Day 35

Day 35


September 30th





Finally back at blogging again!


I have been working on my daughters mosaic for her room.


It will consist of 3 8x8's on Wedi board. The common design on each is the fleur-di-lis symbol because she just went to France for 3 weeks this summer and fell in love with France and anything to do with the country.





I'm pulling colors from her room and trying some background techniques that I have been wanting to try out. In the picture you can see the first one is almost done (I still need to grout and add some "bling" dots after grouting). The other two are in the works. The diamonds were a bit of a challenge. I had to make sure I had the right size to give it the balance. It was difficult to cut around the fleur di-lis symbol. I marked where I need to cut then used a glass cutter and running pliers along with wheeled nippers. I did get better as I progressed but it was very time consuming. All in all it turned out okay.
I am looking forward to working on the next 8 x 8!

Quote of the day
"Come forth into the light of things. Let nature be your teacher."

Day 29

Day 29

September 18,2009

I finally finished grouting my "Fleur Blanc".

I used 3 different colors of grout (white, light blue and black) and 10 different types of tesserae. It is always nice to finish a piece and I do like how it turned out. I was surprised at how much the color of the the light blue grout blended with the light blue. This really made the darker Cinca stand out when there really was not that much difference in color between them.

This piece is for a master bathroom that is painted in the same color green as the stems. The bedroom you see from the space is painted in the grey blue colors.

Today was an errand day. I went to j ring to purchase glass and beads for my next few projects. I somewhat started on my next one. I was cutting stained glass into diamond shapes and I am definetly learning from that experience!

Now it's off to my daughter's volleyball game!

Quote of the day

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly" -R.F. Kennedy

Day 23

September 18

Yesterday and today I have spent organizing my art space more.

I cleaned up from past projects, moved my work space to a table so I can sit in a more comfortable chair and work. In that workspace I am going to try to work at an angle more so that it is not so hard on my neck. We'll see how this works.

Also I thought I would start on a small mosaic for my daughters room. I took a picture of the sketch and colors that I decided on. The blues may change. For the first time I tried out my Morten glass system to cut out diamond shapes. It worked really good for the white glass, but when I went to cut the blue glass it never cut straight. I think it was just the glass for some reason.

I thought I would also throw in a picture of my birdbath that I started last fall, for some reason I have not wanted to finish this. I'm not real thrilled with how the top looks. I might just work on it a few hours here and there just to get it completed.

Quote of the day

"Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life."

-Picasso

Day 20 of mosaics for a year

Day 20

September 15th, 2009

I have not been able to do much with mosaics. Life does happen and it's easy to get overwhelmed with it!

Yesterday was a grouting day and a frustrating one at that. I went to grout an old mosaic that needed two colors (which I have never done before) I was not quite sure how to attempt this. I taped off the areas I did not want white and grouted those. Then I realized that I didn't have the right blue grout for the center so I ran up to the store to see if they had the blue I wanted along with checking on grout colors to grout my next piece. I did find a blue that I liked but had to mix a little grey with it to tone it down. I did not find the right color to finish grouting "fleur blanc".

Here's how my piece turned out it's okay but I still have to clean around the shells.

I used quite a few different tesserae with it. Shells, mirror, Raku, pearls, stained glass, karma tile, vitreo and various glass tiles.

I found out how frustrating it is to grout with two colors. I know I do not want to do this too often, it takes a lot of time to tape off and the colors still end up getting under the edge a bit.

So........Now I am at a point where I have to order the right grout color for "Fleur Blanc" and start on my next project. I think I am going to do a few 8 x 8 mosaics practicing some different techniques, even trying some that I do not need to grout. I would also like to try using Smalti.

Like all of us just keep learning and plugging along.

Quote of the day

"all life is an experiment" -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Day 14

Septemper 9, 2009 (Happy 9-9-09)

I was able to get a lot of work time today. I did finish mosaicing my piece and decided on a name when I was done. "Fleur blanc" I still have to grout it. Since I used cinca tiles I thought I'd better seal them before grouting. I'm a little aprehensive about grouting because I've grouted cinca before and I could not clean the grout off, but I did not seal them, so hopefully this technique will work.

Also I counted all the materials I used and counted 10 different tesserae items!!! I might enter this in the competition no. 6. I used beads, cinca tile, ceramic tile, glass rods, sunshine tile, vitreo tile, stained glass, karma tile, metallic squares, marbles and a couple of pearls.

I was thinking since I was spending so much time in one position, how important it is to stretch now and them and really make sure you are standing straight and breathing. I notice my neck and back bothering me. It is so important to keep up with yoga or pilates to help my body stay strong so I can mosaic without pain.

Quote of the day

"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything." -Plato

Song of the day (I heard this on MPR today)

"Theme and Variations (Ghost variations)"

by Robert Schumann

Day 19



September 8, 2009







Back to school day! I can't believe that I have a junior and senior in high school. I still remember how I was both excited and nervous on my first days of school and its fun to see my daughters growing up and going through the same experience.







Today feels more like a beginning day for me also. I finally get some time to really focus in my art studio and don't feel the guilt of spending time in there.







I am getting very close to finishing my piece with the white flower. I never thought that the background was going to take as long as it has. I did want this finished the first week in September. Oh well.







I was not able to blog for quite a few days since we were busy with family things and had a really nice visit with family over the labor day weekend.

Quote of the day (I read this last night)
"Don't be afraid to fail, to make something ugly or what you consider to be bad. Every piece of work you create is just a step towards the next one. Every piece is an experiment, don't worry about making a masterpiece each time."
-Karen Ami

Song of the day
Sonatina in G Major-Beethoven

Day 13
September 2nd, 2009

I did not get any pictures taken today but was able to work on my flower mosaic for about an hour and a half. I'm continuing with the lighter cinca tile even though I'm waiting on my order to come in for the dark. I also ordered a sealant to apply to the cinca tile when I'm done. It's been suggested to do this before grouting.

I still want to sit down and plan out my next mosaic. It's just been very difficult until school starts for our teens will I have uninterupted time. It's been a bit frustrating trying to keep up with everything right now. I'll keep plugging along.

Song of the day
"Free to be me" by Francesca Banescelli (I think that spelling is right)

Quote of the day
"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better"
-Albert Einstein