Stephanie Beta Murphy - Artist

I made this for my friend Gina. I think it embodies her essence. My son, Mike says it looks like her. It hangs at the foot of the  stairs in her home.  Made entirely of smalti. It is inspired from the  mosaic pieces by artist Irina Charney.

I think I made this piece in 2007. I saw  the picture in the Allentown Morning Call Newspaper and it just spoke to me. Made entirely of Italian smalti.

this is one of the pair of mosaics I made for my son Patrick's behavioral specialist,Nicole when she was expecting her twins. Made entirely of smalti.

I made this for my aesthetician, Cheryl, years ago. She has been the recipient of many of my pieces.  We barter. I don't tip her. I just make her pieces. 

Made entirely of smalti. Somewhere in my files have the artist print that was my inspiration for this piece. It was built around the bejeweled being int he cobalt blue circle at the end of the branch. Michele Lynche is the artist who made that piece of jewelry. 

Made entirely of smalti. I have no clue where the inspiration for this piece came. I made in 2007 and the title escapes me at the moment.

I made this for my cousin Joann.  She cooks for Christmas and I create art for her.  Made entirely of smalti. Inspiration was a vintage greeting card.

Part of a mosaic challenge I did years ago...."song title."   From the Beatles song "Lovely Rita ,Meter Maid." Made entirely of smalti.

This piece hangs in Twisted Scissors Salon in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. Inspired by a piece done by Irina Charney, one of my favorite mosaic artist's. Made of smalti and mirror glass.

I made this for my friend, Krista who loves polar bears. 

This piece was one of my first commissions by Cherie of Twisted Scissors Salon.  Hangs on their wall at the manicure station along with it's twin.

Twin commission piece to Twisted Scissors Salon. My first commission piece. Both pieces were hung by my contractor,Simock Construction. Rick Simock is absolutely the BEST!

Made as part of a class taught by Martin Cheek in St. Augustine, Florida in 2011. The idea was to build a mosaic around glass fusions. The remainder of the tesserae is smalti.

I built this piece around the reindeer on the left created by Michele Lynche. Made os smalti and fused glass.

I made this piece for my god daughter Amanda upon her graduation from Moravian College. Made of smalti and rimmed with gems.

This was my first attempt at an icon.  Made of Italian smalti, it was an ordination gift for Father Stokes. He was very influential in my  son Michael's teenage life. 

I made this a few years ago on vacation at our camp in upstate New York. I challenged myself to take a bunch of materials from my studio, and had to use them in the design. I had to work with what I had on hand as opposed to running to the shelf to find something new. made of smalti, mirror glass, cabochons, and millefiori.

Made entirely of smalti. This inspiration for this piece is a photograph  from our dock in our camp in upstate New York. I made it for my husband for Christmas which hung in his office for many years. 

I made this in my second workshop at Orsoni in Venice, Italy with the help of Antonella Gallenda. The inspiration for this piece was a photo I had taken the year before when I was on the island of Murano as part of mosaic tour/class with Gina Hubler. My travel companion, Roxy, is is the green shirt.  Made entirely of  Orsoni smalti. 

This is a pic before framing. Currently resides in our camp at Sandy Pond, NY. One of my first pieces with glass fusions I made in my kiln. the remainder is smalti.

I made this mosaic after reading The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern. Loved this book. Made of smalti, mirror glass, jewelry bits and marble. I critique I have is that the tree gets lost in the dark blue, not enough contrast. Learned I should color in my cartoon drawings so I can see contrast, if not working form an actual photo. This one was in my head.

I know I gave these as gifts to people I knew  who were expecting "baby girls."  There are two more in the batch but where the pictures are is beyond me. Made entirely of smalti. One subject is a princess, the other an angel. Both are heading to their castle. Notice the castle in the clouds verses the mountain top.

Another attempt at flower glass fusions. Remainder of tesserae is smalti.

I thought this commission turned out exceptionally well. I free handed the design without computer imaging. Worked on the lettering for days! made entirely of smalti. Large panel. I would say 24" x 36' or so. 

