DESIGNING A NEW MEDIUM: CREATIVITY, CROSS-DISCIPLINARY INSPIRATION, AND THE INVENTION OF STONE-ON-GLASS ART.  

Artist Jim Richardson shares the story of how curiosity and experimentation led to the creation of a new artistic form. Though not a designer in the traditional sense, Richardson developed a distinctive stone-on-glass technique—mounting stone compositions onto glass and floating them against a white background. This unique arrangement has an amazing potential for evolving. The three-dimensional nature of the medium introduces new elements of shadow and viewing angle into the viewing experience.

Through a visually rich presentation, he traces the evolution of the medium from early exploration to fully realized works, revealing how creative breakthroughs often emerge at the intersection of disciplines. Drawing from his experience teaching the medium to senior secondary students and adapting the talk for a design-oriented audience, Richardson demonstrates how constraints, lived experience, and cross-disciplinary thinking can ignite innovation.

Designed to resonate with architects, designers, visual artists, and creative leaders, the session invites attendees to reconsider how materials can be reframed and recombined. It offers practical insight into cultivating experimentation, embracing unlikely collaborations, and discovering inspiration beyond one’s immediate field—ultimately revealing the shared creative DNA between artistic practice and design thinking.