In pondering what other small 2X2 inch ornaments I could make for Christmas, I decided upon a chi (X) rho (P). These Greek letters are the first two letters in the word Christos and were an early Christian symbol. I believe the cross didn't become a symbol for another century or two. Early Christian burials will have doves (but come to think of it, so do some pagan ones, especially those with children) or a Chi Rho as well as an Alpha & Omega. As a Latin teacher and a student of Rome, I will never see the cross as something unique but rather a favorite method of torture and execution for the Romans. Plus, it really makes me think of the Spartacus rebellion and all the slaves crucified along the Via Appia. 

Anyway, my goals were to see if I could make clear, clean letters and create a nice, even border. I began well, even had a paper guide on the edges to help keep the alignment smooth, but I eventually gave it up, for better or worse. The paper frame was in the way when I was working.

Here's a close-up of the corner. Because I'm cutting all of my tesserae from stained glass with just nippers, the pieces are not perfectly shaped, which this close-up reveals. However, I think that makes the mosaic look a little more interesting, and less like some sort of factory craft kit.

In this picture below, you can see one side of the red and black completed. I should have done the whole border before doing anything else so I could focus on symmetry and consistency, but thought I might find it easier to mainly go from one side to the other after I had completed the chi rho.

You can also see my completed dove and two little quarter sized mosaics. I was trying to determine whether this little 1 inch circles were too small to make anything on, but decided to start with circles of blue glass just to see.  Suddenly it looked like a little geode to me, so I made a second one with purple and lavender glass. They are frivolous but fun. I may make more.

You can see the completed Chi Rho below along with the little fake geodes. This was right after I grouted all three. As you can see, my red border didn't stay quite as even as I would have liked, but I think it is effective and otherwise is an appealing piece. Eventually I will add ribbons or something and hang it on my Christmas tree. I always wanted a Roman themed (whatever that means) Christmas tree, and I think this will be a start.

The next ornament, I think, will be a cardinal. Time to cut more glass. Stay tuned!

I bought a pack of little 2X2 inch squares on a whim a while back and decided I should see whether I could think of something appropriate for an ornament. I needed a break after the last big project and wanted to do something small.

With the light gleaming off of the polished surface, it looks pretty neat. Straight on it is not as dazzling. This picture almost seems too up close and personal, with all the imperfections showing.

However, I am pretty pleased with this little project.  Here's how it began. First I drew on the mirror with an old overhead marker.

I knew I wanted the dove to be white (of course). I like to try out other colors by placing them near each other.

I began with the dove, erasing the purple lines as I worked.

Then I checked my color plans again, and kind of laid out some patterns. One of the biggest problems I have is that I don't work on the mosaics at consistent times. And if I'm working late at night, and then skip a day, on the following day I might forget some little aspect to what I was doing. For instance, if you look again at the completed dove, you will see that I was not consistent in how I treated the yellow starburst. 

In the top right corner, it is bordered by light blue glass going in the same direction. Actually, the corner looks fairly messy, and the yellow isn't even straight.  It was the first corner I did. The last corner was the bottom left, which is very straight but I totally forgot to have the blue glass going parallel with the yellow. 

I could continue to pick it apart from the edges not being perfectly straight to the starburst being off center, but it's art. It's in the moment. I wasn't going for absolute perfection but the joy of creating.

​And when the light hits the shiny glass, it's lovely.

Finishing the heron has been a slow process. And while I was pleased in many ways with the water portion, I did realized that once again I made the same mistake as with the bunting. Not enough color contrast with the background. 

 The distinction between the heron and the water shows best when I use outdoor lighting. But I have no place outside to hang it. And sadly, once grouted, it seemed to disappear completely. Even after I cleaned each tesserae and polished it up so that it was sparkling, it still didn't bring out the heron. 

I decided to take a risk and regrout just the heron. I was thinking that the reason why the heron stood out in the photo was because the light was on it. Thus, what would happen if I regrouted it with white? 

I took some time to outline the heron with masking tape to protect the rest of the mosaic. It was worth the effort because it made regrouting so much easier.

And while the heron does stand out better now, it doesn't look as handsome. But I'm stopping. I learned more, and that's the most important thing. Plus, I'm thinking about taking a different approach next time. The heron looked really beautiful halfway finished, when the mirror was half visible. 

So I'm brainstorming on doing something more like this halfway point. 

​Oh, and for a laugh, here's what happens when you drop a tessera into your glue:

Oops.