https://www.facebook.com/105817957702214/

Portrasaic, Richmond (2026)

27/05/2026

Persephone - Part 9 (of 10)
“Into the Light”

Persephone’s joyous return to her mother and the Earth above is accompanied by the light of springtime replacing the gloom of winter.

It is light that gives life, allows us to see beauty, bathing the earth in a warm glow that makes us feel safe and happy. But just as we learned that there is no shadow without light so too there is no light without the dark to accompany it. We all need to learn to live with both. It is the balance we create in ourselves that makes us who we are, the choices we take, the love we give, the obligations we keep and the beauty we make that changes the world to be a better place.

On a technical note, I have used several types of mirror glass to bring life to the flowers that surround Persephone especially hammered mirror glass which makes the light dance and play on the flower petals. This vibrancy is difficult to see on a still photo but may become apparent when I show you the final images in video form.

My dear friends, I am happy to say that this part now completes the series. I hope you enjoyed seeing this piece build, slowly, part by part, in great detail. The next post will, for the first time, show you the whole composition in both still and video form. In the final post I will also recap the whole story for you.

20/05/2026

Persephone - Part 8 (of 10)
“The Awakening”

Persephone is the only daughter of Demeter, also known as the goddess of the harvest or Mother Earth. In despair at her daughter’s abduction, Demeter withdraws her gift of life and growth and plunges the world into dark winter. On Persephone’s joyous release from the Underworld each year, Demeter re-awakens the Earth again, with the new growth of springtime. Beauty returns and joy fills Persephone’s heart.

I have unashamedly chosen to show Persephone surrounded by and festooned with the flowers of an English spring, including bluebells, daisies, daffodils and buttercups. They are simple in beauty yet elegant in their abundance of colour as they carpet the valleys, meadows and woodlands of the English countryside. Each year they lift the spirit and soul of all who see them with their gentle beauty.

(You may have noticed that I have left the background unfinished. This is because I need it for the next post… should be coming to your screens very soon!)

16/05/2026

Persephone - Part 7 (of 10)
“Chasing beauty into darkness”

So at last we actually come to the beginning of the story….

Hades, besotted with Persephone, knows that she is fascinated with the beauty of the natural world so he seduces her with a field of Narcissus flowers. Hidden in that field is a chasm in the earth, through which Persephone falls into the underworld realm of Hades where she is trapped and held prisoner. Hades continues the seduction with the promise of her own eternal beauty if she stays with him and becomes his bride and queen.

It is too simplistic to say that chasing beauty will lead us into dark places, as the appreciation of natural beauty is one of the things that gives life meaning. However yet again we see the danger of unintended consequences from the choices we make (see pomegranate episode 5). But to avoid all risk do we have to stay away from the things that make life worth living? Where is the choice here?

Also does Hades’ choice of flower have any deeper meaning?.. In another Greek myth Narcissus was the name of a hunter who fell in love with the beauty of his own image, spending his life looking at his own reflection. Again, chasing beauty into darkness?

We sometimes confuse the words “beauty” with “perfect”. But true perfection does not exist, so perfect beauty is also an impossibility. Maybe it is chasing this perfection that pushes us into dark places and we should simply appreciate the beauty that is in and all around us, rather than chasing what is unattainable.

13/05/2026

Persephone - Part 6 (of 10)
“The dark side”

I just wanted to take a moment to examine Persephone’s “dark side”.
Yes, she is a creature of the light, but if she were pure goodness, light and love then she would not be able to harbour a darker side. Her hair on this side of her face is wild and disarrayed, tentacular, stretching toward, as if yearning for, Hades again. The flowers in her hair are black roses which look as if they were corrupted by the darkness of Hades.

As we saw in part 4 everyone, including Persephone, has at least a whisper of darkness inside and it is this that Hades can latch on to and exploit. When Persephone moves onto her throne beside Hades in the underworld it is as if she is equally at home there. She adapts and allows her dark side to take precedence. She assumes the mantle of darkness and is willing to become Queen of the Underworld. But she never forgets where she came from and her light side is never completely subjugated.
So what sort of queen is she? We discussed in the pendulum episode how we all live within the extremes of our own scales. Does her light side mollify the dark? or does she move from one extreme to the other and become a terrifying queen of darkness?

Finally, if she is so comfortable by his side, could there be something more? Could it be that she also has feelings for him? That this is more than just duty and obligation?

09/05/2026

Persephone - Part 5 (of 10)
“Taste of the forbidden fruit”

Ok so… on the last post I asked you what was in Hades other hand:

Having finally negotiated her release, before returning to the surface, Persephone is tricked by Hades into eating a few Pomegranate seeds.
The right hand of Hades holds the remains of the fruit and he reminds her that eating anything in the Underworld binds her to him and obliges her to return to him in the Underworld every year, thereby bringing the dark of winter back to the earth.

This is the consequence of her temptation. Her freedom to make that choice impacts on and limits her freedom to live in the light for eternity. But was it a true choice if she didn’t know what all consequences of that choice would be? Do we ever really know what the final outcome will be of any of the choices we make, as our understanding of the world is as imperfect as Persephone’s?

Does the wind from the fluttering of the wings of a butterfly cause ripples that affect us all?

