New Work - Roxy

I've recently been commissioned to create six pet portraits, five dogs and one cat. They will all be 5x7" and made with stained glass. Here is the first, a sweet kitty named Roxy. The long hair was challenging, but I am happy with how she turned out.


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Finished Another Book Page!

Just finished mosaic #12 for my children's book, woo hoo!  I started this one in January and I'm not really sure why it took so long other than my busy-ness with the mosaic marathon.  The snowman here is based off a snowman my son made in the third grade.  The cat is an actual decoration of ours.  I've tried to personalize the book as much as possible.  The green checkered table runner is inspired by the runner my mother-in-law made for me.

 

Our cat Raymi is on this page again, too.  She is on almost every page, actually! 

And in the last photo, I recreated one of my mosaics from a few years ago, "We're Free!" and put it in a frame.  The frame was actually a mirror at first (designed from our actual mirror) but it was complicated when it came time to make the reflection in the mirror.  It just didn't read very well, so I turned it into a framed artwork instead!  It's been fun putting my older mosaics in the book.  Going to get a start on the design for #13 this weekend.  Down to my last three mosaics for the book.  Hoping to be done by this summer! 

Recreation of We're Free



We're Free from 2008



SAMA 2012 Lexington, KY



Mosaics installed at The Nest
Photo by Lin Schorr

Note: It took me three hours to write this, so don’t bother starting to read it unless you have a significant amount of time to spare! :)



Wow! What an exciting week! Where to start? Well, first let me tell you what I went through to get there. (Where? Oh yeah, Lexington, KY, the location of this year’s Society of American Mosaic Artists Conference where I was chosen to be the lead artist to create a mosaic triptych for the local non-profit The Nest.) So I’m sitting on the airplane in Los Angeles, waiting to take off, when they announce that they are unable to read the fuel gauge and have to measure the fuel manually. “It should only take 15 minutes or so.” I ended up sitting on that plane for almost 3 hours with many “It should only take 15 minutes more” assurances in between.



Me and my designs

Well of course I missed my connecting flight in Minneapolis. They told me if I wanted my luggage, I’d have to wait an hour so I left without it. I received vouchers for a hotel and meals. The Outback was next door to the hotel but it was already 9pm and my flight the next day was early, so I had a few M&Ms, took a shower, got back into my dirty clothes, and went to bed. (Here’s a lesson for an inexperienced traveler: always remember to bring your phone charger in your carryon bag. I had to be very judicial about my calls and texts by this time, and sent one multi-person text out to let those who needed to know I was arriving a day later.)

The next day (Tuesday), since the airline didn’t have a direct flight from Minneapolis to Lexington, I had to first go to Atlanta and then Lexington. I finally arrived about 12:30 pm. I was super stressed as I had wanted to have a good night’s sleep the night before and start setting up for the mosaic marathon that morning. (Did I mention I was the lead artist and responsible for everything going smoothly?!) Then I found out my luggage had gone on to Detroit because that was supposedly the fastest way of getting it to me. Huh? They would deliver it to my hotel around dinner time.



Tracing the designs with Lin.  Notice the dirty clothes?  Haha. 
Photo by Crystal Thomas

I called for a shuttle and waited on the bench outside. They said it would be about 20 minutes. About 40 minutes later a guy walks up to me and asks if I’m waiting for the shuttle. Apparently, he had parked elsewhere and was waiting for me to show up. That was pretty much the last straw. Tears pushed out of my eyes, I swear, I tried to stop them! Poor guy had no idea what to do with me.

When I arrived at the hotel, I took another shower, put my dirty clothes back on, and went downstairs to set up for the marathon. Fortunately, I had been super paranoid about my designs getting lost with my luggage, so I had put them in a long, cardboard tube and carried them with me throughout my travels (very awkward, by the way).


Carol, Lin and Susan getting a start.

With little sleep and food (do airline pretzels and peanuts count?), I was an emotional mess, but I had a job to do! All it took was seeing Lin and Dave and the waterworks started again. I had absolutely no control over my body! Stop it, I said. It answered, put me to bed. We weren’t listening to each other. Anyway, that occurred pretty much anytime I saw a friend and they hugged me hello.

So I got the room set up and the designs traced onto the boards with enormous help from my friends (xoxo). In fact, I think they did most of it! I just tried to keep my eyes open, although you do start running on adrenaline at some point, just to function. Dave brought me a sandwich and if he hadn’t, I wouldn’t have eaten at all. My body shut down the first few days. It didn’t want to make any demands on me, knowing I was too busy to listen!