I made a series of these trees for christmas presents a few years ago.

This is a 12" x 12" piece was commissioned by my god daughter Amanda. She has a friend who was expecting and coveted all the pieces I give to Amanda just because.....

I made this for a friend of mine who remarried. We reconnected thru Facebook.  We had to worked together in the ICU at Allentown Osteopathic Hospital many years ago.  Made of Italian smalti, millefiori, ceramic tiles and glass gems. 

More attempts at flower fusions in my kiln. Turned out a lot darker than i anticipated. Contrast is an ongoing learning experience.

My second attempt at an icon though this was inspired by  a Christmas Card from my husband's cousin, Kathy Risley.  It is made of Italian and Mexican smalti. I think it captures the love a mother has for her child.  It currently hangs in the Rectory of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Orefield, Pennsylvania. 

This was inspired from the autumnal Little Umbrella Girl. The tree and the little girl were to be in silhouette, with her standing on a field of gold. which is actually gold smalti.

First attempt at a dog. 

This piece was inspired by the mosaic work of Jacki Sowers. It was built around the white porcelain flowers which I bought at TJ Maxx in the clearance section. I am my worse critic but would change some elements of the design no that it has been completed.

Second attempt at a dog.

I created this mosaic from a black and white photograph of my parents. My Mother is 86 years old. I involved her in the creation of the mosaic by having her look at the Orsoni sample board for smalti and pick the colors of her dress, car and my Dad's clothes.  this was taken when they were newlyweds, unencumbered by the daily stress of life.

I made this my husband's boss, Vic Lopiano when he worked for PPL.  

I did this just for fun. 

Another attempt at fused glass flowers but on a larger scale. Currently framed hanging in family room.

This piece was commission by son Mike, for his boss ,Carl  Grega for Christmas in 2014. Currently, my son is employed at Carl's Service Center in Slatington, Pennsylvania as head of maintenance.  The headlights are glow in the dark gems.

This is a baby shower gift for the young man I babysat when I was a teenager. He was the first infant I held and the first diaper I ever changed. Couple is expecting their first child. I used their shower invitation as a design. Just changed the background. Made of smalti, stained glass and millefiori.

This is a commission piece for St. Cecilia's Parish in Adams, NY. They are celebrating their 60th anniversary as a parish.  Father Marty contacted me regarding such. I had already begun this as a challenge to see how my style has changed over the past few years. 

Made for my god daughter's brother, Josh Sutter, because I start a piece for him   and they end up having flowers. Hopefully, this piece makes up for it. made entirely of smalti and edged with glass tiles. 

Primarily smalti with Mirror glass for flames. I did this just for fun.

I bought this vase in a thrift store in Scotland. The stems of the flowers are fused glass I made in my kiln. Flowers are a variety of jewelry and porcelain. Background and fill is smalti. Edged with glass tiles.

Primarily made of smalti. Edged with glass tiles. Jewelry.

Made for my Hair stylist. Though the fill is broken china, this letter was made with the series of 4 letters that completed December 2018.

Made for my boys hair stylist. Completed December 2018. Background is smalti. Jewelry. These initials were a challenge because they are on a smaller scale than those I had previously completed.

Background is smalti. Jewelry and gems. The letter was built around the ceramic flower. A real challenge to find the focal area of the letter A.

Mosaic is 18” x 24” Found a teapot in my stash while cleaning out my studio and thought….. “I have to do something with this.” The use of smalti as the background was an afterthought.

Added clear smalti atop mirror glass flames. Added dimension to the marshmallows with stained glass, glass tiles and Swarkovski crystals. Removed lettering at the base and replaced with smalti.

Substrate is a slate I found in my studio. Background fill is Mexican Smalti.

Size is 12” x 16”
gift for Baby Eleanor

Another wall in the series for another new baby though she/he has not arrived, yet. For my yoga instructor Laura Danner. Tesserae includes: glass tiles, smalti, jewelry, Swarovski crystals, mirror, millefiori, and a ceramic piggy bank.

