Harder than I thought

Okay, I thought the herringbone project would be a piece of cake but it is proving to be a little finicky. Keeping the pattern running straight is not so easy.

The hand-cut pieces (charming I think) vary by millimeters in size - just enough to mean that you have to constantly compensate with spacing and angles. I'm a little crooked in some places but I think I'll be okay once the edge pieces are added.

Five squares are roughed in with ten to go, then all of the edging. I'd say that each square will end up taking between 2-3 hours.

Kyle, State Street, Snow, Mosiac

I gave Kyle his mosaic as a holiday gift and I think he liked it.

It included:

• Gaudy (read awesome) gold frame and gold circles
• Tattoo-like imaging
• Some 3-D action
• A manly colored turquoise, a hint of purple, and most importantly: neon green

It is a whole lotta pressure to make a mosaic specifically for someone so it is nice if they seem to enjoy it. He looks happy, right?

Playing with grout

I grouted the gift mosaic today - that means it is done! Woo hoo!
The problem with mosaics that you make specifically for other people is that you rarely end up liking them. I will say that although this definetly isn't my usual style, it is pure cuteness. Hopefully I'm not the only one that will think so - I'll let you know reaction and get a picture up after the holidays.

Snow day...Slow progress

I felt like I should post some sort of update since I spent the day at home. Unfortunately, I don't really have much to show for it. I just never completely settled into a rhythm. A successful mosaic day has a sense of zen - despite the winter wonderland today wasn't zen-like.

I am making a promise that I will post something to wow you with this weekend. Really.


9:15 UPDATE:
An hour and a half of straight work means I just finished gluing the pieces of the gift mosaic. It is shaping up to be super-cute. I'm feeling much better now.

Break time

I'm taking a break from dragon tongue and have started working on two new projects. One is a present so I'm not going to show progress, the other one is a wonderfully mindless project that I think will turn out beautiful.

I'm using the 15 pane window that was a dud of a project a few months ago and am going to make a headboard for my bed. I'm only using one color of glass and will be using a herringbone pattern; so all the pieces are essentially the same size.

It's like I'm still mosaicing but am on a vacation at the same time because there is no thinking about design. Here is a taste of what it will look like.

This is what 8 episodes of Top Chef looks like

While mosaicing this weekend I had a Season 6 Top Chef marathon (I'm rooting for Kevin). I still can't cook, but I did make some progress on Dragon Tongue. Beside gluing pieces, I grouted the tongue and base with black grout. The pieces are getting bigger so things should speed up soon.

Sunday = Mosaic Day

Well, at least a little progress has been made. The pieces are still REALLY small at this point, although hope is coming soon. You can hopefully see some size difference in the higher peak on the left.

Can you be classified a glue junkie if you don't inhale?

For some size perspective

When I say the pieces will start out small this is what I mean.

The visual progress is slow. Of course, if I stopped blogging and just worked things would speed up.

It's my version of a dragon tongue

Here is where I stand.

The background plan: small pieces of dark colors start on the left, moving to larger pieces of the lighter colors.

The grout will get lighter as the glass gets lighter - unifying the background. I've never done this before so I am anticipating having to do a test project to make sure it is cool/doable. The grout mixing will be a tricky business.

My day off

Look! I happened to run into someone commenting on the blog. I didn't even have to pay her.

A trip to the glass store - I needed more glass for dragon tongue.

Cornucopia of color

The tongue/geyser will be green. The other colors will hopefully transition into one another. In my mind its fabulous.

Author note: There is some controversy as to my use of the word cornucopia. Some feel that the variation in colors is not great enough to warrant the term. I disagree and challenge said people to a squash eating contest.

Introducing...Dragon tongue??

Here she is, my new project. I'm undecided on the imagery. It is either a dragon tongue or a flaming geyser. Color palette to follow.

I'm super good at break-ups

Trying to make it work
It's overIt can get messy

I fell out of love last week

I spent a lot of time staring instead of mosaicing last week. Glue wasn’t drying right, colors weren’t blending right. I wasn’t having fun. An episode of Craft in America depressed me instead of inspiring me.

