Day 152

January 25th, 2010







Monday mosaic Blog















This has been a busy week for mosaics.


I was able to get about 5 hours working time on the counter/bar project. So far I have spent 11 hours on it with planning, laying, cutting and adhering.


I am a bit frustrated with a few of the tile colors-I can't find a glossy brown tile that I need. I wanted to have all the same brand tiles to make it easier so I do not have any height differences. This brand of tile does not have a glossy brown only a matt color.


I am going to look around to find one that is the same thickness.


I do like the layout still. Hopefully it's not too dramatic for the area it will be in.


I have been cutting the tiles on a self healing quilting matt. I love how I can measure out my sizes with the measuring graph printed right on the matt and how nice it is to cut on.

It was nice to start working on a new project-I am going to try and have it done for the deadline to bring to SAMA for the Saturday Salon. It is a 14 x 14" square on MDF board. I spent time today working on the border and the Sunflower in the corner. I am still not sure what I am going to do in a few areas-The colors are more of a gray palette of yellow, blues and greens.

Plan for the week
Tuesday-Smalti class
Wednesday-Work on new mosaic (finish birch tree area)
Thursday-work on counter/bar mosaic
Friday-work on Salon mosaic in the morning
Saturday/Sunday-Try to finish new piece.


Quote of the week
"Let us spend one day as deliberate as Nature, and not be thrown off of the track by every nutshell and mosquito's wing that falls on the rails." -H.D. Thoreau

Day 145

Monday Mosaic Blog

January 18, 2010

I did get a lot accomplished this week.

I finished grouting my "Musical Welcome" sign and I do like the black grout.

I hung it by the door going into my studio space and it seems to look very nice there.

I did start working on my installation piece for the counter/bar area. I'll post pictures next Monday as I forgot my camera. I spent about 7 hours this week on it. I got a feel how the colors will look and started adhering. I decided to use Weldbond instead of thinset. I just thought it would be less of a mess to deal with and it is indoors.

I also spent quite a bit of time cleaning and organizing my workspace-I've made quite a mess and have not cleaned up after the last two projects-It's amazing where the glass pieces can get and how far they travel!

Plan for this week

Tuesday- mosaic smalti class

Wednesday-Start planning next project. I may start one for the SAMA Salon-but I need to finish by Feb. 1st or my stepmom would like my to make a mosaic for their bathroom that they just finished.

Thursday and Friday-Work on installation piece.

Saturday-Work on new piece and get ready for my mosaic group that are coming Sunday

Sunday-12-5:00 Mosaic Group

Quote of the Week

"Work is love made visible" - Kahlil Gibran

Day 138

January 11, 2009

Well I have come to realize that I just can't get to blogging as much as I would like so from now on I will be blogging every Monday. I will call it the Monday Mosaic Blog. I had to find some way to continue with my year of blogging without going insane. This will keep it more manageable. I will also lay out my plans/goals for the week and then recap how I did the following Monday.

So... for my Monday Mosaic Blog....

I finished adhering my "Welcome" sign today. I like how it turned out so far. Now onto the grouting! I'm thinking of using black grout. It's my new favorite color to grout with since it makes the colors POP. I used stained glass, metal, ceramic and beads. I used Wedi Board as the substrate. I came up with this design on my own, I love flowers, swirls and movement and I think this piece covers all that.

I also am taking a Smalti class every Tuesday and I had some "homework" to finish up. Our instructor wanted us to get an image that we liked and make it into a 9 x 15 color and black and white. Then we had to transfer it to our MDF board. We also had to trace from the black and white and do a gray scale and number each space. It took about 3 hours total but I like my design, it may be a little challenging though. Tomorrow we get some of our smalti and start adhering. This is definitely going to expand my mosaic horizons into something I have not tried before.

Plan for the week

-Grout "Welcome" sign

-Clean up studio

-Start laying out my installation piece (counter/bar area)

-Start on my smalit class piece.

Instead of a quote a day it will obviously turn into quote a week.

Here are some words to ponder for the quote this week

HOW TO FEEL MISERABLE AS AN ARTIST

1. Constantly compare yourself to other artists.

2. Talk to your family about what you do and expect them to cheer you on.

3. Base the success of your entire career on one project.

4. Stick with what you know.

5. Undervalue your expertise.

6. Let money dictate what you do.

7. Bow to societal pressures.

8. Only do work that your family would love.

9. Do whatever the client/customer/Gallery owner/Patron/Investor asks.

10. Set unachievable/overwhelming goals. To be accomplished by tomorrow.

Day 132!

January 5th, 2010!

I am amazed how time flies during the holiday season and how distracted we can become during this time. One thing I realize is that I need to keep plugging along at my goal of blogging and not to give this up. It is definitely is one way to keep on a path and helps see where you have come. So...even though I have not blogged in awhile I need to continue.

The last few weeks I have had a few spare moments to work on my welcome sign. It's coming along. I like how the background is turning out. Still not sure of what I am going to do around the "welcome" words. It will just be a fun little sign when you walk into my studio.

My daughter decided to make a gift for a friend. She has never mosaiced before (not sure if she will again) but she made a nice mosaiced "L" with some butterflies, very cute. I think she enjoyed the cutting and figuring out colors, but when it came to adhering it, she thought it was a little time consuming.

Today I started a smalti class with a local mosaic artist, Connie Cohen. We did an exercise on value and practiced using the tools to cut smalti (hammer and hardie, offset nippers) This will be an 8 week course and I'm very excited to finally work with smalti!

Quote of the day

"Be still and know your soul. Seek it, and when you meet it , seize it for yourself because it's worth more than gold." -Buddha