Utilized Lexel to glue tesserae. Started the the bottom and worked upward.

Transparent Smalti lit from within

Tesserae is transparent smalti lit from within with fairy lights

Final piece in series of of glass on glass mosaics using transparent smalti

8” x 10”. Baby gift. Smalti and glass tile. 24-26 hours of work. Image design credit: Caroline Pedler.

I am using up my stash of mosaic supplies.

I do like this piece better than the blue one! Smalti,jewelry and wire.

18” x 24 “ Panel

Size 18” x 24”

Tesserae incudes: Smalti,Jewelry, glass tiles, pottery, beads and crystals . Size is 15” x 28”.

Wedding gift

38" x 23" The largest mirror I have completed. It is a mixture of smalti, stained glass, mirror glass, tumbled glass pebbles, tumbled glass shards, jewelry, marble. glass fusions, tiny tiles,crushed shells, pyrite and jewelry. 

Fused Flowers made in my kiln using a 3 part firing process. Very simple. I really liked how this one turned out. 

I made these for the Ben Yorgie Event in July. Kind of mirror images of one another. It is difficult to photograph mirrors. I use natural light.  These were placed on my concrete patio. they are actually gray with yellow grout but does not pick up in the photo.

I needed a mirror for the spare bedroom at Sandy Pond. The shamrocks are actually hearts arranged in a shamrock patter. I made the hearts using the freeze and fuse method in my kiln.

Experimenting with shamrocks and the freeze and fuse method.. No better person to receive this gift than my niece. 

20" Square Mirror commissioned by my daughter for her friend Courtney.  She Said to Kate, " I don't care what you get me for a wedding gift, as long as your Mom makes it!" Wish granted. But alas, the wedding didn't happen and has been indefinitely postponed. The mirror was gifted to the LoveRunsRed Foundation for a fundraiser they are having in November 2016. 

This was a redo. Added some antennae to the bugs. I started this mirror with another design plan. 2/3 of the way completed, I chipped off every tile because I disliked where the design was headed. I had made these glass fusions for a mirror class that never happened. The green swirls I made in my kiln just for fun.

Raffle ticket Item for St. Joseph the Worker CraftFest in November 2016.

Whimsical Mirror that was totally unplanned and made from odds and ends in my Studio. 20.5" square.

14" square mirror

All these little pink circles were hand cut with glass nippers. size is 14" square.

Trying to incorporate found objects into the mirror.  The Choir singers are vintage XMas tree ornaments from the 1950's which is what the piece was built around.

Father Martin asks and I deliver.  XMas Bazaar item for St. Cecelia's Catholic Church in Adams, NY / Mary Queen of Heaven Henderson, NY.  Sister parishes we frequent during our summer months at Sandy Pond.  This piece was built around the vintage angel ornaments from the 1950's.  

Small mirror. The irridzed blue glass does not photograph well. But this mirror looks better in person. Rimmed with tiles.

Edged in glass tiles and rimmed with tiny tiles is how this mirror like the other 4 in the series evolved. Flowers are glass fusions. Other tesserae includes ceramic tiles, mirror glass, stained glass, jewelry, glow in the dark green stars in the corners and broken china.

Circular mirror. 15 inch diameter. Edged with vitreous glass and rimmed with tiny tiles. I used the remaining glass flower fusions I created in my kiln to completer this mirror. The fill is left over hues of white stained glass I had in a jar.

Teserrae is glass fusions created in my kiln. Edged in tiny tiles and rimmed with vitreous glass. Fill is stained glass. Goal met. Utilize what I had on hand to de-stash the the studio.

Present for my God-daughter, Amanda Sutter…… Happy engagement and Housewarming. Another in the series using items I “found” in my studio. Tesserae includes: Stained glass, flowered glass fusions, china, mirror glass, jewelry, porcelain flowers, mirror, and cabechons. size is 21 “ square.

Last in the set of mirrors. 21 “ square. Rimmed with irredescent tiny tiles and edged in viterous glass tiles. I gathered anything blue I could find for this piece including: Blue ceramic flowers; Blue glass moon fusions in the corner as well as the hearts of the clovers, made using the freeze and fuse method; Blue and white flower fusions created in my kiln; mirror; cabescons; jewelry; mirror glass,; and stained glass.

