WIP

Switching Gears

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I wrote last week about how I have been in quite a creative slump, but that I was determined to finish a little, fun piece that I started at the end of last year. Well, I am out of determination. It just was not working for me. Have you ever just lost interest in a project? Silly question, right? I really hate to add another unfinished mosaic to my list but it, at least, has company.

I’m going to mosaic a pair of bottles, also started back in November before I lost interest in them. I now understand that my lack of interest was not only mosaic oriented, but more of a general malaise that spilled over into my creative drive, resulting in an existential foray into questions about life and purpose. My mind just loves that kind of stuff, and that is for both good and ill, I believe.

Time to move on! Here is a pair of interestingly-shaped tequila bottles. I don’t remember the brand. My husband brought home one bottle a few years ago. I thought the shape just called out for a mate, so I found another one. I drew the pattern on last November and then proceeded to abandon them on a work table for all these months.

I’ll be using Orsoni #10 gold for the lines, and an off-white marble for the rest (at least I think I have decided on an off-white marble). I have not decided on the andamento for the marble yet, whether I want it to be the same throughout—like vertical—or whether I will do something contrasting between the sections that will be created by the lines of gold. I’ll start with the gold and then decide. The shape of the bottles does present some challenge no matter what I decide for the marble.

So, to work!

My Next Frequency

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Next in line are a few additions to my Frequency Series. These are small, enjoyable pieces just working with combining colors. So far, I have only concentrated on LGBTQ flag color combos, but I have in mind to do a few non-LGBTQ themes as well.

Lesbian Frequency, in progress. 8” x 10” | 20cm x 25cm. Kismet, colored cement.

This one, Lesbian Frequency, uses Kismet glass in colors as close as I could find to the Lesbian flag, or one of them, as there are a few variations. I may do one of those variations next. The first two frequencies, Pride and Trans, were made with vitreous glass. The Kismet is a little thicker, but quite uniform, and the cut surface is more akin to smalti, providing a nicer reflective quality.

The pieces are all cut and I’m ready to go!

Theme and Variations: All Dreams, in progress

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I’m moving along rather slowly but in a more relaxed way than I am used to. All the creative energy was up front in the design phase. Now, I just have to follow the design, trimming and shaping each piece of gold into the closest I can get to a square or squarish rectangle.

Theme and Variations 36” x 57”. Mosaic gold.

Even with the grid, keeping the lines straight requires constant attention. The variation in the sizes and exact shapes of the pieces makes it easy to get wavy lines, which I am having more trouble with vertically than horizontally. I wonder why that is? I’m not shooting for perfection here, but I do need it to be a grid. I’ve had to make a few corrections as I go, and as the lines develop in length enough for me to both go wavy and see that I’ve gone wavy. There will no doubt be needed corrections when I finish the main work and before I get into the finishing work.


initially thought that this mosaic would take me through the end of the year, and I believe that to still be the case. In fact, I may not actually complete the finishing work until into 2020. Slow and steady.

Theme and Variations: All Dreams, in progress

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I’ve decided that I prefer the main title of Theme and Variations after all. And so it is.

Theme and Variations, in progress. 36” x 57” | 91cm x 145cm. Mosaic gold.

Theme and Variations, right side perspective

Here are a couple of in-progress pics—pardon my mess—as I am somewhere around 1/4 of the way through. The actual mosaic work of cutting and gluing the pieces is close to 1/3, but I think that the finishing work will actually be a chunk of work in itself.

Yes, there is cutting: I’ve yet to find a single piece of gold that I could use as is. Every piece requires some cutting or shaping. I’m using nippers and grinder to accomplish this.

I’m really enjoying working on this and watching it come into being.

All Dreams, in progress

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Some of the main players in my current production are ready to rumble. This palette is way more colorful than I like. I prefer a minimal palette with little contrast, or a single color family, and I did try to impose my preference on this work in the design phase. But I lost that battle and all this color prevailed.

Mosaic gold: green, turquoise, orange, blue, violet, 010/013 yellow, 015/016/017 copper

The gold pieces in this photo are all cut from 3” square plates. The smallest squares are the size of four of the smaller standard-cut gold. These larger pieces will be elevated by approximately the thickness of the gold, which runs around 1/8”. I’ve adhered a support to the back of each of these 80 pieces, painted the edges, and they are ready to go.

The design for this mosaic is foreign to me, but it was very enjoyable to work on. We sometimes call such unexpected works a departure. I’m not sure about that, but I do feel that it is a risk that I am not sure will result in success—a risk because of the expense of all the gold, and because it will be a very large and heavy monstrosity to deal with should it fail.

Still, it’s like taking a particular direction along a forked path in the woods, not knowing or caring where it leads because it just feels like the walk will be worth it.

Theme and Variations (All Dreams)

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I’m almost ready to start this very large mosaic which will be titled All Dreams. It is the 5th in my Music To My Eyes series, which is inspired by classical piano music in particular forms. These mosaics rely on mosaic gold in a grid format, or opus, in expressing some aspect(s) of the form/music.

All Dreams is inspired by a contemporary classical piano piece by Christopher Theofanidis, titled All Dreams Begin With The Horizon, 3rd movement. The form is basically a Theme and Variations. Although the other pieces in the series are named by the musical form, I think that Theme and Variations is just so technical sounding, so I’m going to call it All Dreams, for now anyway. Still thinking on that…

In 2010, I created this 36” x 57” substrate (at right) from 36” square, 1/2” Wedi panels in two layers. At that time, I could not get the full 60” x 36” panels here in Tulsa, so I built one. I needed four such panels for a large commission.

As it turned out, this substrate was about the same weight as a Hardibacker panel which cost much less in both $$ and labor. The weight was a concern because I would be using a lot of stone. I went with the Hardibacker and stored this Wedi substrate away. The finished panels ended up weighing about 100 lbs. each.

A few years ago, I had a metal frame made, with an EZ-bar hanger attached on the back, and installed the substrate into the frame. This gave me a landscape-oriented substrate ready and waiting to be mosaicked.

It is pretty heavy without any mosaic on it. The Wedi substrate itself is about 30 lbs., if I remember correctly. Since framing it, I have been contemplating what I could do with this while keeping the additional weight as minimal as possible.

Over time, an idea began to percolate and I started some design work last spring. Just a bit more tweaking and I hope to start the mosaic work next week. As you can see in the photo, I have the gold all lined up, minus two orange plates that should arrive any day now. There is a 28” x 49” grid of 3/8” squares centered on the substrate. The design calls for both mosaicked and non-mosaicked areas, which I hope will help with the final weight.

It looks like I’ve got plenty to keep me busy!

Bottle Update

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This wavy bottle (click on image to zoom) is now 5/8 finished, not counting the very top edge, or spout. I have not quite figured out how to handle that yet, but I will think of something.

The gold is called Acid Green, and I bought it back in 2006 when I was in Venice for the Orsoni 2-week Master Class. I’m using a lot more of it than I thought I would when I started, and it’s not because of waste. 3d objects can be deceptive. I’m also surprised at how much marble it is requiring. But I like the way it is turning out.

I’ve got a little trip coming up to San Jose, CA, to visit my daughter for about a week. I will finish this project when I get back.

Currently untitled. 18.5” x 6” | 47cm x 15cm. Marble, mosaic gold, on glass bottle.

A Bottle Break

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With a busy June and July coming up, I’m taking a break between fine art pieces but still like to work in my studio when I can. I thought about doing some decorative work, and then I remembered a bottle that I had bought from an estate sale over 20 years ago. I thought I might have even gotten rid of it, but I found it at the back of one of my closets.

It is an unusual shape and only slightly wonky—most bottles are imperfect—and has a bit of a lean on one side. Still, it is a tall and distinctive bottle and I thought I could do something with it. It’s bulging shape did not lend itself to my usual geometric technique, and I’ve been wanting to do something 3d with marble for some time.

I came up with this design after contemplating the shape of the bottle and asking myself how I could best exploit the shape without making the project extremely difficult.

You can see the bottle at right (click on it to zoom). It measures 18.5” | 47cm tall and is about 6” | 15cm at its widest. I’ve marked the bottle vertically in eighths, and in this pic I’m just ready to start mosaicking the lines with brown marble.

The dark brown marble is Emperador, and I don’t know what the beige is. I purchased the marble from Home Depot a few years ago as a mix for wall applications. I absolutely love Emperador marble! It has beautiful variations and veining, but can be tricky to cut. I’m accompanying the earthy marbles with acid green gold in crazy paving.

We’ll see how it turns out.