Cannonsville Reservoir

Cannonsville Reservoir, stained glass mosaic on board, 10" x 13", 2011 ~SOLD

A couple years ago - while spending a weekend in the Catskills in New York - I stumbled upon this beautiful place.  

While admiring the beautiful scenery from the passenger's seat, I spotted a small clearing in the woods and asked Kyle to turn around.  We follow the little path down to the reservoir and were greeted with this magnificent view!  It was an accidental find but the image has stayed with me since.  The shore made of stones and the hazy, old mountains in the distances were imbedded in my little artist register in my head.  I knew then that one day I would recreate this view in a mosaic.

Above on the left is a in progress shot.  You can see some of the little sketches I've made, trying to figure out how I'd like to cut the glass to get the desired effect.  I used the nippers quiet a lot to shape the stones and the little ripples in the water - which is what created all the little glass shards in the photo to the right.  I try to sweep often while I work, to avoid tracking the glass all over my apartment, where my studio is located.  Sometimes I sweep the shards into a little mountain and only discard it after I complete the mosaic.  Its a trophy of sorts.  This one was particularly interesting.

To the right, is my mosaic with a different sky I first created.  Despite making preliminary sketches, I had some issues when it came to the sky.  After completing it and having lived with it for a couple weeks, I decided that the sky had to go!  I knocked it of, and started fresh to get a much better effect.