John T. Ward
Laurence Harbor, NJ

How Granny's Victorian Parlor became Picasso's Drawing Room

When I saw the white beads and the beveled oval with a parrot I was thinking of my grandmother's drawing room. The beads would make nice hydrangea blossoms in a vase on a table in front of the parrot surrounded by curtains and tablecloth. Maybe a cat to give the picture some animation. Very traditional and nicely colorful.

But then came the mirrors and I couldn't help picturing Gram in a pair of mirrored granny glasses. I decided to compromise with a slightly psychedelic drawing room. With the mirrors as the cat's eyes making it an opportunity to see yourself in the eyes of the cat. The white opal jewels became flowers. I glued the gem's edge to edge into two loose clusters using acrylic modeler's paste, which I then stained with red and blue Delta Transparent glass paint. I also used the Delta stain to form pupils in the cat's eyes.

So I choose to think of the result as Picasso's drawing room.