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.