The Dance (Julie Dilling)

I am now the proud owner of Julie Dilling's The Dance. It's difficult to photograph this piece so that you can see the red background with the slightly raised slivers of stained glass that make up the grasses - but it's true beauty is revealed when light comes from behind.

Here's what Julie says about the mosaic:

The background is L'Opio. The grass is stained glass cut in 3/8, then cut in 1/3 and laid on its side. The edge are seed beads.

My inspiration came from a recent scuba trip to Indonesia. Most of the coral and sponges were reds and oranges - hence the red background. In the shallow areas were the turtle grasses that seem to dance in the current with the sunlight glittering on them. That's why I wanted the grass to be transparent. I have had "The Dance" sitting in the window at my house so the sun made the grasses sparkle.

Julie is a co-owner of Tesserae Mosaic Studio in Plano, Texas.