I mosaic because I like it. If I’m not having fun, what’s the point? I tried to fake enthusiasm - gluing on a few pieces of glass every day after work, but I wasn’t bouncing back.

Ira Glass pulled me out of my funk. I don’t think I fell out of love with mosiacing; I just need to listen to myself more. If I’m struggling with a project it’s because my taste is protesting – and according to Ira, my taste is “killer”.

I’ve scrapped the 15-pane door. It wasn’t working for me, so I wasn’t working on it.

Height regroup

The pane on the left has the winning method for achieving different heights with some of the pieces of glass. As you can see, the method on the right is already being deconstructed - it was a dud.

As an aside, I'm listening to music about insects, which I think is improving my work ethic this morning.

My project for today

The "flow" will be in large pieces of teal, blue and green. I'm going to experiment a little with making the glass sit at different heights so it isn't all smooth across.

I've got a couple different ideas about how to do this - we'll see which one ends up being the most viable.

No progress

I'm abandoning the beaded tree - at least for now. I've spent hours staring at it and another couple of hours experimenting with background ideas. Nothing is working for me so I'm moving on to a new project and will return to the tree at a later date.

On the horizon: a 15 pane window/door.

I'm doing it backwards

Indecision is really going to screw me over. Despite knowing better, I glued down the beads before completing the background. I absolutely don't want grout touching the beads. So, the smart thing to do would be to get the background done, grout it, and then fill in the channel with the beads - voila - finished mosaic.

But, I was having trouble visualizing what kind of background to do in combination with the beads so against all my better judgment I skipped ahead and now I'll end up paying for it by constantly maneuvering around the beads.

On the bright side, I think it looks cute so far.

Out on a limb - again

I seem to be stuck on trees - Martian, Grandma, Wispy - and now beaded. As you can see, I've got an assortment of glass beads and other random items. They will become the tree limbs, beyond that I'm not sure what the background will shape into.

Underwater weed

My finger is healing and the mosaic is done!
It's a keeper.

Measures 17" x 17"

Blood and grouting guts

Don't say I didn't warn you. This is really gross.

I generally wear two sets of those latex exam gloves when grouting. Yesterday I only had one set on and as I was rubbing in grout I sliced my middle finger. Because I was in the middle of grouting I couldn't just stop so I just took off one glove and put on a new one. Unfortunately, glass cuts bleed an obscene amount so my new glove essentially filled up with blood.

When I finished and took off the glove I thought the result was picture-worthy. Don't worry - the mosaic came out blood-free.

From trees to grass

The wispy grass that I have here has endeared itself to me. I glued down the pieces before I had any idea of what I was going to do for a background.

I ended up with a fairly simple design but am adding some interest by making the pieces decrease in size as they rise to the top. I have yet to decide what the remaining colors will be.

Disaster Avoided

Well, my disaster recovery is complete. I think the orange/coral pops nicely and with the frame painted black the piece looks great.

After grouting was complete the consensus of the neighbors was that yes, they should have trusted me all along about the orange. (Okay, they might not have said that exactly...)

What do you think?

A mosaic and a view

My workstation while at the cottage couldn't be better.

It looks beachy

Well, I'm at the cottage for the week and made the journey with an assortment of mosaic supplies. Disaster recovery is all put together and just needs grouting but I forgot to bring the pictures with me to town - the only place I can get internet.

I did replace the green with orange/coral and I think it looks good. The consensus of the neighbors is that it looks "okay" and that they "don't mind it." I'll let you decide when its all done.

The same, but different

I've made this mosaic a couple of times now. I never noticed before how they are so different. It's one of my favorites.

In other news...

Non-mosaicing project news:

• Chris bought me juggling balls and taught me to juggle as payment for his Martian Tree.
  
• Check out the new blog header. My awesome friend Wendy made me a logo! I swear, it's the cutest mosaic apple I have ever seen.
  

Disaster Recovery: Phase II

So, I finished the "background" portion of my two-layered-trying-to-save-from-disaster mosaic.