Cherie, Judy and Stefan

Dinner that night was a blur. When I got back to my room, my luggage still hadn’t arrived. I called to ask what was up and they said it had taken a detour to Los Angeles and they would get it to me by 11pm. When it arrived at 11:30, I took another shower, got into CLEAN clothes, thank you, and went to bed. However, my brain wouldn’t shut off until about 2am and getting up at 7 the next morning was brutal (still on California time!). We had one more design to trace since the thinset on it had been drying over night. Got that done while others started sticking smalti down on the other two panels. I can’t thank my friends enough for their help and presence on this first day. All experienced and super talented artists, they needed no direction, and I could just relax! They were with me the entire day and with the other SAMA members that came in throughout the day we made unbelievable progress on the mosaics. And I so appreciated the friends who brought me food, water and coffee all day, though I ate and drank very little of it. My pants began to droop.


Michael was there a lot!  He probably
did an entire panel himself, haha

We worked until midnight before we were kicked out. We started at 8 the next morning (Thursday) and worked until 12:30 am. My body continued to demand very little of me. About noon I asked somebody where the nearest restroom was. That’s when I realized I didn’t use it all day the previous day! There were fewer participants on Thursday than Wednesday, and I began getting stressed around dinnertime that we weren’t going to finish that evening. Linda (my amazing and fabulous assistant and friend) and I had decided we were going to close the marathon during that night’s salon so we could view the mosaics for sale and enjoy the excitement. We didn’t. We both took brief strolls to look at the mosaics then went back to work. (My mosaic sold to the wonderful Sharon who worked on the mosaics and also gave me much needed back and neck massages!) It was a valiant effort to finish the mosaics that night, but there was just too much more to do, so I resigned myself to the fact that we wouldn’t finish until the following day. 

Me and Sharon with my salon piece.

Friday morning started at 8 once again. The end is in sight!! We worked until around four, with much laughter. My friends who began the marathon with me, were there at the end, along with the many new friends I had made as well. Putting in the final piece was very emotional for me. Not just because of the responsibility I had and the exhaustion, but more so the incredible support I had from my dear friends who were there every step of the way with me, setting up, putting the mosaic together, bringing me meals, massaging me, cheering me on, making me laugh. I am so lucky to have such caring, generous friends.

Pieces all glued down!  Photo by Pam Goode



We took some celebratory photos and then moved the mosaics downstairs to dry. No sooner had we put them away (and I was just about to go to the restroom!) when we were suddenly ushered into the storm shelter. I had been in my own little cocoon, hadn’t been outside in three days, and was unaware of any tornado warnings, so was completely caught off guard. It was pretty exciting, although I was concerned about how long we would have to stay there! It ended up being only about 20 minutes. It was kinda fun, I have to admit, though I was very happy to leave and use the restroom! A local later told me it was the first tornado they had had there since the 70’s. 

Waiting it out in the storm shelter

That night was the MAI reception, a juried exhibition of international mosaic art. My friend, Lin Schorr, won Best in Show with her mosaic, In Her Shoes. It was beautiful when I saw it in a photo, but in person, I cannot adequately tell you how utterly wonderful it is, in technique, subject, and the emotional connection I felt to it. So very well deserved and I’m so proud of Lin! Afterwards, we did a photo shoot of the eleven of us who wore our Converse shoes in honor of Lin and her accomplishment. I couldn’t be a part of a more supportive and wonderful group of friends! 





Lin Schorr, Best in Show, In Her Shoes
Photo by Crystal Thomas

Saturday, my first morning of sleeping in! And my first real breakfast, eggs benedict, yum! (I’d lost about 5 pounds by then, so needed a little fattening up.) I visited the vendor marketplace, including the vendor Laticrete, who was sponsoring the marathon and providing the grout. I had never used their products before and had chosen a grout color that looked different (wrong) in person than it had online, so I was on a quest of picking a new color. The problem, however, was that they only had white cementious grout on them. The representative, Matt, was so very kind in making many phone calls to try and find a place that carried the color I wanted.



Converse shoes in honor of Lin
Photo by Crystal Thomas



Eventually, since it couldn’t be found, I decided to go with an epoxy grout, which I had never used before and had heard horror stories about. But once again, a friend pulled through for me and saved the day. Kelley, who I call the epoxy grouter extraordinaire, stepped up and came to my rescue! She not only taught us how to use it, but almost single handedly grouted the three panels herself in just two hours. The rest of us helped, but seriously, we mostly stood around and watched her in awe. By this time, not only were my pants slipping down, but so were my underwear. Too much information? Sorry. Tami kept coming over and yanking my pants back up.

