Louie, the salt shaker

Here's my second mosaic from an Intro to Mosaic class at IMA. The class was all about ceramic tile - how to shatter, cut, shape and piece it. The moment the instructor held up Louie, I knew I had to use him.



I'm continuing my tour of mosaic materials: This weekend's class in Intro to Smalti. I'm hoping to hate it, as smalti is so expensive and I've already given my heart to stained glass. I'd like to be able to cross at least one type of tesserae off my list, but that doesn't seem to be the direction this is going.

Revenge of the grandkids!

Two of my partner's grandkids came for the weekend and we spent much of the time in the studio where they created 2 pieces each. Here are all 4 pieces together:



From left to right are Emily's (9 years old) mirror and candle holder, followed by Bella's (11 year's old) vase and mirror. Here are close-ups of each girl's work; the first are Bella's who has an elegant sense of color, don't you think?:



And here are Emily's, which show what's possible when you are willing to go for it:



Bella cleaned the glue off the front of Emily's mirror after the mastic set up, which made it look fantastic. I grouted her candle holder in charcoal, a challenge since she'd used the reverse side of the 3/8" vitreous tiles. (She and Bella came in just after I applied the grout and were horrified at what I'd done! Big test of their trust in me when I promised it would look better after I'd excavated the extra grout.) Didn't get a picture of the finished product, but I love the way it looks with the charcoal grout and the grooves in the tiles. I want to put the vitreous tile upside down now. Thanks for leading the way, Emily.

I was impressed by their focus, concentration and their eye for design and color. I got quite a bit of practice cutting vitreous and mirror tiles, which was just what I needed. It was such a pleasure to have them in the studio.

Which I'd just finished cleaning up moments before they arrived as my contractor neighbor Vern (who is fantastic!) had just finished installing the exhaust fan. This studio breaks all the rules: there is no natural light and no natural ventilation! I'll post pictures as soon as I've cleaned up from the weekend. :-) I'm now officially open for "business," and friends ae clamoring to spend time in there. We are going to have such a fun summer.

This coming weekend, I'm taking "Introduction to Smalti" at the Institute of Mosaic Art (IMA). In an astonishing twist of fate, the IMA is only 7 minutes away and has plenty of parking. That's fate, baby. Fate.

The first mosaic: Spiral

Here's the one that started it all, made in a glass mosaic class in May 2010:



I'd do a bazillion things differently now, of course, if only I possessed the skill, patience and design sense. I'm working on those.

Krixter vs. TME - It's ON!

I want link to Krixter's art blog. I figure we can harass and compete with each other online, which will get us each posting and attaching photos and videos. Yes, I typed videos, Krixter. Videos. Of you working in your space. Of me struggling to breathe in mine (because it's a storage space with no ventilation. Or light).

This mosaic thing has me by the short hairs, which is a complete surprise. Because I hate tiling. I hate grouting. I just check out every time I've done it. I get bored silly by all that alignment and the even spacing and the regimented, perfect little rows. Apparently what makes the all difference for me is smashing the tiles with a hammer first. Because just adhering a whole tile is too easy, I guess. But piecing all the little pieces together? That's fun.

And that's just tile. The attraction with glass is the way it feels when it explodes harmlessly in my hand, and with how bewitching all those colors are. I don't know yet about smalti and marble, but I'm enrolled in classes that will help me find out.