In The Studio - Part Two

Wrapping up the week in a positive way, as I always like to do, by sharing the love.

GOOD NEWS! For those who were interested in having one of my doodles as a coloring page: While I learn how to do them and get them a little more polished, I will be giving away a free pattern every now and then. This first one, "Flower Power A", is all set up in a PDF file without the watermarks and can be sent to you through email for FREE!! Send me a PM anytime with your email address and I'll send it on to you using my artbyearthmothermosaics@gmail.com email address.

Flower Power A - Free PDF download coloring page

I have a lot to learn yet but while I do, sharing freebies is a wonderful thing!! I hope you enjoy it and will share the results with me if you'd like.

I finished up the mosaic and it's now in the extremely large "to be grouted" pile. I love it!

And the wait is finally over ... the pens have finally arrived!

Pigma Micron Pen - 05 SEPIA .45MM & Penstix Pen - black perm 3/Set

I'm hoping to get a lot of use out of them before they need to be replaced! They were worth waiting for, however. I love them all.

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

In The Studio - Part One

Life as I know it has changed drastically since I've had to deal with this muscle spasm, possible ruptured disk and sciatica. This is my own diagnosis and at some point in the future, I will get myself looked at by a doctor but today, right now, that's not possible. My entire life has changed literally overnight. I'm limited in what I can do, where I can go and how I get there. There was no warning, no time to make adjustments or preparations. So far, I'm able to get up out of bed for a bit and walk around with the help from a cane and I'm grateful for that.

This is what the pain I am experiencing constantly looks like.

Photo credit taken from spineuniverse.com and the article "6 Leading Causes of Sciatica" Written by Jean-Jacques Abitbol, MD; Reviewed by Brian R. Subach, MD

This is why I'm sleeping on average about 4 hours a night (not all at the same time) and taking pain relievers.

I'm also in the most creative cycle I've ever been in; slower, most definitely, but creative just the same. The best part about being awake so long and having very little energy or strength to move much is my art. The worst part is not being able to go down the steps and outside to be part of the changing seasons.

Spring from my window

Meanwhile, here are some doodles and other fun things I've been finishing up and working on. I'm STILL waiting for the pens I ordered over a month ago. This will be the 3rd attempt at getting them to me --- I really hope they arrive soon.

I picked up a mosaic to do this week too. I'm a little sad that I'm not yet strong enough to grout, it takes a lot of physical energy and strength to clean a mosaic free from grout. Repetition and movement are essential. It's more than a little likely that I will get the kids around me to help me do grouting. I think they will get bored quickly and not want to do it after the first few times but I will be able to share my mosaic magic with them once more and get the much needed help too. Win/win.

This mosaic is on a piece of teak wood, I believe, which is about as old as I am. It's been sitting in my substrate box for years. I've drawn and painted over a number of designs on it but when I saw the stars in my stash of found objects, I knew it would work for this. Along came the piece of glass precut into a crescent moon shape and the polymer clay word charm I made a few years ago "sun". The rest is easy! All of these things have been sitting here with me for quite some time but not until I saw them altogether like this did I realize it was time to do a new sun and moon mosaic! Yay!

The back is impressive as well - beautifully treated wood slice that was quite popular in the 1950's. I'm fairly sure at one point there was something attached to the part I am putting a mosaic on. When I got it (gifted by my Dad) it was just this great piece of wood. I'll be sure to share it too when the mosaic is completed.

Look for this in the shop within the next month.

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

In The Studio - Part One

The studio has been a little slow this week. I've had a lot of pain and not much sleep. Staying away from tools and items that cut you on a good day is always a good policy of mine. However, I have finished getting glass on the cutting board and it looks really great.

I'm going to use that wonderful blue "starry night" grout for this piece. I am thrilled that this has been put aside for a dear friend who wants to purchase it as soon as she can. Woo-hoo!

Lots of drawing is going on these days.

Sadly, I'm still waiting for my pens to arrive. Getting these things to me has been a real roller coaster. When I originally ordered them, they were left out of the box by the art supply store. After calling them and letting them know I never got them, they apologized politely and sent them out again. The delivery service sent me updates letting me know it was delivered however I didn't get them. Yesterday I made some phone calls to the delivery service who tells me it's possible they went to the wrong building OR they went to the leasing office. They are checking with the driver and that takes 48 hours to do. The suggestion was made to call the leasing office to see if they have it. Hopefully that is the case and someone can go get them for me because I can't get down the stairs (we live on the 2nd floor) at the moment due to my physical problems. Being unable to just walk to the store to get them to begin with definitely has its disadvantages.