Kelley and Linda

After the mosaics dried a couple of hours, we loaded them up and moved them to the final reception area where they could be seen by everyone. That was particularly satisfying as they were finally completed, and those who worked on them (and those who didn’t!) could see the final result. It really was quite something to see my designs created in mosaic by so many hands, and to know that I had played a large part in it, it was a proud moment. And at the same time, what an incredible group effort, what a fabulous community we have. I’m so lucky to be a part of it.





Third panel done

Done!  The design, which I titled Ready to Fly, is of goldfinches surrounding a nest of baby birds in the branches of Kentucky’s state tree, the tulip poplar, while one of the birds is flying away.  The design is meant to symbolize the families in crisis who come to The Nest for support and guidance.  Using the resources and encouragement The Nest provides, the families develop the skills and habits needed for a healthier lifestyle.  When they feel confident and self-sufficient, they are ready to fly.

Dave and Crystal in Mammoth Cave

Next was the raffle, but before that, some acknowledgments of volunteers. I dreaded having my name called because I was still quite emotional (as well as very tired!) Fortunately, I didn’t have to say anything because I would’ve been bawling much more than I already was. But the highlight for me (and I wish I had a photo of it) was my fabulous group of friends on their feet, yelling and cheering me on. :) 

On Sunday morning, after breakfast, I went spelunking at Mammoth Cave National Park with Crystal and Dave. It was a two hour drive and it felt so good to get out of the hotel for awhile! The caves were pretty cool and I didn’t get claustrophobic like I thought I would. I had a great time driving back, singing oldies with Dave and Crystal at the top of our lungs!

Lin and I with "Guardian"

Sunday night dinner out, incredibly yummy tortellini, and then some time in my hotel room with my girlfriends for one last night. I bought this amazing mosaic from Lin. How lucky am I?!


Monday was installation day! Lin and Dave and Stefan and Jeannot were still in town, so they came, too. It was great having my friends there! Lin took a ton of photos (which I’m so glad she did, since my camera didn’t do nearly as nice a job) and Stefan and Dave helped install the mosaics. I was nervous that morning because I had heard that a TV crew would be there, but fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) they weren’t. However, a photographer from Tops Magazine was there and I will post that article later when it comes out. The mosaics were installed at The Nest, a women and children’s center in Lexington. It was exciting to see them hanging there, knowing that visitors would get to enjoy all of the work that so many put into it. I don’t know for sure, but I’d like to say somewhere around 100 members participated. 

Tops Magazine photographing our fabulous installation team!





After saying good bye to my friends and having one last dinner in Lexington with Jeffrey from The Nest, it was time to go home. Only one panic moment traveling home when I was twice sent to the wrong gate at LAX with only minutes to spare before takeoff, but I made it and got home tired and happy. Nothing like sleeping in your own bed and being with the family you missed!  I have a huge amount of gratitude for my friends who helped me, encouraged and supported me throughout this experience. No words of thanks can be sufficient, but just know I appreciate and adore each and every one of you!

Some of the many friends who supported me



I'm so lucky to have such amazing friends!



Fat Boy

Just finished this little 5x7" mosaic for a woman who is giving it to her daughter and husband who loved this cat, Fat Boy.  He was not their cat, but a neighborhood cat, belonging to everyone and no one.  I haven't done a detailed animal portrait in a long time, so I was very happy with how he turned out.  :)

Off to finalize details for the mosaic marathon in Lexington, KY next week.  When I get back, I will be full time on my book to get it done!

Mosaic #12 for children's book underway

Just realized that the background wall is the same color as the hand, so I will need to lighten or darken the background so the hand stands out. Taking a short break from the book now to complete a small 5x7" cat commission.  Back at the book in a week or so!

First E-Newsletter Out February 1st

I will be sending my first e-newsletter tomorrow, February 1st, so if you'd like to receive it, the sign up link is on the right side of this blog near the top.  It will be a quarterly newsletter which will be filled with my mosaic news, mosaics I'm working on, and art by other artists I admire.

Are you on my book mailing list?  Be the first to know when my book is available.  I will send you a postcard with an image from my book on it.  Scroll down and use the sign up form on the right side of this blog.  :)

Update:  I just sent out the newsletter, and if you haven't subscribed yet (why not?!) you can read it here.

New Work

This mosaic was created for the mosaic salon at the upcoming SAMA conference in Lexington, KY, where it will hopefully be sold to the highest bidder!  It is 7 3/4 x 8" and was made with stained glass, millefiori and fused glass which I bought from Helios Glass at last year's SAMA conference.  The original design was of the cat playing with a ball, but when I started adding the spots to the cat, I thought it would be fun to have one of his spots falling off.  I titled it, Now How Did That Happen?

