Crawling towards the finish

This is a piece I started about a year ago.  It kept presenting problems so I would work on it periodically, putting it aside finally about 8 months ago to do other pieces.  I've always thought that this piece will be amazing when it is finished...it is just a difficult piece due to the size and the intricacies of the grasses.  It is (very) roughly 30"x24", which is the largest piece I've worked on so far.  There are over 200 pieces.  That means that after all of the pieces are ground and fit together like a puzzle, I have to foil them all before I solder!
Another major problem is the background.  The white background you see in the photo is actually the  pattern underneath.  And there is a small bit of sunset red stripey glass in the upper left corner. It is not staying. I had a textured clear glass originally, but it washed out next to the white of the egret's head.  I have tried several different colors and textures, to no avail.  But recently, I spied some glass at one of the glass studios I buy from that I think could really work well.  I should be ready for it very shortly.  I can't wait. I will post a pic when I get there.