In June, I made this stained art glass mosaic:

It occurred to me after I made it that it represents my experience of Summer.

That recognition pointed me to my next stained art glass mosaic projects.

I decided the first step would be to draw a rough mock-up of my next projects, Autumn and Winter.

When I first thought about doing seasonal panels, I was thinking of Autumn in terms of yellows, reds, and oranges. I thought of Winter as black, grays, and whites. This was coming from my head.

Then I remembered that my husband Harold once told me about an artist who said that he didn’t try to draw something; he instead tried to draw his experience of that something.

So, in drawing my rough mock-ups of Autumn and Winter, I drew my experience of those seasons, which turned out to be very different colors than I had first imagined.

My experience of Autumn this year was of riotous color, especially greens and reds:

Here’s what Winter feels like to me:

These mock-up’s are small in comparison to the finished piece, and I don’t use them literally for design or glass placement. I use them just to get the feeling of the color palette. From there, when I start the piece, the glass selects itself and tells me where it goes in the piece; I literally feel my way. Also, I decided not to draw the border, but I will put borders in the final pieces.

Filed under: Being a Reinventer, Adventures of a Reinventer, Lynne's Reinvention Journey on November 26th, 2011