P.S.  Just finished my design for book mosaic #12 and am laying glass on it today!!

Finished 11th mosaic for children's book!

I was hoping to finish this one by the end of the year and I just glued the last piece today!  I'm on track to finish the book by summer, so continue to watch my blog for updates.  I plan on having an exhibition of my book mosaics next fall or winter, so the early part of next year will be in finding a location to show them, most likely downtown Santa Barbara.

Happy New Year - may you have a wonderful 2012!

Mosaic #11 for Book in progress

I'm really excited about how this one is turning out!!  I might add elastic line for strings after it is grouted, if it doesn't look too busy.  I hope to finish this mosaic by the end of this year.  Next year I will be in the home stretch!!!

Small Works Show

I will have a couple of my mosaics in "Close Encounters" Small Works Show at the Wildling Art Museum in Los Olivos, CA with the Artists Guild of the Santa Ynez Valley.  They will be hung from November 30, 2011 until January 8, 2012.  Come to the Holiday Open House on Saturday, December 3, from 3:00-6:00 p.m. as part of Los Olivos' Olde Fashioned Christmas Event. Free cider and cookies, make your own pinecone ornaments for your tree or as a gift. Singer-songwriter Teresa McNeil MacLean will be entertaining guests in the museum galleries. Artists' demonstrations, including Chris Hansen, Cathy McGavin, and Nicki Beltranena.  Tree lighting ceremony at 6pm.  Wildling Art Museum is at 2928 San Marcos Ave., Los Olivos, CA. 

Book mosaic #10 underway

The book has been on hold while I was creating designs for a large mosaic project to be created in February 2012 (more details on that later!). Back to the book this week and it feels good! Once again, Raymi makes another appearance. She'll be in several more pages before the book is done. There are only a couple of main elements on this page so it is mostly background, which hopefully means it will go kinda fast. I have maybe five more mosaics to create after this one, so I need to get rolling if I want to be done by next summer!

New mosaic cats

I took a break from my book to create two mosaics. While in Austin, during the SAMA conference, one of my favorite mosaic artists, Martin Cheek, approached me and asked if I'd do a trade with him! Well, I've done so many mosaic trades over the past few years and had decided I wouldn't do any more for awhile because they take time away from my book, but could I pass this up? No way!

Martin wanted a cat so we decided on a cat trade. I already own a mosaic of a mouse by Martin, which I bought a few years ago, and I was more than happy to add to my Martin Cheek collection! I went on his web site to look at the many cat mosaics he had already made. When I saw Skinny Cat, I immediately knew that was the one I wanted! He shipped it to me while I got to work on his mosaic. Blue Cat, which is 8x10", was modeled after our family cat, Raymi, who has appeared in more of my mosaics than I can count! Check out Skinny Cat! I love those wild eyes!

Then he told me his daughter, Mollie, really liked my cat mosaics and would I be willing to do a trade with her as well. She makes adorable fused glass jewelry, mostly of animals, including cats, ha. So I said, absolutely!! She's going to make me either a turtle or a cat necklace. See how wonderful they are?! If you want to see more of her jewelry, follow this link. Spotted Kitten is the mosaic I made for her. It is 4x5".


As for the book, I am currently working on the design for Mosaic #9. I hope to get started cutting glass in the next week and will keep you posted with the progress!!

Mosaic #8 For Book is Finished!

Just finished my 8th mosaic for the book, so excited! It took me about 100 hours to complete. Here are a couple more shots. This is an indoor scene, and these are the artworks hanging on the wall. I used photos of actual mosaics that I created in the past, cropped them the way I wanted, and then put the photos in between glass. I then taped the sides so when I grout later, it won't seep into the photos. It was great that I have these three tree mosaics, all in a similar style and color scheme because they are noticable, but subtle. If I had used any of my cat mosaics, they would've taken too much attention away from the scene. I'll save those for later... :) Anyone recognize the tree with pink flowers? Anyone? Irit? LOL

I now have six more large mosaics to go (15x24") plus two to three smaller ones (15x12" or smaller). I think I can finish by the end of the year!! First, I need to make a couple of cheeky cats (more details later) and then, back to the book!

Progress on book mosaic #8

I'm getting close to being done with this mosaic! I hope to be finished by this weekend. Here is a small, small bit of the entire mosaic. It's probably about 6x7". I had a lot of fun putting in the millefiori, making it much more playful than if there was none. The pink millefiori on the pillow was hand made and given to me by Gila Rayberg quite awhile ago, and I'm happy I finally found the perfect use for it. Thanks, Gila! And the millefiori on the blanket I just bought from Martin Cheek at the SAMA conference. They are little moons, but work perfectly for the edge of the blanket. The chair was such a challenge for me to make it appear 3D with just one color of glass, but I'm happy with it! I will post again once I finish this mosaic, which will be very, very soon, woo hoo!

