Xmas Tree Ball

(1997) 5½” sphere; ornament in slumped stained glass.
This ball hung during the Christmas season of 1997 on the tree in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, DC. The special themes that year were various crafts in fabric and glass, and the tree contained some 700 handmade ornaments. My ball was made using reasonably conventional stained glass techniques, as requested. Each piece of glass is slumped, and the pieces are joined using copper foil. The ball is hollow and there are gaps in the surface pattern, which reduce the weight and also allow light to shine through.