SELENITE
I am fascinated with crystal in its many forms, and having purchased a few pounds of offcuts set about seeing what could be done with the material, I found by using crimping pliers I was able to break off long slivers which when lit from below refract the light in pleasing patterns.
The small glass tea light holder was surrounded by these slivers which were secured with glass glue. When lit, the glow given off by the flickering flame is rather mesmerizing. Unfortunately I later found that the heat from the flame reduced the slivers to a very brittle, almost powdery substance. Since then I have found battery operated tea lights that produce no heat, meaning the items retain both structural integrity and their translucent quality.
This mini crystal shard mountain is lit with a tightly packed string of white Christmas lights. The use of individual lights gives an interesting effect as some shards are very bright while others have less illumination, allowing you to see the natural strata and imperfections in the crystal.
With the thicker shards I was able to use a chisel to scrape them smooth, giving me a frosted glass finger effect. A light source at the base would illuminate the entire structure a lot like a fibre optic cable. I gave this one away as a present, and it was used to great effect by the recipient to depict the Star of David above a Christmas nativity scene .
