Bob Cook botanical garden, mosaic, water lily

Fred’s Pond

The Naples Botanical Gardens have a beautiful collection of waterlilies that are at their peak of bloom now. Thanks to Fred Bodmer, aquatics specialist, he let me in early one morning to catch the night-blooming Nymphaea’s before they closed. I took about 80 photos, mostly close-ups of the flowers, but I really liked the radiant form of this plant. The oval frame compliments the composition.

Thrift store mirror.
Stripped to the bare wood.
Stain, three coats of hand-rubbed polyurethane, then wax.
The original photo.
Pencil sketch on plastic panel base.
I hand cut the glass and used a grinder to round some edges.
This sheet of glass looks like perfect pond water.
Then cut in large and small pieces to fit.
It took 20 minutes one night to cut one piece to fill a peculiar void.
I dry fit the frame before grouting and notice the cloud does not look right.
So I chiseled the white out and filled it with blue.
Rubbing on, and in, the black sanded grout.
After wiping away the excess. Done (after 8 weeks).
Now it brightens a corner of our living room.