Early in 2013, it advocated for the reflective surface as an eighth design element for interior and exterior spaces. Where the reflective surface, a mirror, polished metal, clear glass, or water would be an eighth element, co-joining the seven established elements of design, line, shape, space, value, form, texture, and color; accepting the reflective surface as a standard design tool for utilizing function and form in an interior and or exterior living space. Please see this petition for an additional archetypal element of design, an eighth element, the reflective surface.

Reflection is an inherent/integral element of design woven into the balance of nature itself. How does the human eye perceive the world? How do we feel and experience the natural world, including the reflective surface? Sight, the first of the five senses, allows perception through a ray of light/electrons reflecting from an object back onto the retina of the eye and back onto the occipital lobe of the brain, where objects are processed into shape and form. Most humans perceive the world with five senses, although proportional relationships of organic and inorganic things are innately and most often understood by sight. We recognize objects and associate this recognition with reason, recognizing an object or thing by way of its form and function; our human form, for instance, has a reciprocal mathematical balance of all organic and inorganic things on earth. Physical matter joined in a cohesive bond of energy, an across, through, and opposing composition of shape and form, each object held together by the physical forces of our universe—the energy from our solar system fuels and bonds this energy, the motion of life. Our physic responds and connects with this natural balance of the "golden mean" or pi / 2.236. Humans have emulated this balance of the natural world in their lives from the beginning of time, the choice, arrangement, and design of the landscape and objects we live with; we want form and function to agree with the natural world and its mathematical balance. We have an innate need for order and organization of these objects, understanding their purpose or utility by arranging them to reflect the natural world.

We utilize objects of utility for practical and also aesthetic purposes. Line and curved shape, depth or space, value, form, texture, and color are primary elements in nature, and we feel comfortable and safe living in an environment where these natural primary elements are present. From the time of Galileo, our ability to reason and discover new methods of living evolved, and humanity advanced through several periods of innovative discovery since the Renaissance. Moving forward, we referenced the past as a guidepost to navigate the future; new aesthetic models of formal design developed in the late 19th century, and this new design philosophy drew influence from ancient designs. The Celts incorporated nature into the design of jewelry and objects of utility. Art Nouveau nurtured these new ideas to the forefront of art and design based on the natural world—balanced synergetic formation of all organic and inorganic matter born and nurtured by the electron. During the late 19th century, inclusive of these new ideas of the "nature way," the world of art and design included the reflective surface, a plate glass panel coated on one side with silver, viewing the glass from the front or, the opposite side of the silvered glass we could see our reflection. This reflective surface is a plate glass mirror; we see our image in highly polished metal or a still pool of water. Humans have long since known that the reflective surface of a mirror emulates reflection in water, still in pools of dark water. Seeing our image and considering the reflection of one's self or an adjacent landscape in nature's design allowed for a deeper connection to the environment and perhaps a consciousness of "self-reflection."

The placement of glass and a reflective surface in a modern design scheme for interior or exterior spaces expands and opens the space. The reflective surface allows the interior space to appear larger and reflect objects in the space. The exterior of a building sheathed in glass window panes also allows the building to appear more significant as the reflected light enhances other objects or natural phenomena on the surface of the glass. Personal and private revelations are noticed on a mirrored surface; when our physical appearance is present, we adjust to apparel, hair, or skin and can feel or experience the past, present, and future about ourselves and the world around us. A mirrored glass surface provides a sort of "through the looking glass" experience, inner reflection, and emotion through one's physical reflection produced by a reflective surface.
So, we now beg the question... If a plate glass reflects both physical form and the mind's eye, is a mirror only an object of physical reflection? Do we not consider the aesthetics of that reflected, although only used for various conveniences, purposes, functions, and forms? The question for any formal design where an object of utility is incorporated into a design plan might be answered: Is this reflective object an essential element of the plan? The effect in the case of a reflective surface should be the cause, where a singular object, although it may have some if not most of the seven elements of design and is considered complete in itself and, in most cases, art, an interior or exterior space, and generally require each of the seven elements composed of several parts to be considered complete, a working functional nature influenced composition. Good design must have a cohesive function and should possess the seven elements of design, although compositions of interior or exterior design include various materials, shapes, and functions. Included should be an eighth element, an element of reflection.

My work with plate glass mirror / Eglomise' with Reflective Elements is often mentioned as "a mirror," although I consider the glass as a canvas and the silver reflective coating color. Utilizing the reflective coating as a material element within the composition, the final outcome rarely resembles only a mirror as we understand it; the reflective surface of the mirror becomes something else! My process of "adjusting" the reflective silver coating leaves a much smaller percentage of the silver remaining relative to the overall size of the plate glass composition. With an accent of the reflective silver color, where the total area ceases to become a mirrored surface, the mirror becomes an object of art. A portal to a physical and ethereal world behind the looking glass, and the presence of this idea has been in our minds for a very long time: Proverbs 27:19 "As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart."
Note: Additional ideas of "reflecting" and expanding the idea of the reflective surface as an eighth element of design will be posted on my website/blog monthly.