Happy New Year 2013

Happy New Year! It's been a very busy month, and I've been neglecting my blog. My first resolution in 2013 is to update my blog more often! I have still been working on a mosaic a week and, in fact, have made many more than four in December.

But back to my mosaics...my show is going well at Good Cup Downtown. One of the mosaics I made this month was a Christmas tree which I loved. Someone else loved it too and bought it.

I also made another mirror to hang over the fireplace after I sold the English transferware mirror. So that's all for now. I have a persistent cat on my lap wanting attention so I'll give in and pet him.

Transferware Mirror

News - Good and Bad

The good news is that I hung my ongoing show at the Good Cup Downtown. For the month of December, I have both sides of the fireplace. In January another artist will use the space on the right side of the fireplace. The owners of the Good Cup on the mesa bought this coffee house in downtown Santa Barbara. It's located right next to the Fiesta Theater. It was a bit hard to have enough small items that would fit in the shelves but I think it looks pretty good and hopefully the mosaics will sell.


The bad news is that the Poria incrassata - house-eating fungus - has returned to the studio. It was just two years ago that my wonderful carpenter Jim replaced the whole left side and the back wall. Now hopefully we've caught it early and will only need to replace the left side of the door.

The first clue that it's in the wall is in late November or very early December -when this pretty mushroom-like bloom shows up between the seams of the wood. Then it's time to start removing wood to see how much the fungus has eaten. It feeds on wet wood (my fault, no doubt) and turns it to mush.

One good note about the studio is that I have it set up inside with all my tools and a large work table. I should have taken pictures before we started tearing out the walls but I'm sure Jim will once again fix it and I'll post new pictures.

Kitties and Mosaics

Here is the cutest thing happening right now. The little black and white boys asleep together on the couch. And see all the mosaics hanging on the wall. There was supposed to be a Holiday Boutique last Saturday but we were rained out. I believe it will be rescheduled for this Saturday. So I have a few new items. There's a mirror below with stained glass and ball chain. I love the way ball chain can outline areas of glass.

On the left is a Christmas mirror with a cute kitty wooden ornament. I used Martha Stewart's glitter paints to brighten up the grout on the green glass and the red glass. 

And on the right is a spiral using plates and optic drops to define the spiral.

The studio is just about ready for outdoor mosaicing in the winter. I have a nice oil-filled heater and my great handyman, Jim, installed the fluorescent light fixture over the work table. I'm moved a lot of my tools, saws, drills and cutting devices out there so now I just need to start working! I'll send a picture soon.

Holidays and Mosaics

It's the day after Thanksgiving so I think it is OK to start decorating for the holidays. So I have my mosaic stocking on the front door!

And the Blue Agave tequila bottle mosaic below is getting better and better. I will try to finish gluing today.

Tomorrow is the Holiday Bazaar at the Oreana Winery so I've got the car packed and ready to go. I'll have at least 25 mosaics for sale, all priced for holiday gift-giving.

If you get a chance, stop down at 205 Anacapa Street, across from the Amtrak station, and see all the wonderful EtsySB artists and their art.

Cold Windy Day

It's a cold, windy day, and the kitties played inside more than usual. Here they are on their scratching post. Prancer Dancer is on top and Biscotti is on the bottom.

I spent most of the day working on mosaics, doing cleanup work like painting substrates, drilling holes for D-rings, patching some holes that were in the wrong place, etc. The blue and orange sunburst has been completely glued, but I'm not pleased with one of the branches of the sun. So tomorrow I'll pull out the offending pieces and try to make it more to my liking. I also see a couple potential grout rivers so I will probably fix them also.

And I worked a little on the Tequila bottle that I'm making into a Christmas-themed mosaic. I'm using Lexel to glue the pieces on as it will dry clear. I will grout it also.

That's it for today. Glad you stopped by!

Oh, and today is my brother's 70th birthday! Happy birthday, big brother!