Day 11

August 31, 2009

I guess with all mosaics you come to roadblocks here and there. Unfortunately I ran out of cinca tile and have to order more. Thank goodness for Wits End-they are soooo good about sending things out quickly. I was able to work for a few hours this morning, I did not think this was going to take me so long. I'm still not sure whether I like that background or not. (See picture)

So I guess we won't be able to finish this piece on schedule. I have to wait for my order to come in.

Well on to the next project, I'm working on one for my daughters room and the colors are going to be really fun to work with. (See picture) It will be a contemporary design and I'll be starting to sketch it out tomorrow.

Song of the Day (I'm learning this song on the piano)

"Waltz in A Minor" -Frederic Chopin

Quote of the day

"Look at everything as though you were seeing it for the first time or the last time. Then your time on earth will be filled with glory" -Betty Smith

Day 10 (I was not able to blog the last two days)

August 30th, 2009

I was finally able to get back to working and I had about 3 hours of time to dedicate to mosaics today! I finished the main flower and now focusing on the andemento. I decided to use Opus Vermiculatum because of how this technique brings a sense of movement to a piece. I did not want to use the same blue for the whole background and so I thought to use different shades intermixed with the darkest being towards the right corner then I'll go lighter from there. I think this will be successful?

I really am trying to work on getting this finished within the next few days (we'll see) I would really like to stick to my goal on a mosaic a month.

I'm finding that we definetly need to have patience with each piece and look at it as growing and learning with each one. So before we start drawing a new design, laying tessarae down, deciding on color, deciding on what tiles, and grouting we just need to take a deep breath and enjoy the process!

Song of the day (I heard it on cities 97 in the car today)

"Have a little faith in me" by John Hiatt

Quote of the day

"If you hear a voice telling you that you cannot paint, then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." -Vincent Van Gogh

Day 7

August 27, 2009

I read in "Simple Abundance" today about Meditative Handiwork and how important it is to make sure we "carve" out time in our days to use our hands to create (ecspecially women). It is a way to calm our minds when we do take the time to do something meditative with our hands. I know that mosaics fits right into that thought.

(view of sunset last night from our deck)

Maybe that is why so many of us enjoy it, it is so fun to be in the "zone".

I did not do much today for mosaics, I had several commitments with my daughters today. I did have time to stop at Michaels and pick up some beads for my next mosaic and for future mosaics. Beads add that extra texture and shine to some projects.

I am seriously thinking of buying an old guitar and mosaicing on it. I've seen some outstanding mosaic work using a guitar as a substrate. It would be a nice item to donate. Some gals at the ladies night mentioned to look on ebay-I'll have to give that a try.

Hopefully we can all find time tomorrow to do some meditative handiwork.

Song of the day (I heard it on our local "cities 97" station today and love it)

"Solsbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel

Quote of the day

"when our hands are busy, our minds can rest"

-Sarah Ban Breathnach

Day 6

August 26th, 2009

Did not get out into the studio until 9:00pm! The day was too beautiful and had one of the best sunsets on the lake! My daughter also had her whole volleyball team over.

Anyways I was able to work for about an hour and a half and was able to continue on the large flower on my piece. I am using cinca tile cut into 4 strips and then turned on their side giving it a sort of smalti look. I started the andamento with blue cinca tile and mixing in sunshine tile. I think it will work out okay.

My oldest daughter joined me in the studio tonight (which is a rare occurance) and we watched "Pride and Prejudice" while I worked. I just love this movie!

Soo...my song of the day is:

"Dawn" from Pride and Prejudice by Jean-yves Thibaudet

(It's such a beautiful piano piece-I definetly want to learn to play this some day)

Quote of the day

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched-they must be felt with the heart." -Helen Keller

Day 5

Tuesday August 25th, 2009

I was able to find about an hour this morning to work on the large flower of my mosaic-sorry did not get a picture-I'll post it tomorrow. I was thinking today though that it would be nice to have a few pieces to work on after this one that I could donate for a silent auction piece. There are several organizations that I believe are doing wonderful things in our community and I know they are looking for some items.

Also my daughter would like me to do one for her room-I have a drawing

and there are so many fun colors in it-it will be a lot of fun to work on. There are purples and pinks though and I know those are hard to find in stained glass.

I do have a goal to finish the current one I'm working on by the end of this month (I'm not sure if that is a crazy deadline or not).

Tonight I went to Ladies Night at Sharra Frank's studio. We meet once a month and I absolutely love it! Like always I learned so much from all the wonderful ladies that went.

Thanks Sharra for opening your studio and sharing your knowledge! What an inspiration you are.

