Busy Mosaic Month

Begonia luxurians

My mosaic of Begonia luxurians did very well at the annual American Begonia Society convention in San Diego last month. All three of the mosaics I entered won ribbons, and this mosaic also won Best in Division and Best in Arts. Quite an honor for me.

This is a picture of all three of my entries. They all won a ribbon of some sort. The watercolor pictures at the front of the table were the prizes for winning Best in Something (the large blue flower ribbons). They are gorgeous paintings from a Begonia grower. She made at least 50 of these paintings for the prizes.

The convention was held at the Town and Country Hotel in San Diego on Hotel Circle. It is a very large, very beautiful hotel with lots of gardens and plants. Many of my friends and I were in the area of small cottages with beautiful landscaping and areas to sit outside. Here I am with the Champagne Ladies of Los Angeles. This lovely gazebo was outside our rooms so we took advantage of the afternoon sunshine to have some snacks and wine.

Keeping up with my Weekly New Work Goal

I have been working on new mosaics! The mosaic above is a tempered glass piece that turned out looking like a bird. I started with a bouquet of Tuberous Begonias (left) made by a friend of mine. Then I put it in Photoshop and did a little Liquifying on it. Only when I showed it to friends did I see that there was a bird in the picture. This hasn't been grouted yet. I think I'll do two or three colors of grout.

On the right is a mosaic I am making for the American Begonia Society convention coming up soon. The picture is a botanical of Begonia boliviensis. I printed the picture on my large format Epson printer.Then I cut out glass squares and glued them down with Weldbond. Unfortunately some of the pieces (especially the long bottom glass piece) didn't get completely covered with glue and have a ripple effect. Hopefully grout will help to hide it.













To the right is another mosaic to enter in the ABS convention show. It is Begonia luxurians. It seems a little dull to me so I may spruce it up with some glitter somewhere. Martha Stewart has glitter paints that are transparent with only the glitter showing. I may try something like that on the sky.

And below we have a couple more mosaics; a cat rock and a big gold mirror, Neither is grouted yet. And I've been making Begonia rocks. I'll post a picture soon.

Still busy working on my mosaics!

Mosaic Begonia and a Cute Cat

Mosaic Begonia chloristica

This weekend my friends Mike, Gary and I went to Los Angeles to attend the Westchester Begonia Show and visit with friends. I submitted my mosaic of Begonia chloristicta and won a blue ribbon. The mosaic frame also won Best in Division for the arts division. What a thrill! I used the colors of the Begonia's botanical picture in the frame's vitreous tiles.

On the right is a picture of me with the mosaic. Life is Good!

You can just barely see the division trophy (bottom left) which was a pretty ceramic pot. I probably won't be breaking it up for the next mosaic!

On Friday night, Mike spoke to an appreciative crowd at the South Bay Begonia Branch. Our dear friend Eva took us to dinner at Cozy Mels in South Bay where I had a blue margarita. What could be better! Tequila in my favorite color.

And below is the darling Biscotti sitting atop the irrigation cover. He's hoping a bird will come by to check out the birdhouses.

Biscotti

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!

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.

Works in Progress

The mosaic to the left is supposed to be a picture of Rex Begonias but it just didn't turn out well. But I finished it yesterday because I wanted to see how the border will look after I grout it. It's amazing how quickly something interesting can turn into something odd. I didn't see it coming and by the time I realized something was wrong, it was impossible to pull up the glass.

The arch down below is the ongoing Calla Lilies mosaic. I took a picture at this point because I wanted to show my technique for putting d-rings into the back of Hardibacker. This is 1/4" Hardibacker so it's easy to drill a hole through it with a regular drill. Then I take a slight bigger drill bit and dig out a bit of the top so the screw will fit flush to the substrate. Finally I put in a machine screw which has an angled head and fits right into the little pocket I made with the larger drill bit.

Here is a close up of the screw. Normally I would put two d-rings in and string wire between them but I was so anxious to begin the picture, I forgot to put in the screw until only this much substrate was showing. I just won't try to submit it to any juried shows. :-}

Mosaic Art vs. Mosaic Craft

So here is a dilemma I have. Where does one draw the line between craft and art? I have been turned down by judged shows because my work was "too crafty." Well, yes, I can see how the piece on the right is crafty. But there are an awful lot of people who love this sort of mosaic for their home. The pink oval mirror below was purchased by a friend of mine. It was entered at the local tennis club's show of artwork created by members only. I sold 16 of 18 pieces I had displayed and got three more commissions. But many of the pieces I made were what many "art people" call crafts.

