror with an Islamic inspired arch for the frame. I used Spectrum amber/ivory opal glass as the foundation, with cobalt blue above the arch. I stacked a strip of Wissmach browm/amber granite on the foundation to form a baseline for the arch and smaller strips for the capitals of the columns. The arch was made by alternating the brown and ivory glass and layering it over the edge of the mirror. The columns were made by soldering amber and brown glass rods between the baseline and the capitals. I cut up the filigree wings (plus seveal more pieces) and soldered them over the blue above the arch. I then attached the jewel (plus two other jewels) to the filigree. Below the baseline I attached the camel and three of his friends to create a frieze. I then added ball chain to the inside of the arch and bottom of the baseline for a finishing touch. The completed mirror measures 10" wide x 18" high.

I enjoyed creating this piece and the challenge of working with the theme items and hope to have the chance to do more.