Had a wonderfully busy February!
I finished the challenge we had with our mosaic guild-we were asked to finish a 3"x 3" mosaic and bring it to the meeting and talk about our process and what we found challenging and what we liked about working small. I enjoyed doing this for a few reasons. 1. I was able to finish this fairly quick, so nice to feel a sense of accomplishment. 2. I was able to use a the small bits of glass I never know what to do with it anyways. 3. I was able to do a color study-using the same design with 3 different color schemes. The challenging part was using my glass grinder on tiny pieces. All in all it was actually fun to do and am looking forward to doing a few more.
I also started a new piece-I've been playing around with different color schemes, still not sure on the colors yet. I'm using mostly earthtones. I plan on using many different materials even some new circle marbles I bought at SAMA! I also tried something different that I have not done before. I planned out how I want to lay out the andemento on my small sketch. (not shown here)
Our mosaic guild is having a show at the Edina Art Center the end of June, so I'm just having fun coming up with a few ideas I have been wanting to try.
Another piece that I have not started yet but it is due May 3rd is a 12"x12" square for a project that our minnesota mosaic guild is taking part in. About 18 of us are donating our time and materials to make vodou flag squares which will be part of a large mosaic installed in a Children's Hospital or another location in Haiti. Susan Mathis and Lori Green came up with the designs and we picked which square we wanted along with the history of vodou flags. This definitely has opened my eyes to a different culture and one of the many reasons I love working with the visual arts. My design is called Lasiren 2. Lasiren is the queen of the ocean and the patroness of music. I am looking forward to using bright colors, mirrors and maybe even some shells with this piece. I'm thrilled to be part of this project!
Also this month I went to SAMA! I came home FILLED with ideas, education, new friendships , photos, 30 extra pounds (of tesserae from the venders market not from eating too much), and a cold since I was pretty wiped out! It was my 3rd time attending and I thought this was the best one!
I took 2 workshops-In Emma Biggs' she spoke about pattern, repetition and complexity within our mosaics. This was by far my favorite workshop! Some points I'm going to definitely remember is to Repeat forms throughout my pieces, Tell a story with found objects and carry it through the piece, Think Layers using primary,secondary and tertiary layers, also remember to make rules during each mosiac Ex: I'll have the same spacing throughout the piece. Here is the mosaic I started in her class. I do plan on finishing it this month. This piece is using the 2 plus 1 method along with layering. 
The other workshop I went to was Sophie Druin's and she spoke about using Blenko glass with stone and minerals. I usually do not use these materials so thought it would be great to learn. I definitely became better at using the hammer and hardie!
PLAN FOR THE MONTH
Finish layered mosaic from Emma Biggs workshop.
Get all the "leaf"portion done in my new design.
Start on Lasiren 2
Learn how to use my SLR camera-I want to take better pictures of my mosaics along with different design ideas by cropping my pictures.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
"I could not, at any age, be content to take my place by the fireside and simply look on. Life was meant to be lived. Curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn thier back on life." -Eleanor Roosevelt
Also this month we visited the King Tut exhibit-I was amazed at the detail of thier art 3000 years ago! I loved the detail on the utilitarian vessels they created. I decided that it would be fun to sketch up some for a mosaic. This is one of three I came up with. Hopefully I get to this mosaic in April. I'm looking forward to trying some techniques on the border that Laurel Skye uses in her work.
