I recently held a first quality ancient greek coin with the head of Athena on one side and an owl on the other, similar to the image above. The owl's stance is very distinctive and I fell in love with it, but as a glass sculpture/bead it presented some challenges. I decided to approach it as an image on a surface rather than as a stand-alone shape. I also wanted to give it the feel of something old and a piece of a greater whole, like a shard from a vase.The first attempt is on the left below, and you can see the gloss on the unetched glass. I chose a base glass called Kryptonite by CIM, it is a beautiful light jade green and looks even prettier etched. The owl has been formed from silvered ivory for it's wonderful organic detailed qualities. The bead on the right is etched and the figure of the owl is tighter. I like them both but prefer the direction where the second one is going. The hole in both runs horizontal through the top portion.
What do you think? Suggestions?
