Susan Crocenzi at Santa Barbara School of Mosaic Art (SBSMA)

I attended another wonderful workshop at SBSMA with the amazing Susan Crocenzi. She has so much talent and creativity! It was a three-day workshop. The first two days we worked with tempered glass, I had a heart/peace sign base that I brought along and after listening to Susan and her wonderful ideas, I came up with a design. The final piece looks much better than the picture but tempered glass is hard to photograph. I'm going to post this now since I see I'm way behind with my blog posts. More on the polymer clay later.

New Works

There is so much to do these days! But I still try to get into the "studio" at least once a day to work on a project. On the left is a spiral piece I made with various cut-up plates as the filler. The beads are small colorful blobs. They're called Circle Glass Drops and I buy them from Opus Mosaics Drops, one of my favorite places online to buy mosaic materials.

Below are a few more pieces that are finished. The cat and heart rocks were made during my wonderful workshop with Chris Emmert in Eugene, OR.

I'm also working on two commissions for mosaics of house cats, Christmas tree rocks and coasters for a neighbor, plus getting ready for Christmas boutiques. Sounds like a lot of fun, doesn't it?





















Plus I'm working on finally setting up my outdoor studio. I I'll send some before and after pictures. Two worries I have - that I won't feel like being out there at night, and it may be too cold in the winter. I'll have to work on both of those things. At the bottom is a night view of what the studio used to be - a potting cottage. Now I hope to fill it up with all my tools and machines and saws and grinders to make working a little easier.

New Work

I've been working on many new things getting ready for our show at a local restaurant. Here is a pretty in pink heart. I found the base at a thrift store and I added some china pieces. I cut the center out of one of the plates for the center of the piece. This one has two holes near the top so I'm going to try putting a pretty ribbon for hanging.



The next piece below doesn't look very good in the picture but in person I'm finding it quite interesting. I have a crazy quilt stitched by one of my aunts way back in the 20s or 30s. I decided to try to make a mosaic that looked like a crazy quilt.

And finally here is another piece I found at a thrift store. A key! My dad was a locksmith and the large round key on the right was one he made for me to open the door of my house. So I decided to find some interesting keys and populate this wooden piece. I also painted it turquoise and threw on some gold glitter. Then I glued tempered glass on top. It isn't grouted yet because, as usual, I'm not sure what color grout to use. I'm thinking of something in the gold family also. Maybe I'll use a couple colors of grout to add some interest. 

So I just thought I'd let you know that I haven't reneged on my goal of making a new mosaic a week. I'm still at it and loving every minute of it!

Mosaic Rocks

Heart

I've started doing mosaics on rocks. Like the flag I displayed in my last post. I go to the beach and pick up a bunch of rocks that have come in on the tide. I look for rocks that are pretty flat on one side. Then I wash them to get all the sand and dirt out and glue on a design! Some are good, some not so much! I keep learning, however.

I've seen the ball chain outline used by a few different mosiac artists and thought I would give it a try.

Musical Note

This orange musical note on the right is a commission from one of my garden club friends. I've decided I really like the ones with mirror glass.  They really sparkle in the sunlight.

Bromeliad

The Bromeliad below was a rock I made for my friend Gary' birthday. I think it looks more like an octopus, but he was kind enough to say he liked it. Here it is sitting in his garden.

Ballet toe shoe and snail

This toe show was suggested by friends of mine from Los Angeles. They said ballet is very popular with the young crowd. So I made the rock on the left and NO ONE knew what it was. Well, one person did know but the other 10 people I asked could not identify it. Then when I tell them, it seems so obvious! The photo is before they were grouted.

Cat

The one on the left is obvious. A kitty cat! One of my favorite things!





And the colorful fish below started out as a musical note, but it just didn't turn out as I planned.  So I turned it into a fish!

Fish

More Mosaics

Tempered Glass

I have been working on mosaics as I promised. I just haven't posted anything lately. Here is a tempered glass circle mirror (mirror not in place yet) with colored papers underneath. I've had it glued for a while, but I'm not sure what colors to use for the grout. There is some lavender in the paper on the left bottom so I may use a combination of pink, turquoise and lavender grout.

Turquoise Bead Heart

Above is another heart I made. Since every heart I've ever made has sold, I guess people must like hearts. So this is one made with some beautiful turquoise-patterened plates I got at our local Assistance League thrift store. I also put in some beads, ball chain and a polymer clay heart I made. Quite a mishmash! But think it's pretty and hopefully someone else will also. Below is a picture of the Good Cup wall where I hung it.

It's hard hanging mosaics at the Good Cup in a pleasing (to me) manner because the tables are always filled with customers! So I usually just hang new ones where old ones have been sold. The spacing isn't always great but I'm glad they have so many customers.

Good Cup Coffeehouse

More Camp Ocean Pines Workshop

Sunset at Camp Ocean Pines

Since we had so much time to work on our projects, I also made a mushroom! I had a different color scheme for it at first but the squiggles I wanted to put on the edge kept sliding off. I would have liked a red slice but that will have to be the next time.

This was our view from the workshop. One of our fellow campers said he saw the green flash.

