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.

Grouting mishaps

Robin grouts herself.

Skull finished!

Very hard to grout. I think I'll stick to 2D mosaics.

Hacienda Mosaico

I'm here in puerto Vallarta at laurel Skye's workshop on skulls. Fabulous!

Kitties in the Window

I'm working on a mosaic of two kitties sitting in a window looking out. I'm still not sure about the background and sky. Are there hills? Is it night or day? Should there be a sun instead of stars? I'm using Mexican smalti. I cut the two kitties out of a trivet with my ring saw. And I like the millefiori flowers in the grass.

We'll see what happens next!

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.

Show at Max's Cucina

Gramma's Quilt

Today was my friend Mike's birthday so we went to the charming restaurant Max's Cucina where two friends and I are having our show "Appreciating Diversity." The meal was delicious! And as an added bonus, I sold Gramma's Quilt. The owner had called me yesterday to say the piece that was hanging in that spot, Sunrise Mirror, had sold and could I bring another to put in its place. So I brought the Quilt, and it sold right away. I have mixed feelings because I really like this piece.

Exciting Happenings

Here is the back room at Max's Cucina where Marie Arnold (collage), Jacqueline Vanderlaan (oil) and I have our show this month and next. The show started last week and we had a very lovely reception on Monday evening. The picture on the left has two of my mosaics on either side of the big mirror and one of Marie's collages on the breakfront.

Below is another mosaic of mine at the show. It's made of Italian smalti and ball chain.

So far three of my pieces have sold.

On the right is a hen I'm working on as a thank-you for friends of mine who put on a fabulous party last weekend. They have a very upscale chicken coop with several handsome chickens. The mosaic on the right is being modeled after a photo my friend Gary took of one of the hens.










And finally we have a picture of Prancer Dancer Valentine Vanderwilt looking rakish with an eye patch. Unfortunately he never backs away from a fight, and yesterday I noticed that his left eye wasn't opening completely. I could see he had swelling over his eye so I took him to the vet and she operated this morning. Not only was there the bite over his eye but you can just see the red string on his side where there was another abscess. The vet found bite wounds from all four teeth there! So his roaming is curtailed for a few days until I pull out the drains.