I like the colors but now the lime green flow isn't popping enough for my taste. In this picture it looks good, but in real life it seems to just be getting lost (When I look at it I'm having trouble focusing - that isn't good.)

Hence, phase II. I'm going to cover the lime with orange - great idea, right?

Splashy!

This is a slideshow of the kitchen back splash that I did. For glass, glue, and grout the cost was around $300. Time wise I would say at least 100 hours with an estimated 30 of just cutting pieces - it's a big kitchen. (Of course I can't really complain because I could have made the pieces bigger.)

Family and neighbors were involved in gluing and grouting spread out over four weekends. One of the reasons I think it turned out so well was that the outlets were mounted under the cabinets so the glass doesn't get interrupted. In case you can't tell in the pictures, it really does kick ass.

Earthy

I really love the brown color of glass from this piece, unfortunately, I haven't been able to find it again.

Measures 26" x 18"

Cement board is pretty handy stuff

So, there are a portion of you guys that don't comment but ask me questions via email or in person. I thought I'd answer one about the materials I use. The glass for the Martian tree mosaic is directly onto cement board. This is the same stuff you would use to tile a floor - you can buy it at Home Depot in 3'x5' sheets and use a utility knife cut to your desired size.

My trick for hanging is to drill two holes through the board and carve a channel for wire or string to lay in. You then feed the wire through and tie the wire off in the back of the mosaic. Because of the channel, you can mosaic right over the top so you basically have a hidden hanging system.

It is a great surface for not a lot of money - I'm a big fan.

My second ever mosaic project

When I started mosaicing about eight years ago (holy cow) I worked with tile before moving mostly to glass. This is the second thing that I ever made. My awesome Dad made the table and I did the mosaic straight onto a piece of plywood that we then dropped in and grouted.

The table is at the lake, hence the fish design (which I got out of a book). I can still remember how cutting the tile into specific sized pieces really hurt my hand because you had to use so much pressure with the tile nippers. I also remember my roommate yelling at me about the tile shards everywhere. She wasn't too happy when I moved to glass.

Disaster Recovery

So, this is my dud of a mosaic. I did the lime green “flow” and the background in the bottom right corner. After finishing that portion of the background I decided that it was just plain ugly. As a result all progress halted for about a year.

My plan for recovery is seen here. I used some scrap glass (read unsightly colors) to fill in the rest of the background and then grouted the whole piece. Phase two of recovery involves putting a new design over the background portion, grouting, and leaving the green flow to be slightly recessed.

We’ll see what happens. Stay tuned.

He's got personality

Chris is nice so no matter what he thinks he'll fake enthusiasm. But come on, I challenge you to find a better looking Martian tree than this one.

I actually think he's pretty cute - in a quirky, happy, goofy, kind of way.


Measures 13" x 15"

A tree limb seems to always be in the way

Here is my Martian tree. This guy is a little tricky because of the constant tight spaces. As a result, he is progressing a little slower than expected.

The delay could also be due to the fact that the weather has been so nice - who wants to be surrounded by glass and glue?

My new BFF Chris

So, I'm making a mosaic for Chris. Now, I know a lot of you are saying, "What, who is this guy, I've been asking for a mosaic for years."

Chris's pathetically empty cube at work has made me pity him, and the key of persuading anyone to act is to tap into emotion. As a result, Chris is getting a small mosaic using these four colors. Design of the mosaic is similar to Grandma's piece with what I would describe as a slightly alien/Martian twist.

Grouting Gurus

We followed up our mosaicing weekend at the lake with a grouting party.





Laura, myself, and Abby grouting Abby's mosaic






Full disclaimer that I am not a Bears fan





Hat tip to Carol for the pictures!

It wasn't love at first sight

I delivered the mosaic and after an initial lukewarm reaction, "Oh yeah, well I like that," Grandma did seem to actually like it.

