Tired and Uninspired

I haven't been sleeping well and waking up extra early has left me tired and out of sorts; also, I've been uninspired. So, I've been taking pictures and hoping one of them will inspire me to create something beautiful. 

The other night I was putting the trash bin out and nearly walked face first into a huge orb weaver web. Spiders don't particularly bother me and long as they don't "bother" me. This guy was huge! His body was the size of a quarter; he had really hairy legs and was creeping me out just hanging there upside down. I came inside grabbed the camera and took a couple of pictures. Then I had to known if he was a good spider or a bad spider. If he was fatally poisonous, then his life was forfeit. He looked like he might be so I had to know. I googled nocturnal spiders and discovered he's an orb weaver and non-toxic to humans. Cool, he got a reprieve, unless he came in the house. 

I had noticed the over-abundance of webs in the trees around the house lately and these orb weavers seem to be responsible. After taking multiple photos, I finally got inspired to create my own interpretation of an orb weaver web.

I love the iridescence of their webs in the morning sunlight.  It looks so fragile but I read that their webs are quite strong; I believe it. I hope I can do it justice. Mother Nature and her creatures kick some serious butt in the art department!

Dealing with Disaster

My beautiful "Life's a Beach" GOG landscape cracked on me the other night. I was devastated and it left me seriously depressed. I've put so much work into this piece and for it to be ruined in a heartbeat like that made me want to cry. It's not a masterpiece but it is truly gorgeous. I've used some wonderful textured stained glass in a variety of colors. Now to be clear, this is made from scrap stained glass. This glass is leftover scrap from various projects and is what remains after the artist cut pieces she wanted out of the original sheet. Usually a ring saw is used to cut out specific pieces to complete a design. Scrap glass is sold by the pound at my favorite glass store in north Austin, Artisan Glass. The store is run by Linda Oliveira and when she can, Dianne Sonnenberg. 

Since the crack, I've avoided working on that specific piece and barely touched it, even to take pictures of it. I really did think it was ruined and ready for the trash can until a fellow mosaic artist friend on Flickr gave me a solution. All I need to do is get the appropriate size piece of glass and glue it to the back of the piece. Well, why didn't I think of that??? Mary Foley - bless her heart of gold - is something of a marvel when it comes to mosaics anyway but when she offered up a way to salvage my work, I was thrilled, ecstatic and ready to sacrifice a small child in her honor. (just kidding, of course!) Mary claims to be new to mosaics but she works circles around most of us. Her experience and knowledge saved my butt on this one and I'll be indebted to her forever but I can live with that.

 

One Thing Leads to Another

July was a very busy month for me. My brother-in-law business partner  and I worked our butts off to get our joint venture off the ground. We haven't chosen a name for that business yet but we're creating a whole range of outdoor lights, including lighted stepping stones. I haven't been slacking; I was just more involved with that portion of my life.

For awhile, we couldn't get anything to work out the way we envisioned it. We experimented with resins, polymers, cement mixtures, tints and mold compounds. Things finally started coming together in a more cohesive manner and appear to work the way they're supposed to. We'll see...

Now you might wonder what an outdoor lighting system business has to do with creating mosaics in general. Well, all that experimenting with the various materials got the blood pumping to create my own clay polymer & tinted resin beads, basic molds (for stepping stones, crosses, concrete outdoor planters, bird baths and garden spheres) and anything else that comes to mind. Thanks so much to Sherrie Warner Hunter for sharing all her knowledge and experience in her books Making Concrete Garden Ornaments by Sherrie Warner Hunter

and  Creative Concrete Garden Ornaments for the Garden: Making Pots, Planters, Birdbaths, Sculpture & More by Sherrie Warner Hunter Those books have been invaluable. I've learned so much this past month and want to put that new knowledge to use. Yesterday, I spent quite a bit of time creating simulated "smalti" with clay bits. Some tinted, some not; painted a few but they leave something to be desired; so next, I'll be experimenting with nail polish for a glossy finish. These clay bits will be used on a terracotta frog planter I'll be mosaicing in the very near future.

Before the frog planter, though, I'm going to attempt my first mosaic using thinset. I've been dissatisfied using the direct mosaic method because glass isn't always the same thickness either; so, my supposedly "flat" pieces look like a Ruffles potato chip. It's finally gotten on my last nerve. This morning I bought thinset and admix and I'm going to create a new stepping stone using the indirect method. If the indirect stepping stone turns out well, I'll move on to the frog planter. Wish me luck!