I am breathless! Wow, it is BEAUTIFUL! What a great project and it was helpful to see how you started and where it moved to completion. (I know you have more to do, but AWESOME) Did you cut the glass for all of this or did you buy pieces? It looks like all glass so I am assuming you didn't break dishes for this one. So now I am anxious for you to finish to see where and how you are going to install it. Surely you will need a "special" location to give it full impact. Do you have an idea? AG I am so glad you are back on the mend poor finger.

OUCH!!! A story: When Itook my stained glass course...the first glass I broke(after scoring), sliced me so bad...even the teacher said she has never seen anybody cut themselves so bad...al that blood!!! ha! But I kept going and will never stop loving glass!!! One friend told me, she was gonna buy shares in the bandaid companies, so she'd get rich(everytime she came over I had a couple of bandaids on!lol) But WOW!!! Your butterfly is coming along wonderfully!!! Hope you'll use black grout!!! Beautiful!

I really had planned on using broken tile in earth tones but I was a little afraid of the weight and so I decided this might be an opportunity to use a lot of scrap glass. That is why it has turned out so colorful. Some pieces are pretty small and odd shaped. The rest I cut and the only glass I had to buy was black. I have a half concrete block which I will mosaic. Then I have to make a wedge piece to motar on top of block so the finished butterfly will be angled up instead of sitting flat. I'm going to try making the wedge out of styrofoam and cover with wire and mortar. We live on a small lake and I plan on placing it down by the dock. We will probably bring it in for winter. This was an experiment. If all goes well I would really like to have a 6-8 foot fish with turned up tail down by the water.
Calamity, stained glass will probably always be my first love but the mosaic designs are fun to do in 3D. Glass cuts do bleed alot but usually they don't really get sore. This time it did because there wasn't anything to lay back over the wound to protect it.

Wowzer, I never have seen a butterfly quite like that, it's amazing!!!

Like the whole idea for this baby, I am super suggesting to bring that beauty in for the winter, I have so many ruined pcs from leaving them out! Even cement statues that I mosaiced with stained glass, heaved somehow, and the grout chipped. grrr! The whole angle theme sounds great! AND the fish will rock too!!!

Beautiful job AG I like what you have done. Excellent job cutting all the petals and such. I admire someone that can cut glass like that. I am lucky to do straight lines and then some are crooked. LOL

LOL! Ditto Flag!
AG, that is stunning. I am assuming that you posted the actual beginning structure of this somewhere. I will look.
If not, I am so curious as to how you built the substrate.

Thanks everyone for being so encouraging! Flag, I have been cutting glass for thirty five years and that is why I have so much scrap in small and odd shapes. A lot of it should have been thrown out a long time ago. I wish I had kept track of how many times I have filled the glass tumbler on this project. Gee, I usually have a lot more trouble cutting the straight pieces! Texasfern, there is a picture of the mesh armiture I made and one with the concrete going on in the album.