Song of the Day

Moonlight Sonata 1st movement-Beethoven

(It's such a beautiful piece on the piano)

Quote of the Day (I saw this at my Aunt's house today)

"Like water, be gentle and strong. Be gentle enough to follow the natural paths of the earth, and strong enough to rise up and reshape the world." -Brenda Peterson

Day 4


August 24, 2009





What is it about mosaics that draws so many of us to this medium? Is it the texture? The meditative movement of nipping and adhering? The unbeleivable amount of colors that surround us? etc... Whatever it is I am becoming addicted to the art form. I even dream of designs and colors and sometimes (like last night) I can't sleep because my mind keeps thinking of new ideas and trying to figure out how to apply that to mosaics.





I'm sure most of you go through the same wonderful experience and isn't it fun!!





Today I was able to get more done within the hour and a half then I thought I would. I like how the flowers are coming together, also I like the colors and how well they are working together.
I had a little oops happen when I was cleaning up glass bits around the mosaic (with a vacuum-why I was using this I don't know) and I sucked up one of my leaves that was not glued down-so I had to make a new one-it was kind of funny.


For the background I hope I can come up with how I want the andemento to flow. You can sort of see that I started an idea with a blue-grey cinca tile. I'm cutting the squares into 4 long lines to follow around the flowers. I hope this will work okay. I'm thinking of also mixing in some karma and sunshine tiles to add interest.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow-I'm going to my ladies night. A group of us get together to bring in our current project to discuss and ask questions, it's a wonderful way to share what each of us is doing. Also it's nice to work along side other people when this can be such a solitary art.

My song of the day was one that MPR had on this afternoon

Farewell to Strommes by David Russell (I love acoustic guitar music!)

Quote of the day (I have this on my bulletin board)

"Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it." -Goethe

Day 3
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

Way too beautiful of a day to be working in the studio, also we had a picnic we were
invited to at a friends cabin. Sooo nice to visit with people we have not seen for quite a while.

I did want to mention a few mosaic things today though:

1. A few days ago I received Britt Hammer-Dijcks beautiful book
MOSAIC-finding your own voice. I thank you Britt for putting together such a wonderfully inspiring book. I highly recommend it!! (I've just read part of it, but have looked through all the pictures, and I am looking forward to sitting down and reading the rest).

2. Yesterday I did discover something that was helpful for adhering small pieces to wedi board.
I did not like how thick the weldbond was coming out of the tube so I squeezed some weldbond into a small plastic bottle with a small tip on. I picked these up a few years ago at an art store, I was planning on using them for acrylic painting. These worked perfectly for squeezing a small amount of weldbond to adhere tiny pieces of vitreous tile to wediboard.

Song of the day (I was in a summery mood hanging by the lake with my hubby and good friends)
"This is home" by Lucy Kaplansky

Quote of the day
"Where there is a lack of other connections, of meaningful moments, in our lives, music can often fill the gap."
-W Somerset Maugham

Day 2

Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

I'm so excited about this new endeaver to journal/blog for the next year!

I have a feeling this will be the boost I need for the rut I have been in artistically. What I am

hoping is that who ever reads this blog with learn and grow with me. So...enjoy the journey.

Today I worked in my studio for a few hours in the morning. I am so thankful to have a

place to call my own. It's such a calming, happy space. We finished it a year ago. It's so important to make a space for your own.

Anyways....on to work. I have two words GLASS GRINDER!! I just purchased one last week and finally got around to putting it to use today and I absolutely love it! Thanks for the info to getting one, Janine and Barb. The grinder really helped me to make the leaves out of the stained glass just the way I want them.

Today I finished the white flowers that was my goal and they turned out great!

This is a partial picture of my current mosaic I am working on and it is on wedi board,

the idea came from a fabric swatch I liked. This will be going in a master bathroom with an

oriental theme. I am still struggling with what kind of andemento for the background, I am thinking a grey blue cinca tile.

I love to have classical music on in the morning so I thought it would be nice to share one of the songs I enjoyed today.

Debussy: Claire de lune - Suite bergamasque

Quote of the day

"Drawing, like food, drink and sleep, puts strength back into a man."

a year if mosaics

August 21st 2009
I've decided to document by pictures and blogging a year through mosaics. I feel this will help me learn and grow as a mosaic artist. It is wonderful to see and hear the beauty in the world and to share it with others. It is so important to each of us to find that creative force within us. Art helps to see the beauty, and music helps us hear the beauty. Through this next year I will try to blog each day about my journey through mosaics and music.

Here's a quote I found from my first art instructor.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than be the one's you did do.

So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the tradewinds in your sails.

Explore, Dream, Discover"

-Jackson Brown Jr 1990