Mosaic 5 of book is done!

This was a very challenging mosaic for me, so many details, I had to really stretch myself with this one. While the previous mosaic took 105 hours, this one took 120 hours - twice as long as the first two in the series! There were so many decisions to make each step of the way. I also redid some things once I finished gluing the final piece, so that stretched it out longer. Here's one more detailed shot. I'll take a little break and work on a couple of small commissions and then onto mosaic #6! (I'm about 1/3 of the way done with the book - woo hoo!)

Book progress! 5th mosaic well underway

I am so happy to be back at my book! I was away from it for about 4 months creating work for shows and small commissions. At the beginning of August I began working on the fifth mosaic and while I still have a lot more to complete on it, I thought I'd share a couple of work in progress photos. This is by far the most detailed mosaic I've done for the book and already I have spent more than 100 hours on it. The most detailed parts are done, so I'm hoping that, even though it's mostly background fill to do, it will go faster than the first half! Wish I could share more (boy, do I) but here's a little for now. :)

Second cat done

Finished just in time for the group show I am participating in at the end of this month. This mosaic, entitled Please, Can I Come In? is 8x8" and made with stained glass and millefiori. I was originally going to do the background in blue, which would've been gorgeous against the brownish orange of the cat, but I thought the cat would rather want to come in from a snowy, cold outside than a beautiful sunny day! I worried about that choice, thinking it would be too white or too stark, but now it makes the composition interesting to me. Plus the different shades of white, the mille, and the andamento keep it from being a boring background. I like it!

This mosaic and the other mosaic cat will be at the Cabrillo Arts Pavilion in Santa Barbara, CA from July 27 to August 29. If you are a local or are in the area, stop by! I will have three or four of my older pieces there as well.

New mosaic: Lookit What I Can Do!

I'm participating in a local group show next month (details coming soon) and so will have two new cat mosaics to show. This is the first, inspired by the funny things cats do to get your attention. Sometimes my cat rolls over and just acts cute (well, IS cute) to get me to come over and pet her. Other times she does amazing acrobatics, then looks at me for approval and applause. Well, she IS talented. Second mosaic to be posted soon. Just adding the whiskers. :)

Burano: New Mosaic For Donna

I created this little mosaic (about 3x8") for Donna Van Hooser, an amaaaaaazing mosaic artist I met on Flickr. It is inspired by the wonderfully colorful houses of Burano. I just love how they are situated by the water with the little boats. As soon as I drew the design, I knew exactly where the mille was going! I even found some teensy, tiny, seriously almost microscopic mille for the door knobs! I'm finding one of my favorite parts of creating my mosaics is determining where I will be putting millefiori. :) And I have been saving these two shades of fabulous mottled blue glass for just the perfect occasion and found it with this mosaic. I really like how it gives depth to the sky and water. The sun is a little fused piece of glass, given to me by Jane Denison (master mosaicist of houses, who I thought of often as I made this piece!).

Donna made me this mosaic, with lovely, lovely blues, my favorite color, and look at the andamento!! She does the most perfect cuts. And of course I love the mille. I don't know if she meant it or not, but I see a leaf blowing in the breeze - maybe because it is a recurring theme in my mosaics of nature! She framed it, too, and I always appreciate when artists do that. Thanks so much, Donna!!

A Trade With My Buddy Barb Keith

I have long wanted a mosaic by Barb and finally I've got one! And oh how much I love it. She made me a mosaic of our family cat, Raymi, and it is just beautiful. The colors are fabulous, and the expression is so her. I love the whiskers! And she framed it and got cards of the mosaic made for me, too. So cool! She put so much thought into it all and I just adore it.

It's funny because I had considered making a mosaic of one of her pets, too, but since she has a few, I didn't want to single one out and make the others feel bad, haha. So I picked birds, as Barb has made many mosaics of birds and so I felt pretty confident she loves them. :) When I was getting close to finishing the mosaic, Barb and I had an email discussion about how long we've been penpals and friends. We came to the agreement that it was sometime in the beginning of 2007. The next time I worked on the mosaic, I saw us in the birds, and then it was only fitting to name the mosaic, "To Friendship." Thanks Barb, for the mosaic and the friendship!!

New Mosaic, New Trade!

I created this mosaic, "Gila's Tree," for who else, Gila! Gila Rayberg to be exact. She asked for a tree and I asked her for an animal, her choice. She picked a chameleon, well, actually, two (see the hidden one?). Another fun trade. Thanks, Gila!