For years, my parents combined their stained glass and woodworking talents to sell many products, but mosaic glass trays were their bread and butter product. Their trays tended to target serving 2 cups of coffee and snacks, or a full dinner meal. You can see some of their original designs at sawdustandglass.com/tray/. As they’ve begun to wind down their days setting up at craft shows throughout the greater Kingston area, I started to think how my combination of tools and preferred materials could put a new spin on this concept.
The result in this turn/combination is a neighbourhood tray series custom designed for Serge Papineau Real Estate to offer as a piece of moving memorabilia to his newest customers. The map in each tray aims to cover the walkable/bikeable areas for the new home buyer and make for a lovely conversation piece. If you’re in the market for a new home, buy with Serge and you could get a tray that will help you discover your new neighbourhood.
There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations.
Mark Twain
How it was made
A few of the final steps in the process that didn’t get photographed (which were also the messiest ones):
- Sanding the epoxy to 320 grit for a matte effect vs the epoxy glossy shine. I went back and forth on different approaches where I might be able to finish the inside of the tray before gluing into the frame (easier to sand the corners, but less of a seal between epoxy / frame edges).
- Putting the final finish – Rubio Monocoat – on all parts of the frame, back and epoxy.
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