good morning... looks like another gloomy and cloudy day here in tusla... we may not get good sun for a few days. i wonder... what is the weather like in australia?

my new email friend in australia was kind enough to send me some pics of a couple of her mosaic works. she has a fabulous sense of color and pattern, doesn't she? i am anxious to see her shelf (the vase is sitting on it) when it is finished with her apple blossom mosaic. lovely work, jane!!!

look at the ground underneath the pot in the first pic... i wish that i could send our rain to australia... perhaps they need it!

It's nice to have a holiday! We have decided to go see Pirates of the Caribbean at about 11a, in hope that the theater will not be too crowded. We will see if Capt. Jack Sparrow is still as charming as ever...

In the afternoon, I may work on my vase, Skin Deep... it is coming along very slowly... that gold can be difficult. I had to order more, and the new stuff is thicker... harder to cut. You never know what you are going to get with such hand-made material... but, it is beautiful. When I started the vase, I was hoping to have it finished in time for the Orsoni Prize, deadline June 15th. A few weeks ago, I decided to give up on that idea... I don't do well with deadlines. So, I have eased off on it a bit... it still may be finished it time, but if not... no big deal!

I am very excited about this floating plane idea, which I call Above and Below, where I mount mosaic surfaces (planes) on pedestals and have them overlap each other. I have not yet finished my prototype... just waiting to work out the pedestal issue, but I can see many variations on this idea. I think that I will just spend whatever time I have this summer exploring this concept... as soon as I finish my vase and my Summer spontaneous collage... maybe a couple more weeks. My kids will be finished with their school year (we homeschool), and I should have a bit more time than I usually do.

Here is a photo of the prototype; however, the planes are not on pedestals yet... they are just lying on top of the base... the center plane is lying on top of the other two. I threw this piece together very quickly over the weekend, so don't be too harsh. I hope to finish with the pedestals this week.

my close friend, carole, has always been such an inspiration to me. she is a real a do-it-yourself, creative person. over the years, i am continually amazed at the ideas she comes up with.

a few years ago, she finally got "the bug" to try her hand at mosaic. she has gotten hooked, it seems, and has not stopped creating wonderful things for her home, and for gifts for family and friends. she loves to find a good deal on some decorative item that may not be in the most prime condition, and then transform it. carole has been doing this all her life, and mosaic is just another talent on her list of so many.

i have advised her along the way, although she doesn't need much. her first project was a round tabletop, which she wanted to mosaic with some marble (leftover from a previous home improvement), and vitreous glass. well, she certainly did not start small or easy, considering how difficult marble is to work with, as well as the extreme difference in thickness of the 2 materials. we were able to work out a way for her to do the project directly, which was the easiest, and it turned out beautifully. you can see the result, as well as several other of her projects.

a couple of months ago, i received an email over my website from trey. trey is a senior (high school, i believe) who was doing a senior project that led him to my site. the project was in some way about mosaic art, and in addition to research, included first-hand experience creating a mosaic.

in trey's email, he asked permission to reference me and my work in his project, and he also had a few questions. i was very honored at the request, and gave him both permission and answers to his questions.

i did not hear back from him, and i just thought "oh well, he's young...he's busy...things to do...fun to be had..." i forgot about it and then one day i received an email marked "project completed." it seems he did a marvelous job on his presentation, and received an "A" on the project. he also sent me pictures of the mosaic that he made as part of the project.

trey chose to recreate the ancient cave canem. below, see the finished mosaic. the photos that follow show the creation in progress, being installed on his concrete porch, and, finally the family dog, dulci, posing with her new friend.

congratulations, trey, on a job well done! you really got into your project, and i am sure that you learned a lot. you are very motivated and industrious. and, those helping hands in the photos are trey's brother and mom. (bravo to mom, for supporting trey and letting him turn the living area into a mosaic studio.)

however, it does not look like trey took my advice to start small, does it? that was a real chunk of work for a first project!

j in australia is anxious to learn my artcraft technique, which employs scoring and breaking of glass (mirror and/or van gogh) into small geometric shapes. she is having some difficulty finding suppliers of glass and tools convenient to where she is, which is sydney, autsralia.