Atleast, I think this what I entitled this mirror. I have been having foray into broken china, ceramic, Jewelry and anything chucked into a bin. The roses are old drawer pulls.

Scratched mirror from Joann ‘s repurposed into a piece of art

Inner tiles around the mirror glow in the dark. Hearts cut with a ring saw and circles hand cut with a glass nippers. Phew! 

Rescued Mirror. Jellyfish is compliments of Kory Dollar at  Marvelous Fine Mosaic Art. 

19” diameter rescued mirror

I made this years ago for my daughter's orchestra teacher, Karen Creeden at Parkland High School. My daughter Kate was a cellist.

First attempt at sculpture. 

One of my many pots and one of my favorites.

This  piece was commissioned by my friend Suzanne Duell.

I made this for my friend ,Rose Sibilia. Our boys grew up together. She obliterated me at Scrabble. 

My mom needed a new lamp for her bedroom.Broken china and cup handles. I embellished the shade with  beaded trim..

Jim Sui is my Reiki guide. These are his sisters. Found objects from the Pier 1 Clearance section. Currently, they dwell in my china Cabin.

This is the dress I made at Sue Wechsler's dress Workshop.Currently, hangs in my Mom's sitting room

I found this metal flower Sculpture at Michael's and mosaiced the flowers to match the quilt in my Mom's bedroom. 

Another gift for my god-daughter Amanda. Large glass vessel I found at TJMaxx on clearance. 

I won a  partially mosaiced dress form from Sue Wechsler. I didn't like the black and gold color tesserae so I removed it.  This is the front of the dress.

 This is the first dress from I made by myself.  Using the previous one I had won as an example.  I bought the decorative iron form at Hobby Lobby. I then covered it with sculpting mesh and rigid wrap, a type of plaster. Coated the entire thing with Wellbond glue and then added the tesserae.

I made the bowling pin just for fun. I was playing with different size shapes in between projects.

I made this kitchen utensil holder for my newly remodeled kitchen.

I made this sculpture for my esthetician Cheryl Madeira. Over the years I have made her things rather than tipping her. My husband dubbed the sculpture "Bruce."

The other side of the sculpture. 

This was a gift for Paige Sibilia. And I have no clue where I came up with this idea. I think I had some old ceramic doll parts in my stash and was Like "What am I going to do with these?"

It's All in the Details. I bought these decorative metal angel wings at Hobby Lobby and covered them sculpting wire mesh and Rigid Wrap, as I did with the dress form. These literally evolved. 

This is what I did with a percolator that no longer "Perked." 

Abandoned beads, porcelain and ceramic roses.

What to do with a percolator that no longer "Perks." This was a challenge especially and the handle and spout.  Tessserae includes: jewelry, stained glass, glass tiles, beads, mirror glass, noodles, and mirror. 

I bought this wooden tree from Marshall's on clearance. Has been hanging around my studio for abput 2 years. The Christmas balls are glass fusions and the garland is a necklace.

This tree was a challenge to grout.

I found this glass at Marshalls. The tesserae is fused glass scraps that were tac fused in my kiln. Birthday Gift for my god daughter Amanda. The Gold ribbon at the base is a vintage jewelry broach.

I was not really sure where to put this one. It's a clock made for my friend, Dr. Regina Bogle who recently published her first book. This is the book cover represented in a clock. And so appropriate because she always as issues with "time."  It is made of stained glass and millefiori. 

The tesserae used in this piece was also used in the large vase/vessel on this page. It is a present for my Goddaughter on her 29th Birthday. The waistband is a gold tone necklace I bought almost 20 years ago. The blue gems at the waistband glow in the dark. Size is about 22 inches x 18 inches at the widest point. I made the form from sculpting wire mesh, rigid wrap and styrofoam.

I had this substrate sitting in my studio for YEARS! Finally did something with them Stained and mirror glass, china, jewelry, millefiori, tiny tiles and glow in the dark gems.

