Tomorrow is my 17th wedding anniversary! We are going to hear some jazz, and have a "big date." Sometimes I feel very improvisational when I am in the studio working on a mosaic, in fact most of the time. I usually open up a drawer in my Tower of Tesserae, and start pulling out the colors or textures that appeal to me. Even if I have a basic quilt pattern in mind, or some other design, the choices happen on the fly, as I glue pieces down, and then see what can play off that, and so on. Like jazz, I start with a standard tune, and then see where the glass takes me. The first time I discovered that some mosaicists lay all the pieces out first on a table and then carefully reconstruct the work on the substrate, I was amazed! I'm sure they would be similarly amazed at my method. . .
Within my own house, I have my opposite! My husband, Stratoz, often takes a meticulous planning route when designing his stained glass art. This is necessary in order for his pieces to fit together properly, but is also probably due to his father being a draftsmen. The soldering requires pieces to snug up against each other, to avoid gaps. He certainly does get beautiful results.
I had some enthusiastic responses about teaching a mosaic class, and am contemplating where and when to hold a class. It will be a chance for you to discover what your way of working might be!