Heart at beginning

Heart half done

Heart ready to grout

Camp Ocean Pines Mosaic Workshop

The mosaic workshop at Camp Ocean Pines was a delight. The accommodations were a bit rustic (bunk beds) but there were so many wonderful artists! The first night we had no power so we used a generator to light up the craft room. Cozy!

The food was served buffet style and was so delicious. Dessert with every meal! Needless to say I was very happy. And we could work on our pieces from 7 am to whenever. Some worked far into the morning to finish their final piece. I usually finished about 9 pm.

Our instructors, Fred and Donnell, were great teachers, and I learned a lot! I was also overwhelmed by the caliber of the artists at the class. I plan to take another workshop soon!

Audubon Cabin

Crafts Workshop

Working with lights on generator

Not too comfy bunk beds

I made the mushroom on the bottom left
after two glasses of wine!

Fred and Donnell Pasion

Camp Ocean Pines

I'm here in Cambria, CA at a mosaic workshop given by Fred & Donnell Pasion of Passiflora Mosaics. The first 23 hours we had no electricity due to high winds and downed pine trees. We had a generator last night for lights in the workshop but no electricity in the cabins.

But tonight I finished my heart!










And this is my table mate Jane.

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Location:Marlborough Ln,Cambria,United States

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!

Hearts and Spirals

Spiral Mosaic

 I'm still keeping up with my goal of one new mosaic a week. Although I wonder if I'm jumping the gun by saying I finished something when it still needs grouting. Also I haven't shown commissions that I've made so I think I can feel good about my goal!

I'm working hard to get things finished for the two shows I have coming up. This top piece is a spiral in all my favorite colors. It has some millefiori thrown in here and there. I think I'll grout it in charcoal.

And here I go again with the hearts! This piece below is a medallion with mirror hearts. I'm still trying to work out the color for the part between the border and the top of the hearts. I've thrown some yellow on there to see what it would look like.

And I decided the work table outside is not the best place to photograph my mosaics because the colors never come out just right. I'll try it again in another spot where there isn't a green umbrella shading it.

San Luis Obispo Art Tour 2011

Morro Bay

Last weekend my friends Mike, Gary and I attended the ARTS Obispo (the San Luis Obispo County Arts Council) 13th annual Open Studios Art Tour. We visited all the mosaic artists and most all of the glass studios. Since the tour covered all of San Luis Obispo County, we spent the night in Morro Bay. Here is the famous Morro Bay Rock which was just two blocks from our hotel.

We also visited our friends Paul and Laurel in Los Osos. Laurel was one of the artists on the tour. She makes beautiful jewelry with polymer clay. She and Paul are also wonderful Begonia growers. Paul is famous for his Tuberous Begonias. And here I am with Laurel and Mike in her gorgeous Begonia garden.

Laurel, Mike and Julie

Heart Mosaic by Passiflora Mosaics

One of the studios we visited was Passiflora Mosaics in Grover Beach, CA. We met Fred and Donnell Pasion and watched them work on their mosaic bench to be installed at the new Cottage Hospital building in Santa Barbara.Cottage Hospital had a call for artists earlier this year and their mosaic benches were chosen to be installed in the new building.

This heart is one of their creations! They also create mushrooms and other forms from styrofoam and cement to create lightweight forms to be mosaiced.

This is another of their mosaics. It is their beloved cat Zoe who is no longer with them. What a whimsical piece!

Gary and Mike

And finally we visited Gopher Glen Apple Farm in San Luis Obispo and bought apples and fudge! Gary and Mike climbed into this pumpkin display for a picture.

What a great weekend! We met many wonderful artists and I was inspired by the beautiful pieces we saw.

Back to Mosaics

I finished gluing the three hearts mosaic, and I like the way they look. It's hard to tell that the scrolly lines are green but they are a beautiful iridized glass. Now...what color grout??

And the Christmas stocking below on the left is a form or cutting board I found at a thrift store. Since it's getting close to the holidays, I thought I'd make something for the season. The cuff is made with red mirror. I think I'll put some glitter on the grout to make it more festive.

The circle mirror on the bottom is one I did quite a long while ago and never was thrilled with the way the tempered glass looked in the middle. So I glued a mirror over the top and then edged it with marble. I'm much happier with it.

I've also been cleaning up in the garage and once it's looking spiffy, I'll post a picture. New shelving units on wheels have been added and I have a plan to change the picnic table to something else. Next time...

More Works in Progress

The hearts are almost finished. Or at least the gluing is almost finished. The colors look odd because I photo-graphed them early this morning and had to use lights and flash.  I've decided I like the way the opus vermiculatum looks though I must say it is definitely more of a challenge.

On the right is my tree frog. I decided I couldn't really tell it was a frog so I pulled out some of the tiles and will replace them today. Also I tiled the edges with various colors of green tiles.

And below is the transferware piece. Now I am adding a section of green pieces. As soon as I install the new blade in my ring saw, I'll cut some of the centers out of the plates and see what looks good in the center of this circle. Or I can still add a mirror. And then the dreaded question, what color do I use to grout all these pieces?