Another substrate I had sitting in my studio for years! The inside is glow in the dark tiles. Made of tiny tiles, china and glass fusions.

I was creating pictorial ornaments for our classmates who had passed for a Memory Tree for my 40th High School Reunion. As I was decophaging one for Kim Goodman, a random thought came into my head as to how she would say flutterbyes instead of butterflies. And that is how the butterflies ended up on these mosaic pumps:)

I literally made this dress in a week. I had the form for years in my studio. Built around the crockery and and brooche. I had a ton of blue mirror offcuts I bought from Mosaics by Maria years ago. The rhinestones at the belt are from one of my god-daughter’s prom dress’s that I altered over 15 years ago….. all because I never really throw anything out.

I had these shoes in my stash for years. Finally applied the mosaic tesserae to the form. I utilized leftover stained glass mirror from Mosaics by Maria and jewelry for the buckle.

Waistband not permanent. Inspired by my tiled clay pot series.

Updated waistband

This substrate was hand made with sculpting mesh, wire and rigid wrap. Alas, Not one of my better attempts. So we’ll see how it holds up.

Made from a styrofoam ball and a circle cut from MDF. A lot of stumbles and starts with this one. Has taken me about 5 months to complete.

Constructed in the same way as the Pink Bonnet, has taken over 5 months to complete. Both were done in tandem. The bouquet was just working on this one.

Repurposed shoes covered with multiple layers of Rigid wrap. Tesserae includes stained glass, mirror, jewelry glass gems and broken china.

This is my third Micromosaic. It is made of glass  beads, tiny shells, wire, tumbled stones, fillati, and the moon is a silver charm.  the size is 2.5" x 3.5"

I made this as a gift for my cousin Joann Wischner. She cooks for Christmas and I create. 2.5" x3.5" Made of marble, millefiori, smalti, glass beads, crystals and glass pebbles.

I made this for my  dear friend Diana Janny's birthday. I gave her  a painted pink cane a few years back so I had to top it.  I have a few more years until she hits 60. Maybe I will mosaic a walker for her. The size is 2.5" x 3.5"  Made of wire, stained glass, smalti and glass beads.

I made these in a series. I was playing with with glass in my kiln.

The idea behind this series was to find a fused piece of glass and build around it.  Size is 2.5" x 3.5"

I made this set from a print. A gift for my husband's nephew's wife, Terri Gardner for her Birthday.

Commission Piece

Beyond challenged. Gifted instructor. 

Verona has recieved some of my work. Found a good home for this piece.

Katie Rosenbloom's sheep which accompany the large panel.

I did these switch plates just for fun. 

6.5" Square

6.5 " square

6.5 " square

My Husband replaced the light bar and the cabinet in my Mom's Bathroom. As not to make more work for myself, I made 2 mosaic panels to go aside the new cabinet to cover up the wholes in the paneling.  These are about 8" x 30" Edged in glass tiles. The vase was a pair I bought a thrift shop and cut in half with my tile saw.  The flowers a fused glass that I made in my kiln. The remaining tesserae is glow in the dark tiles, china, stained glass, tiny tiles and millefiori.

i found these stakes when i was looking for pink tesserae in my studio. Filled with leftovers form Bloomin' Heart.

Commission piece. 

Tessera includes glass tiles which edge the piece, stained glass, glass fusions, mirror glass and jewelry. 

I wanted the letters to grow with the baby. I love the idea of the sheep floating on the clouds.

My old House sign is 10 years old. Remade this one using silicone glue, mirror glass, stained glass and ceramic tile. Let's see how long it lasts.  Under a porch roof but weather here can be brutal. 

Pins collected  thru our  family vacations over the years become the focal points of this initial M.

XMas present for my daughter Kate. 

My autistic adult son loves Disney! Hence, the mouse ears.  

I have made a couple of these lamps.  The glass is cut and tac fused in my kiln to round out the edges.  Fairy lights inside. Love the effect!