One of the challenges of the book mosaics...

Last week I started the 8th mosaic for my children's book and have just come upon this particular challenge I have been expecting since I first started making the book. This is one of the reasons I haven't been grouting the mosaics as I go - so I can continue to make changes.

My challenge is this: re-creating an object from one page to another, but in a much smaller size. I have been consciously aware of this as I've created each design and have therefore attempted to make it work in advance. But some things are bound to be unexpected! So I can't show a photo of what I'm talking about, but three mosaics ago I made an intricate design and now I am stuck because I can't repeat that design at such a small scale. So I will have to go back and redo that first design so it will work in this mosaic. The good thing is, I didn't particularly like the first one so now is my chance to make it even better!

The clock was okay to do since there wasn't great detail in the first place and eliminating a couple of details doesn't change it too much. In the photo on the right, the clock is about 5 inches long. In the first photo, as you can see, much smaller! And check out the teensy tiny millefiori that I am using for this mosaic. It gives you an idea of just how small some of the elements are!!

I'm having a great time, by the way!!

My mosaic won 2nd place!

I entered my mosaic, "Please, Can I Come In?" into the humor competition on the mosaic forum, CMA (Contemporary Mosaic Art), and was awarded 2nd place. I won a $50 gift certificate for Maryland Mosaics, of which I spent immediately, haha. The judge, Martin Cheek (who has long been one of my favorite mosaic artists!) said this about my mosaic:

"I’ve long been an admirer of Christine’s cats - of which, this is a great example. I love the limited but PRECISE palette that works so beautifully here. The wavy lines in the sky add an interest to the background andamento- which must represent about 90% of this piece. This would have been a worthy contender for the earlier challenge: Comp 1 on SPACE because compositionally it fulfills that brief...AND it would also qualify for Comp 2 - which was 20 x 20 cm. (8 x 8 inches.)
I love the way that the cat’s paws are lined up with his eyes - the whole face is completely symmetrical - which is what gives him(?) such a humorous look. The little paws overlapping the simple frame are an inspiration.... which reminds me: What is the difference between a cat and a comma? One has the paws before the claws and the other has the clause before the pause."

If you are a mosaic artist and are not currently a member of CMA, I HIGHLY recommend you join (it's free). There is an enormous gallery of beautiful mosaics to which you add your own, as well as an ongoing competition (current one is Medieval beasts), discussion forum, and a great place to network. Check it out!

Detail of 7th mosaic for book

Nearly done with the 7th mosaic! Just a couple more days and I'll be finished, but here are a couple of detail shots. It went really quick compared to the previous two. This design was much simpler and no people or animals to slow me down. I'm excited to get to the next mosaic because the rest will be indoors and I can't wait to plan out all of the details of the furnishings!

My artwork has been published!

My mosaic, Portia, has been published in a new book called Mosaic Fine Art Portraits by Irit Levy and Pam Givens (Mosaic Fine Art Books, 2010). It is a beautiful book with some gorgeous portraits, many by mosaic artists who are new to me, so that was a nice surprise. The next book in the series will be Mosaic Fine Art Abstracts (tentatively named). There is currently a call out to artists to submit for this book. If you're interested, click here for more information. Deadline is February 10, 2011. I won't be submitting for that book as I don't create abstract art, but I hear one of the future books will be on animals and you can bet I will be submitting to that one!

This is the second time Portia has been published. The first was inside and on the cover of Mosaic Artist's Bible of Techniques by Teresa Mills (Quarto Publishing, 2009).

Also, last year, one of my cats, Pounce, was published in Laurel Skye's book, Mosaic Renaissance (North Light Books, 2009). This is one of my new favorite books, all about using millefiori in mosaics, so I'm very proud to be in it. If you work with millefiori in mosaics, you will love this book!

Mosaic #6 for book is done!

Yay! Another mosaic for my book has been completed. I am now almost half way there! This mosaic took about 100 hours in a two month time span. Unfortunately I had many things slowing me down on this one. I'm hoping to pick up the pace on the next ones. It would be so great if I could have it ready to print by next summer! It is doable if I do nothing else, but that is not likely to happen. I had a lot of fun with the millefiori in this mosaic. I browsed Laurel Skye's book, Mosaic Renaissance, for inspiration in cutting the mille in different ways. Very fun! Here are a couple of detail shots. I will be able to show more in mosaic #7 so stay tuned!!