Ever since I was a child, I have had a fascination and great affection for natural found objects - rocks, crystals, lichen, seashells collected on annual trips to the ocean. I am still a magpie today, never able to resist a beautiful twig or leaf or feather and carry it home to my own cabinet of curiosities to admire.

My love of building things with natural elements has also been with me since childhood, and once my father taught me the art of electrical wiring, all bets were off. I have been experimenting with incorporating lights into my work for some time now. 

When I found a fabulous mirror discarded in the trash on the side of the road one day, I couldn't help but to bring it home with me and dream up ways I could transform it into something really fabulous and whimsical.  It had the perfect amount of patina - probably water damage which was a flaw that someone else deemed unacceptable. But I found it so beautiful, and the more I looked at the markings and the discoloration, the more it seemed to call out for the celadon green sea urchins I had been collecting. But sea urchins alone would simply not do - it needed more texture and juxtaposing. A box of quartz points, hoarded years before and just waiting for something fabulous to become a part of, seemed to be the perfect answer.

I dreamed about this mirror for 3 years, never quite finding the time to devote to its formation. Then, the night before I was to host a huge birthday party at my house, I had the lightening bolt of inspiration. The vision was complete in my minds eye and it had to be made right then.  Under the light of my 1970's disco ball, I worked until the sun came up, improvising as I went.

Here is the making of my first illuminated mirror, combining elements from the earth and the ocean, and about 400 glue sticks.