Tranquility is here!

I finished this aqua/silver mosaic, and named it tranquility. I had a very easy time creating it, and am happy with the finished product. It is hanging on my wall and looks so sparkly and pretty. I love it!

 I am re-grouting two other mosaics that I finished. So, I will be posting them soon. Grout can make or break a mosaic. My grout choice was too light for both pieces; I had to dig the grout out around each piece of glass to prep the mosaics. I wish I had taken photos of the wrong grout; it helps to see before and after pictures.

I found this picture frame and the silver flat back glass marbles at the same store, and knew they were meant to be together. The aqua glass is a wavy textured stain glass that reminds one of water. There are very pretty silver beads sprinkled about the piece.

 I am in the middle of creating the Moroccan inspired mosaic that I mentioned a month ago(I can't believe that a month has gone by!). The designs are not quite complete, and the back ground has not been clearly realized yet. Once the grouting is done, I can re-focus on the Moroccan mosaic. I guess I got side-tracked by the silver and aqua. But honestly, those designs needed time to transpire, and be able to work in rapport with the existing designs. Not always easy. Sometimes I get these cool design ideas, but they will not work with this piece, and i have to set them aside. Knowing when to edit is a challenge and a little painful. It is like: honesty over ego.

Moroccan Frame of Mind

I have been so busy living life, but now I am going to immerse myself in mosaics for the next week. I started this mosaic..still playing with Moroccan themed designs, but in red this time.

It is on a board approximately 3 1/2" x 24". You cannot see it in the picture, but on the right side there are designs drawn in pencil, so I will be able to get it done in a day or two. This is another practice mosaic, so we will have to see what emerges.(You can click on the picture and see it enlarged!)

On the table below the mosaic are silver, white, and sparkly clear mosaic bubbles and tiles which are going to be used in another mosaic I will be creating during the week. The design is not complete, but I am excited and intrigued with the idea of it.

I'm back!!!

I cannot believe that it has been a whole year almost since I last wrote on mt blog! Good grief!

 I created this mosaic at the end of summer of 2012. I wanted to play with different design ideas influenced by a Moroccan themed book. I used a lot of beads to create designs, but they were too small and were gobbled up by the grout. Oh well...every mosaic has a lesson to learn.

The center design at the bottom of the piece is a city scape. It is my first attempt at this type of design.

Embelishment is Key!

Did not like how the left side of the mosaic looked. I added a fairy and beads to finish it off! Now I am ready to move on.

All is healed!

Here is my latest mosaic. It is titled: Fantasy Series #1: "In the Forest". This picture frame reminds me of an old book of fairy tales, so I wanted to create an image on the glass that would tempt the reader to want to open the book and read the story. I had fun creating the mushroom village with a drawbridge, and placing the beads over the ascending fairies :) I have a couple of mosaics that are "in process" to finish before I begin Fantasy Series #2 "On The Hill". I already have the picture frame for it, so that is a big obstacle that I do not have to overcome.

I found many magical hours reading fairy tales as a child, and still enjoy a well-written fantasy novel as an adult. It is an exciting challenge to find ways to pay tribute in glass to these enchanting muses of the imagination.

Temporarily Disassembled Artist

I was hoping to have posted my fantasy mosaic by now. Unfortunately my ring finger on my right hand (of course) got smashed, and I am waiting for it to heal. My left hand is having to do everything which it is totally unprepared for, since it has been a slacker for many years depending on my right hand to take the lead. So now  not only have I lost the use of my right hand , but my left hand is pretending to be completely useless. I have to stop complete strangers in the grocery store and ask them to help me decipher unintelligible words on my grocery list that my left hand has purposely written in a cockamamie interpretation of the English language. Thank goodness these strangers have better interpretation skills than I do. Okay, maybe it would have helped if I had put my glasses on, but then I would have had to do so with my left hand...being poked in the eye with a psycho left hand is just asking too much! My left hand is starting to get the vapors, since it has had to type this whole post by itself, and is murmuring carpal tunnel, arthritis...Hope to be mosaicing in a month, but until then I will have to make it work with my left hand. Okay, left hand? My left hand says,"?@#$^%%#*!!" :)

New Hawaiian Plumeria

Here is a finished mosaic...Finally! I got stuck with the other Hawaiian Plumeria mosaic and decided to put it aside for awhile. Working and college just overwhelmed me, and my art suffered. Now my imagination is back, and I am working on another mosaic. It is pure fantasy and something I have never tried before.

I like to create pieces that stretch my abilities to express my ideas. The mosaic at right was created for a particular person, and to break my stalemate. The next piece is pure whimsy. I love doing both, actually.

In my work and college life I push myself to excel, but in my art I just let go and drop all expectations, and hope for magic. The fact the in the year 2000 I was merely dreaming of mosaics, and now I am creating mosaics speaks to my belief in the delightful surprises that await us all when we follow our dreams and hope. Jump in, get your hands dirty, deny that failure exists, only experience can help you evolve. Some people are gifted and others, like me, have to search for a way to learn and grow in a chosen way to express ourselves.

People talk about journeys and destinations. In art creating each piece of art is a journey, and the end result is the destination. With the next piece it starts all over again, and with each journey there is value as an artist, and with the completion is the validation that comes with completing that mini journey which leads to the next. By not completing the first Plumeria mosaic, I did upset the journey/destination scenario, but that is a real part of life: starting a journey, losing your way, taking stock of the situation, and making choices to stay on course, take a time out, or take a new path with the hope to return when you can.