In The Studio - Wednesday

It's been a semi-lazy week so far. I have bursts of energy but they quickly leave. I am assuming that is due to the changes in our PA weather. The cooler temps are rolling in slowly. The afternoons are still toasty and I will admit to putting the a/c on some days. But only for an hour or two. Way different than a month ago!

Meanwhile, I thought I'd share this awesome artists painter box my Dad gave me recently. I'm not sure where it came from; it might have been a garage sale find of his. He asked me some time ago if I could use some brushes and maybe, if the paint was still good, would I be interested in it as well. I'm always looking for both and with no real budget, free supplies are always welcome!

Imagine my surprise when I saw this beautiful box. It's weathered and worn. Definitely well-loved. And it might get a bit of a face-lift if I feel the urge to mosaic it. Nothing is safe around a mosaic artist! Isn't it something?

I surprised myself and decided to grout late in the afternoon yesterday. I had done a lot of social media stuff in the morning and thought I'd just chill. However, the muse leaned in and whispered in my ear to get going on that giftie that will be needed this weekend. And so I did that, a coaster my daughter made many years ago when I was still teaching basic mosaic classes and a cute Halloween themed mosaic ornament.

I won't yet share the gift which is shown at the bottom in the photo above. But here is the coaster and the ornament after grouting.

I think my daughter did a great job on her coaster. I'm sorry it took me so long to grout it but it got shoved in a box in storage and just resurfaced again. Isn't that little house funny? It makes me smile each time I see it. Ghost House, I guess should be what it's called. This was going to get an orange paint/water wash on it but I like it just as it is right now. I might paint the back orange, and it will get a hanger.

Recently my daughter helped a friend move. In turn we got a lot of unopened boxes of pasta and tomato sauce plus a few odds and ends she wasn't sure she wanted anymore. She gave me some dishes to smash and my daughter thought it would be nice to use them on a coat rack to give her friend. Sweet idea and I really love making gifts like this for my family and their friends.

After all the grouting is finished (I still have the mosaic letters to grout) I will get right on this cool project for my daughter.

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

In The Studio - Part One

It's mid-week already of the first week in August. Summer is almost through for another year. This year's celebrated seasons have been clouded with illness and physical limitations, so I am hoping for a smoother transition into fall. It's not looking good, however.

I've been having some computer problems this week. It's a good computer, and I thank everyone again for contributing to its funding so I could purchase it a few years ago. I've taken good care of it and have been grateful every day for the convenience to be able to visit my friends all throughout the world many times a day. It looks like there may be another computer in my future soon, but in the meantime, I'll post when I can each week.

I did some grouting on Monday and am thrilled with the results. It's odd to many that grout gives me the satisfaction that it does for my mosaics. Many say I should try to make a few without it to see how liberating that can feel. It changes the look of the mosaic and many artists never use grout at all. I like it; I don't think I'd like any of my mosaics without it. Even when I try to leave it ungrouted, ultimately, I grout! Alright, I'm heading off my wobbling soapbox now about the benefits of grouting my mosaics to share some photos of grouted items and some that just made it to the pile to be grouted.

This peace sign is done in scrap glass. It's 10 inches round and is headed towards my Storenvy shop at some point today. I love making mosaics in scrap glass ... I guess it's the most fun I have when I create a mosaic because I never know what tesserae I'll be using or where it will be placed. I love to go with the flow! This has a tremendous amount of glass and mirror on it and is so very colorful!! I LOVELOVELOVE IT!!

Next, is the hot air balloon wall art. This makes me smile. I think the small pieces of iridescent mirror really makes this mosaic. Measures 6.5 x 9 inches and has a D-ring on the back, sides and back painted black.

For the first time, I took an original photo, "Spring Blossom", and glued it to a small piece of Wediboard. Then I added stained glass and beads to it. It didn't turn out exactly as I had hoped, but once grout is applied to the glass, I'm assuming it will look a little more like a tree with blossoms. I really liked doing this and I hope to keep learning what works and what doesn't with this technique. Thanks to an online buddy for sharing her step-by-step way of doing this. She adds glitter, paint and different photos together and then clear glass mostly to show off the work under it. Similar to what I do with tempered glass. I thought I'd start by using stained glass to see if I liked how it looked. But you know I'll have to try the glitter and paint way too! I put some resin over the beads and hope the grout won't destroy them completely in color and shine. The resin should help a little bit. I hope.

Taking one of the Wediboard cut outs I did a while ago shaped like a dress form, I embellished it with paper, mesh and plaster cast strips and created a really cool looking dress. This only measures about 5 inches and is going to look really awesome when finished. The back area that is not covered in dish tiles will be painted.

One 4 inch square of MDF and two small wall hangings made from Wediboard were added to the grouting pile this week. They can be worked on quickly and when I am having trouble sleeping and don't want to doodle, these shapes come in really handy! Out of the 3, I dig the flower the most. Flower Power, Baby!!

All will eventually be added to the online store but if you are interested in purchasing anything through me directly, just let me know.

Considering I've had a bad physical week and a wonky computer, I'd say I've done a pretty decent job of keeping the mosaic muse happy!

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

Cindy