Tortoise

Teri J. Seidler

What was your inspiration for this piece?
Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital rescued “Terri” the tortoise, who was found on the side of the road and believed to have been struck by a vehicle. He has made a miraculous recovery and could live another 90 years. Such resilience in an adverse world makes me feel they are amazing and beautiful creatures. I've also been curious about working with dichroic glass and wanted to challenge myself with working with it. I am creating an "animals in the wild" series and decided to design a tortoise to add to it.

Tell us about the creation process including any obstacles overcome or surprises.
Dichroic glass is an interesting medium of micro layers of metals or oxides allowing for shifting colors depending on the angle of light. I used brilliant color and deeply textured pieces for better dimension of the shell. My background rectangle was initially transparent turquoise but the tortoise faded out so I next tried opaque white and boom...an eye popping tortoise.

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Teri can always find peace of mind with a glass cutter and a beautiful piece of glass, even during the ups and downs of this year.