This post ends our journey through the underworld. Now we will start to move slowly into the light….

seasons

06/05/2026

Persephone - Part 4 (of 10)
“The swing of the pendulum”

As Persephone moves from living in the light above to the dark of the underworld and back again, so the earth cycles around the seasons. The pendulum, held in Hades left hand swings like a clock marking the change of season.However the pendulum does not just mark time….

We all live somewhere within the extremes of our own scales of light and dark, good and evil, love and distain, hope and despair. Hades uses the pendulum to mark where we are on these scales. He does not however, have the power to control our actions, other than with his use of deceit and trickery. He can only measure using the pendulum as a tool to make his judgements.

None of us are purely good or totally evil all the time. Even demons were once angels. We are human and our position on the pendulum scale is driven by the choices we make, the risks of which are unintended consequences. Does Hades revel in our bad choices or is he just unsympathetic?

Is there a pendulum scale for Hades himself? Is he also being judged? If so does that mean he also is capable of redemption and is Persephone a part of that redemption?

… so many questions for you to answer… and what does Hades hold in his right hand?

seasons
face faceyourself
greekgoddess goddess
greekmythology greekgods
mythology duality
mosaic glassmosaic
glassart glassartist
mosaicportrait portraitart
artforhome artforhomes
ancientgreece balance
darkandlight underworld
redemption pendulum
pendulumreadings

02/05/2026

Persephone - Part 3 (of 10)
“Only with light can there be shadow”

Hades, Lord of the underworld, rules over a domain of darkness. However his need for Persephone is every bit as strong as her need to leave his dark world, as she yearns to live in the light again.
His eyes are cold, piercing with power and yet his face shows no joy or happiness in his conquest. Is he as lost as the souls that inhabit and wander his domain of darkness?
We are never told why he chose to abduct Persephone. Was it simply lust? or misogyny? Or was it his form of twisted love? To those who live in the light, love can never exist where it results from a loss of freedom. Yet ultimately he did agree to let her leave the underworld for half of the year. Does that show love? remorse? or did he simply not have the power to hold her?
We can never know. However in my view Hades is not only darker but more “broken“ than Persephone and I am trying to show him that way using a more fractured style to depict his features.

Tech note: I have used quite a lot of textured and iridescent glass in this part which under artificial light (image 2) appears to be part of the black gloom. Only under natural light do the colours come out (image 1) and when under lit (image 3) gives quite a spooky effect.

eye eyes
face faceyourself
greekgoddess goddess
greekmythology greekgods
mythology duality
mosaic glassmosaic
glassart glassartist
mosaicportrait portraitart
ancientgreece balance
darkandlight underworld

29/04/2026

Persephone - Part 2 (of 10)
“Riven and Torn”

Persephone, abducted by Hades, god of the underworld, is resigned to only living in the light of the earthly world during the Spring and Summer months.
She bears the face of one who knows her joy is short lived, her soul empty, her obligation to return to the Underworld each winter. Her place is neither on the earth nor under it and yet it is both.
Her eyes have the power of a Goddess but not power enough to bring light to the Underworld. Her face is riven and torn in two, one side light, the other shade as she is pulled in both directions

eyes face faceyourself
greekgoddess goddess
greekmythology greekgods
mythology duality
mosaic glassmosaic
glassart glassartist
mosaicportrait portraitart
artforhome artforhomes
ancientgreece balance
darkandlight underworld

27/01/2026

“Goliath” is finished.

I have tried to give it both life and motion and added a certain ethereal quality to him as he charges out of a swirling, aurora-like maelstrom background giving it, I think, a different “feel” from anything I have done before.

I used one of my favourites for the glass background. It’s a dark green wispy white sheet glass made by which I got from my favourite supplier

This was not an easy project and I took a number of risks mixing the styles and techniques to try to get over a sense of both the wrinkly trunk and smooth ears.

I do hope you enjoy him and once again enjoy the development shots in the carousel. I will post a final reel when the frame arrives.

serengeti_national_park
africanlife

junglepete pachyderm
elephant🐘 tusk tusker
lifeonearth lifeincolour

mosaic glassmosaic
glassartist glassart
contemporaryglassart
animalmosaic animalglassart
mosaicartistsinternational
portrasaic

07/01/2026

Finally managed to devote a little time to “Goliath” after all of the shenanigans of Christmas and New Year. Hope you all had a good time, came through it relatively unscathed and I wish you all a happy and fulfilling new year. 🥳☺️

Goliath has again grown and has finally got his legs which is giving the piece a little sense of motion.

Just background and grouting to do now but I need to wait for the glass to become available for that, so I thought I’d give you the latest update while we wait.

The process for this piece has not been the easiest to achieve but it was necessary for the effects that I wanted so it took a little longer than normal. Then again, when have I ever taken the “easy path” ? 😉😆

Not much more to do now and again I’ve shown the previous posts so that you can see and I hope enjoy the development with me.

africa
serengeti_national_park
africanlife

junglepete pachyderm
elephant🐘 tusk tusker
lifeonearth lifeincolour

mosaic glassmosaic
glassartist glassart
contemporaryglassart
animalmosaic animalglassart
mosaicartistsinternational

Portrasaic

27/05/2026

20/05/2026

16/05/2026

13/05/2026

09/05/2026

06/05/2026

02/05/2026

29/04/2026

27/01/2026

07/01/2026

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Establishment

Shortcuts

Share

Category