Big Bird

It's been a busy August but Big Bird is finally grouted! I used three different colors of grout that were in the mosaic - blue, red and yellow. I also put some glitter on although it's hard to tell in the picture. This is one of those mosaics where I think, well, that made it hard to see. But what can you do? I should remember not to put actual pictures under tempered glass. Or at least do a better job of it.

I also did finish three more mirrors which I will put in my next post. But for now I just want Big Bird  to fly into this post.

More on Patches

It's funny that you can get a better view of a mosaic in progress by either squinting or taking a picture.
Somehow that brings everything into focus. I've made more progress on Patches, and I hope to finish gluing today. Then the usual dilemma...what color grout???

I've decided to resolve for the new year that grout color will not be an issue anymore. I will make a good grout board with all the colors I have and then use it to pick the right grout. Delaine Hackney from the Institute of Mosaic Art did this when I took her pet portrait class and her choice was perfect. I could see it too when we held up different color bars of grout. Below is one of the first sample boards I made, and I find it is very helpful when trying to choose a color.

Grout sample board

Grouting Day

Another busy day of grouting. The peacock on the left had a few pieces dislodge when I grouted it a couple days ago so I reglued the pieces and regrouted. You can see the charcoal grout over his head.

I also grouted two more round pieces; a mandala with hearts and the tree frog. Unfortunately, I'm not happy with the grout on the tree frog. This is why I hate to grout! The grouting itself is not bad, but picking the right grout color can make or break the piece. Tomorrow I'll take pictures of the finished products.

Then we have the kitties staring out looking for creatures. This is where they like to sit when I'm working on a piece at the big table.

And at last, they have a rat on the run below. I hope you don't find these pictures too graphic. A while back I had an infestation of rats in my garage. This was before I had my young cats and Orange Boy was just too old to get up into the rafters. The rats made nests and chewed up suitcases and ate books and paper products. It was really a mess. So it's better now that they are kept somewhat under control.

Grouting with the Kitty

So today I did a little more grouting (still have about six pieces to go). This cute little heart turned out well with rose beige grout sprinkled with pink glitter. It's only about 6" across. The center rose was cut from some English china with my ring saw

And below is my trusty sidekick Biscotti. He hung around with me while I worked in the yard.

Life is better when you have pets!

A Nice Day to Grout

I did some grouting this morning. I wanted to do them all in charcoal grout so I mixed up a batch, went outside to my grouting table on the lawn and started in.

The first was the mosaic of the Calla Lilies. I think the charcoal grout looks good. And I like the way it makes the black arch area all black.

Next I did the odd-looking Rex Begonia mosaic. It still doesn't look like Begonia leaves but the grout did tie it all together. I like the way the charcoal looks in the green border. It actually looks like a pink and green bird in flight. Perhaps I'll rename it!

Finally I did four light switch covers that I glued with glitter tiles. As I mentioned one other time, the glitter makes the picture look kind of fuzzy, but once more, I like the way the charcoal grout makes them pop. I may keep one for myself!

Mosaicing a Wooden Salad Bowl

This is a lovely wooden salad bowl I've had for as long as I can remember. It has seen many, many salads and participated in many parties and family dinners. It was made in California and has three little round feet that you can see in the picture on the right.

One day my friend (and instigator) Jennifer was here, saw the bowl and said, "you should mosaic this." Such a good idea, I thought. There is always the question of whether you do the inside or the outside of the bowl. I think it's too hard to see all the beautiful glass work if you do the outside because it's always sitting on a table and you're looking down at it. First I put these lovely little iridescent squares of blue/purple and gold along the rim. Then I wanted to put hearts inside and I picked some beautiful stained glass that matched the rim. However, as you can see from the picture, the hearts blend into the background stained glass so they are a bit hard to see. However, I might still be able to save it by picking the right color grout. I'll keep you posted!

Grouting Made Easy

When I first started mosaicing, I read all the mosaic books I could find to get ideas and learn correct techniques. I didn't like the grouting process very much. The washing of the grout with water and a sponge was messy and if I cleaned too vigorously, I removed too much of the grout. Plus the water just seemed to smear the grout over the tiles and on and on went the process.

Then I read one of Martin Cheek's books. Martin is a very well-known mosaic artist from England. He does a lot of creatures including cats and birds, and I have always loved his work. He talked about what, in my mind, seemed like a much better way to do the grouting process.

The gluing process

Here is the oval mirror I posted the other day. I always do my grouting outside in the garden. Fortunately living in Santa Barbara provides many months of beautiful outdoor weather. When I was ready to grout I mixed up Tobacco Brown grout and also brought along a little container of dry Tobacco Brown grout. Then after filling in all the spaces with the wet grout, I sprinkled dry grout over the whole piece. This helps absorb excess water and fills in little pin holes that I may have missed.

Sprinkled with dry grout

First swipe with newspaper

Then after 20-30 minutes I take newspaper, crumple it up and start to remove the excess grout. It slides right off! No messy sponge and water. The grout comes off easily with the newspaper! Then I just continue using newspaper to remove all the excess grout, dig out grout where it shouldn't be and voila! the piece is almost done.

Below I've removed all the dry grout with newspaper. This took about 5 minutes. No water and sponges making a big mess. And it's almost ready to go! I still had to go over the piece and dig out any grout in low spots and check for glue still on the face of any tiles.

Give this process a try just once and see if you don't find it easier, less messy and fast.

Grout removed with newspaper

The final piece

Flower mosaic grouted with glitter grout

Well, it's hard to see in the picture, but the grout has glitter in it. The Institute of Mosaic Art has packets of grout glitter in all different colors. I was like a kid in a candy store. On this piece I combined two of the pink shades. When you have made your final swipe at the grout and it's still wet, you press in the glitter. And voila! you have a beautiful sparkly mosaic!

I use the grouting method where after you've fill in the spaces with grout, you sprinkle dry grout over the piece and let it sit for a while. Then I take newspaper and clean off the glass. There is no extra water to mess up everything or to make tunnels in the grout. And even with this "dry" way of grouting, it was wet enough to push glitter into the grout. Click on the picture to see a larger version.