The saga continues ...

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

Promo Blast!

Black and White Mosaic Bowl - 6 x 3 Inches - FREE SHIPPING Within US - $50.00

We love this bowl. It's dramatic. It's sexy. It's handmade mosaic goodness.

A black bowl has been transformed into a piece of mosaic art. Black and white broken china cut up into pieces to fit around a bright orange and black swirled piece of ceramic. This bowl is absolutely beautiful.

Decorative purposes only. Not for long term storage for food or liquids.

To clean this bowl you can run it under warm water with mild soap if necessary and gently wipe out with a damp sponge. Do NOT use harsh chemicals. Do NOT place in dishwasher or submerge in water.

This awesome bowl measures 3 inches high and 6 inches wide.

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

In The Studio - Part Two

Yesterday I started working on a new mosaic.

These dish tiles are dark blue although they look black here. The stamp on the back calls this design "Country Cupboard". The shape is one of 4 cutting boards I asked my Dad to donate to the mosaic cause he had made in the 1950's.

I love these dishes and their flower design and have used them in mosaics in the past.

All 3 of these mosaics are available through Storenvy.

The fun thing about working on this particular mosaic is sharing it online and having it sold before it got further than what you see above. I LOVE when that happens!

My daughter and son-in-law from IL came to visit us this week. I shared photos on Facebook of the fam and one of the most unflattering photos of me I've seen in the longest time. Triple chins and exhaustion aside, I'm sitting next to 2 people I love and my 7 year old Grandson took the picture, so what can I do? I must share.

The "Doodle Fairy" is still with me. I'm going to save this one for the new pens headed my way today.

I'm diggin' it!

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

In The Studio - Part One

There's not much going on this week, in the studio. The muse and I are resting now that I've finished up the placing of glass and mirror and other fun things on the 10 small gifts for my Facebook buds.

I'm still having a lot of fun with doodles, drawing and coloring every day. I have taken an old book and turned it into an art journal, something I've wanted to do for a good long time now. Many of the pages will be pulled out to draw on, but some are staying in the journal.

Gesso (a primer) was added to the outside of the book which was then painted in my favorite color of green. The inside has gotten some gesso on it too. I glued a few pages together to give it some stability.

I have almost used up all the gelly rolls and gel pens! They don't last long when you use them every day. I did this Hamsa with gelly roll pens this week.

I added some watercolor crayons and pencils to my ever growing stash of art supplies.

Last night I finished up some of the pencil and pen drawings with lots of color!

I'm waiting for some awesome pens to arrive. Once they have, some doodles will be made using those only with no color necessary. I'm excited to start playing with them!

I've been looking over the substrates I have to mosaic to try to decide what to work on next. I will give it a few more days to allow the muse to rest a bit. I'm positive we'll get going on something very soon.

I've added quite a few fun things to Storenvy recently. I've taken some of my photos of doodles, mosaics and nature and made them into pillows, switch plate covers and grocery tote bags. Here's the newest grocery totes added yesterday.

Grocery Totes available on Storenvy

Look under the Home Decor and Pillows and Tote Bags sections to see more.

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

Promo Blast!

Mosaic Shrine - Bohemian Decor - Sun Design - Hippie Art - "Sun Shrine In A Box" - FREE SHIPPING Within US - $250.50

My mosaic shrine is called "Sun Shrine In A Box" using a clever play on words for "shrine" and "sunshine". :)

Measures 7 inches by 8 inches and is covered inside and out, top to bottom with stained glass, china and mirror.

It was once a small wooden jewelry box painted in pink with bright flowers heading towards the dumpster. I have re-purposed it into a fine piece of Bohemian mosaic art.

I used stained glass, tempered glass, ball chain, charms, broken china and mirror on the inside. On the outside I used broken china, mirror and stained glass covering the top, bottom, sides and back.

The sun was painted then sprinkled liberally with gold glitter, covered in tempered glass and outlined in ball chain. The charms hanging from the top are a few broken earrings and really cool odds and ends charms given to me over the years. I added the finial on top and painted it black.

Tea light shown is not included. Should you use a candle inside, to protect the mosaic and your surroundings, please be aware the structure is wood. Do not leave candle unattended or burn for long periods of time.

This is not a light piece of art! It weighs about 5 lbs. More photos available upon request. Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. This is definitely one-of-a-kind.

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy