A couple in Florida recently rebuilt their home after Hurricane Michael damaged most of it. They really wanted a rooster backsplash behind the stove, but design considerations led them to have the stove in a new curved island. Still, they wanted a rooster in the kitchen, and they wanted it to be portable—to be hung as an artwork above the countertop (image below) in a cabinet alcove. The walls are a soft gray.
Quartzite kitchen countertop
Years ago, they had purchased a 17” x 17” original rooster painting from a local artist, and they initially asked me to create the design in mosaic. I approached the artist about copying his design and the response was that a licensing fee would be required. The clients did not want to pursue it at that point, so we went about designing a new rooster.
They found a couple of free-to-share images that they liked and I used those to inform my design. Specifically, they really liked the puffed-out chest and full tail feathers of one of the roosters. They wanted a plain background.
The rooster will be done in smalti, with some iridescent highlights, and the background in vitreous, also with some iridescent highlights. I created the cartoon using the Procreate app, using a palette created with the materials shown in the above Rooster Palette. My Procreate skills are modest, at best, but it’s fun to work with. After conferring with the clients, I decided to eliminate a couple of the lighter background shades. They are pleased with the design and happy that I was able to harmonize the mosaic background with the countertop.
Next, I’ll probably draw in some andamento lines and then I am ready to get started on this. Fortunately, I have most of the materials in stock. I did have to order a little more teal and cobalt iridescent tile as I have very little of that.