Mosaics at Gazebo Plants and Flowers

My friend Mike owns a gorgeous nursery and florist shop in Montecito, California called Gazebo Plants and Flowers. His shop and grounds are filled with Orchids, Begonias, Bromeliads, trees, statues, pots, fountains, silk plants and other beautiful items.  And he has been kind enough to offer to sell Joooles Design mosaics and coasters at his store!

Above is a beautiful glass table with Streptocarpus, African Violets, Bromeliads and Joooles Design garden rocks and coasters! To the right is one of my heart mirrors hanging on the wall along with more rocks on the table.  I can't think of a more beautiful place to have my work on display!

Mosaics and Cats

Today we have a two of my favorite topics; mosaics and kitty cats. First is a mosaic mirror I finished for a client. I'm fortunate to have a lovely garden to use for picture-taking when a mirror is involved.

Below we have a mosaic I made on a cupboard face sample given to me by my neighbor. His family owns a company that installs kitchens, offices and other cool spaces. It is a botanical of a hummingbirds with flowers that I thought matched the frame. On my next attempt at one of these clear swirly glass mosaics, I'll be more careful to make sure all the squares line up properly. As you can see, I had to make adjustments near the bottom. I'm always learning from my mistakes!



And finally we have adorable kitty pictures. First we have both boys asleep atop the divider that separates the front door from the living room. There are fluorescent lights in the top so it is warm, and the kitties love sleeping up there. If it weren't for the two tails, you might think it was just one cat.

Sleeping kitties

And finally we have Prancer asleep on the bed. Is he cute or what???

Prancer takes a nap

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

New Stuff

Rainbow Flag Rock

Here is a rock I made for my friend Doug's birthday. My brother and I took Doug to lunch at BJ's in Ventura. When I was first into mosaics, I made him a little garden ball. I used a Styrofoam ball and glued iridized tiles to it. I made one for myself and it is holding up well.

Doug

Doug's Garden Ball

Tempered Glass Mosaics

Streptocarpus photo

Tempered glass is an interesting medium to work with. I have made many TG pieces and learn more each time I make one. And I have thrown a couple away! Here is an example of one I made a while back.

The picture on the left is a Streptocarpus I grow. I put the photo in Photoshop and swirled it a round a bit (second photo). Then I glued the photo to a tile,added  a border around the tile and then glued the tempered glass on top.

Photoshop adds some swirls

(Some day I'll get Blogspot to put the photos where I want them but for now I'll let it do its thing.)

Tempered Glass Glued 

Above is the tile after adhering the tempered glass to the tile. And to the right is the finished piece. I grouted it in a dark teal green.

Below are three more pieces that are made with tempered glass. They all have at least two colors of grout. When you see them in person, they have depth.

Lava Flow

GVAA Artist Tour

Here was our setup for the Goleta Valley Art Association (GVAA) Artist Tour yesterday. There were three of us at this location. My area is the red tent. It was an enjoyable day, the tent kept me cool, and I sold several things. We had around 70 visitors trickle in throughout the day. So I read a book on my Kindle Fire,  worked a mosaic for a friend so visitors could watch the mosaic process, and later in the afternoon I uncorked a nice bottle of wine to wind down the afternoon.

Love Makes the Heart Explode

Blue Mirror with Bead Flowers

Seascape Saga Complete

Seascape

The seascape mosaic is finished and installed! My three favorite items, hearts, suns and cats, were missing from this piece, but there is the idea of the sun coming through the water at the top! I am very pleased with the final result.

Below is the piece hanging at the client's home. She and her son were happy, and so am I.

Seascape installed at client's home

Seascape Mosaic

Beginning

I have a client who requested a scene of the sea to hang over a new sink. She said she really liked seascapes and would like it to have movement. She wanted a curved top and a large mirror that would be big enough for brushing teeth.Then she said she didn't want it to be busy. And she said she would like some beads in it like she'd seen in some of my other mosaics and she wanted me to use blues, greens and turquoise colors. She had some accessories she had purchased in those colors. 

I started out by cutting a domed piece out of Hardibacker. When she said beads I immediately thought bubbles, so I thought of an underwater scene. Then I happened across some stones and shells on one of my many, many supply shelves so I was off and running. I decided to do an underwater seascape with seaweed for movement and bubbles coming from some sea creatures. All I could find was a seahorse and the tiny fish.

Picture 2

Picture 3

So here we have the progression of the piece. My client lives in Hawaii and is leaving town on Friday so I have to finish up all the gluing today. Then tomorrow I can grout and be ready to seal it by Wednesday. I've decided to change the seaweed at the top of the piece because it's too light and doesn't stand out. The light colors denoting the sun shining through the water on the top right wash out the light colored kelp. And it is very heavy! The stones added quite a bit of weight to the piece. I hope she will like it but if not, I won't mind taking it back to sell another day!

Current state