This mosaic mandala below was sold at the tennis club show. Is this art? Craft? I just don't know!

I applied to the Goleta Valley Art Association earlier this year. I submitted two pieces; the smalti / marble mirror on the left and a replica of an 1800 botanical of Begonia Opuliflora below.. On the round mirror I used computer keyboard keys to spell out words like love, faith, hope, etc.

I was turned down with no remarks from the judge so I have no idea what she was looking for. The sweet part, however, was that one of the women there purchased the round smalti/marble piece. But isn't this art?







Well, I reapplied to the Goleta Valley Art Association last month and was accepted with this piece below I call "Raj" after my neighbor. It is all sparkly mirror tiles. I guess it must be art! The show is now hanging for a month at the Goleta Valley Library.

So I think I will just keep making art and craft and not worry too much about the judges who often seem to have their own likes and dislikes (can I say agendas?). I like doing the crafty things and I like doing more artistic works.

Ready to grout. Is this art?

Tuberous Begonia in Tempered Glass

I decided to try another tempered glass mosaic. This is a photo of a tuberous Begonia grown by Paul Carlisle, famous tuberous grower. I glued the photo to the substrate and then used Mac glue to affix the tempered glass pieces. I find epoxy is just so messy so I tried this method instead. So far, so good. Today I plan to grout though I have no idea what color to use. Maybe charcoal.

And below is a picture taken last weekend of a real tuberous Begonia grown by Paul Carlisle. Maybe I should use this photo instead.

It's going to be hot here in Santa Barbara today (78°) so I may not get to grouting. I like to grout outside to keep the mess under control.

Pat McElderry and letters P A T

Here is dear Pat McElderry on the left with her mosaic letters at the Westchester Begonia Show and Sale. She could give Princess Beatrice a run for her money when it comes to beautiful or unusual hats.

And it was a day for wearing hats to honor Pat so here are Jan Brown and Stephanie Rose with Pat.

Pat, Jan and Stephanie

Mosaic Begonias and Gazebo Begonia and Flower Show

My friend Mike Flaherty is having his annual Begonia and Plant Show at his Gazebo store in Montecito  August.19th and 20th. I thought I'd make some Begonia-related mosaics since there will be a lot of Begonia people attending. There is even a bus coming up from Los Angeles with about 50 people. These are pictures from previous years. Seems like a lot of orange. I'm not a big fan of orange but an awful lot of people are so I am forcing myself to do some mosaics with shades of orange.

 
This is my friend Gary's beautiful terrarium with Begonias inside. Gary does stained glass lamps, terrariums, bowls, etc. This last weekend we went to Hollander's Glass in Irvine and bought a lot of glass. The colors, patterns, styles and prices are excellent. I've had to buy more storage containers to store my glass.

Below is the beginning of my mosaic. It's even too early to get a sense of what it will look like through the camera. I will hope for the best.

Rex Begonia Mosaic

Crow Bar

My friend Irene and I had lunch in Newport Beach today with our friends Mike and Gary. We're here visiting Sherman Gardens while they have a Begonia show and sale. We even found a street named Begonia Avenue.

Begonia Avenue

Irene and Joooles

Gary and Mike

Picotee Tuberous Begonia

This started as a floor tile that I was going to cover with tempered glass. A friend showed me the method her brother uses to put d-ring hangers on the tile. You can see the screw head on the upper right. So I painted the tile with the blue and green paints, but when I put the tempered glass over it, I could still see the cross hatch pattern of the tile.

So next I decided to try a tuberous Begonia. It certainly looks odd now, but I'm hoping it will all come together when I grout it. I want to put a brick-like pattern in the background, but I haven't been able to find any brick-colored stained glass. I'll keep plowing along with the flower and hope for the best.

House Number and beautiful plants

This picture was taken right by the steps to my front door. I made my house number in blue, green turquoise and white stained glass with a mirrored dark blue border. The plants are Begonia 'Paul Hernandez', Euphorbias, Fuchsia 'Firecracker' and the beautiful purple plant is Hardenbergia violacea.