This piece centered around the ceramic tile in the center.  It is a tribute to our beloved golden Retriever Bailey. 

Table top using the reverse method. The first one was discarded to the bin.

I made this W for my cousin Joann Wischner whose favorite color is red. Tesserae includes a necklace I bought at Talbots on final clearance (black flowers) , glow in the dark white tiles, mirror glass, jewelry and china.

Made this piece with the intention of filling a wall space but does not go with the decor. The mInt green tiles glow in the dark.

This is the third wine bottle form I completed. Currently hung on the wall of our trailer in NY with it’s siblings.

I am a loss as for titles at the moment. These started out with the flowers. The multi-colored stems and ground cover for lack of a better word, started out in beige and golden tones but soon morphed into a rainbow of color. Flowers were jazzed up a bit after the piece was grouted. Awaiting my local frame shop (Allentown Art & Frame) to reopen post-pandemic to do a a simple drop frame. I rather like how these turned out even though it took me more than 4 months to complete from start to finish.

20 inch circle. Working with color theory and gray scale.

16” x 12” panelinitally made for outdoor installation. Decided our trailer did not need any more wholes in it and hung inside. Made from tesserae I had on hand.

Size is about 12” x16”. The leaves were a bear to cut with my tile nippers. Tesserae is from leftover projects. Flower centers glow in the dark. The grout color is slate. A wellbond wash was applied around the edges/ frame as they are transparent tiles and I wanted to prevent grout bleed. Worked wonderfully!

Size is 18” x 24” and has been a bit of struggle to complete as I had no written plan.

11”x14” Panel. A practice in keystones. Stained glass, mirror glass, millefiori and glass tiles.

Second panel of the pair, size is 18” x 12”

A plethora of tesserae on this panel size is 18” x 12”

These were a project of leftovers and just evolved with no design planned

Another GOG Mosaic from a weekend retreat at Marvelous Fine Mosaic at Deer Island, Oregon. About 12” square. Kory Dollar and staff are extremely knowledgeable.

12” square-ish Mosaic made at Marvelous Fine Mosaic in Deer Island, Oregon at a weekend Retreat with Kory Dollar. She is a true master of the GOG style mosaic. A real learning curve but gained so much knowledge.

Part of a pair and so difficult to photograph as it is framed with mirror.

One of a pair. So difficult to photograph.

12” x 24” piece completed  a work shop at Marvelous Fine Mosaic with Kory Dollar. I really don’t like the sky. If it was on wood, I would have chipped it out. 

Same A-I generated image used for a workshop but done completely on my own. With the water, I could not find the color glass I was looking for and really didn’t know what color I was looking for. I hate the black rock which I would have chipped out if it was not on glass. Sky is better, some grout bleed. It will have to do.  Size is 12” x 24”

Started in February 2025 and Finally completed in August of 2025. A prime example of “ this  just isn’t working for me.” Let it sit and percolate. 

Large piece 36” x 24” ish. Rimmed and framed  with glass tiles.  Other tesserae includes ball and chain, broken china, stained glass and mirror glass and glass fusions. 

Forgot I bought this shallow origami mold. Kind of fun.

12 Inch Square dish

Nine Inch Square dish.  Puddles and cabochons arranged a top of piece of clear glass and fused. 

Six inch square Dish with dichroic accents.

Stack method atop opaque white. Eight inch square. 

I like doing stacks. Kind of mindless though a bit tedious. But I love the way this dish turned out.

I have to say, I put a wellbond wash on this before grouting and was a bit sloppy with 50:50 water to glue ratio. 1/3 of the fused glass tiles fell off.

Photographed on a white background

Transparent green background

Transparent irridized bronze background

Irridized leaf accents on transparent green background

I did a series of 4 fused glass dishes utilizing pre cut trees. This is the only one making it to my web page. Two have been relocated to the cabochon bin and another’s fate has yet to be determined.

Background is irridized blue

6” square fused glass dish

6” square fused glass dish

The background glass is gray but photographed olive

new kiln test contour fuse. 6” square dish.

Fused glass suncatcher verses ornament