This pendant borrows a bird form from an animal depicted in Hieronymous Bosch's painting, Garden of Earthly Delights. The animals Bosch imagined in his painting are both whimsical and surreal, which I find lend themselves to be re-imaged as wearable pieces made in metal and stone.

In the garden painting are featured numerous fountains. In addition to the pendant I wanted to create an accompanying reliquary made from elements Bosch includes in his garden. I want the reliquary structure to look like one of the fountains. 

I also want to include an owl because Bosch includes a number of owls in this painting. I made a couple of bronze owls for this purpose, but I really wanted to cast a glass owl. I just wasn't sure I'd be able to pull it off since I'm just learning to cast glass. in the end, I didn't need the bronze owls for the reliquary because I was able to cast a glass owl. I'd like to give the cast another shot to see if I can get a clearer color. To do this I'm going to design a program for the kiln that ramps more slowly and stays at its peak temperature for 2 hours, then ramping down slowly. I'd like to see better melting and less bubbles trapped in the glass.

The construction of the reliquary below, then an addition of an LED light to highlight the glass of the owl, further below.