Down the plug hole!

Not sure why I am putting this up.It has absolutely no saving graces.I only went into the bathroom to change the loo roll and there it was staring up at me!
Why is it, when the family members are missing, everything you turn to in the house reminds you of them???
That was the case with this glass starfish.Last year our children sent us on a glass blowing course.Didn't do much blowing (other than huffs and puffs of despair)but did learn a lot about glass and how it is made.Thanks kids for the experience.
I don't think I ever appreciated glass before then.There are so many variables - temperature, length of firing in the kiln, positioning in the kiln, types of glass , tecnique used, it's utterly amazing that anything is ever perfect.Even professionally made pieces often have imperfections.More often than not, pieces are discarded and melted down to be reused.
However, I did learn to admire and respect the sheer artistry in making a single piece and will now stop and stare at glass items, ooohing and ahhhing at them.I am even able to state which tecnique has been used.More importantly, I now realise why pieces of glass which aren't mass produced can be so expensive.
This piece was made using a hand made mould and broken pieces of glass, (mainly opaque white) from a large vase that had been discarded.It caused me so much frustration, it remains unfinished.It should have been polished to a high shine but needless to say, I gave up on it.The only purpose it has in life, is to remind me of the course.
To be honest, I didn't even choose to put this up fot the item itself .I was just fascinated by the fact that somehow, I ended up with a pic showing a double shadow. If you look inside the large shadow of the camera, there is a smaller shadow of the same.Being such a novice, I find myself being quite taken by this.Sad eh?