I base this on the fact that we ended up having to adjust placement on three different pictures before finding the right spot for the mosaic. The right spot ended up being on the wall she faces while sitting in her recliner - a sure sign that she actually wants to see the mosaic. (Although I was worried when she asked me if it was supposed to be a tree - was that not clear?)

Another comment she made, "It's about time I got something new in here - everything is about 40 years old." Gotta love Grandma!

Just needs grout

Grandma's piece is done except for grouting. I don't think it turned out too badly. The plan is to grout this week and then give it to her this weekend.

A mosaicing weekend

My cousin Laura requested a mosaicing lesson so what better place to have it then at the cottage? We set up a cutting glass station amongst the trees, used the deck as our work area, and had sheets of glass spread across the front yard. We got a ton done and I think that Abby and Laura will be able to continue without me - it's all about having the right tools!

We also took a field trip and liberated some windows that had been propped up against a fence for a few months. We didn't go in the dark of night, but we were in and out pretty quickly. All in all, a very fun weekend.

I've got a design

Started to mosaic my Grandma's picture. It's a tree with some leaves and is only using four colors. I finished the stem and the leaves are up next. I'm not feeling that motivated, which is why I don't have a picture to share. I'm at a, "it will be okay" stage but who wants to make something that is "okay."

I'm really not a gold frame kind of girl

My Grandma gave me a gold frame from an old picture that she used to have hanging in her living room. She asked me to put a mosaic in it for her. So you appreciate this task, let me tell you about my Grandma:

• It takes her at least six hours to adjust a vase of flowers on the table so they are angled perfectly.

• If she doesn't like something she lets you know - repeatedly.

• Her living room is all pastel and floral.

I asked Grandma what kind of colors or design she would like and she said, "I'll like anything you make." My Grandma is an 87 year-old liar. This is a high pressure situation people! I've been thinking about designs for a few weeks now and have yet to settle on anything. I really don't want to end up with a mosaic that neither of us like.

Moving on from Big Guy

With Big Guy complete I have two projects on the docket.

1. A four pane window that I'm going to attempt to save from a really bad initial design by adding a second layer of glass.

2. My Grandma asked for a mosaic. I love my Grandma but man, I don't want to make her a mosaic to match her pink floral living room. It will take some thought to figure out a design that we can both live with.

All done

Well, here is Big Guy, all dressed and ready for a night out on the town. He is already hanging up in my living room - which was a project in itself considering he weighs in at about 45 pounds.

I'm happy.

Almost there

I woke up at 6 this morning and despite my best efforts could not fall back to sleep. The good news is that I decided since I was up to actually do something productive. So, I finished grouting the last five squares of Big Guy. The frame still has to be painted so I'll hold off on posting a picture at this stage so that he can have a big ta-da moment.

Now I'm off to have a nap.

Marble

Okay, I'm posting this photo of a piece I made years ago because I have yet to finish grouting Big Guy and am feeling like a slacker.

The circles are marble cubes and the background is window glass cut in small squares and laid on edge. It looks really pretty when the light hits.

As an aside, the window glass I used for this piece and for Green Circles was gotten for free. Businesses consider it scrap and usually just throw it in the dumpster. They are more then happy to give it to you instead - no dumpster diving necessary. My normal tile cutter works for creating the small squares.

Big Guy turns black with grout

I am halfway through grouting Big Guy. Here I am with grout all over me in my garage. I didn't have any sponges so had to use old t-shirts to clean off the grout. Since he is so big I didn't have time to finish all of him. I think he is looking pretty good.

Thanks to Matt for taking the photo!

Amazing what the sun can do...

Yellow Spider - Measures 27" x 42"

Put away the glue

I've been slacking for the last week and haven't mosaiced at all. But I am now pleased to announce that all of the pieces are glued on Big Guy. Two steps remain: grouting and painting the frame. Since he is the size of Montana, grouting should take about two hours. All of the glue needs to be super-dry before grouting so he'll be resting for the next week or two.

In the meantime, I've got a piece that I'm trying to salvage from disaster. I'll introduce you to her in the next post - that is unless she takes a turn for the worse and I just have to put her out of her misery.