Busy Summer

I can hardly believe how my summer has gone by so quickly. The long hot days have been taken over by family emergencies and a recent pregnancy, both of which have left me little time for creative endeavors. I was away from home for nearly 6 weeks, and shortly after I returned, found out I was pregnant.

For anyone who has never experienced pregnancy, let me tell you... it's hard. It's exhausting. And just finding something to keep your stomach happy is a challenge as well. The little monster in my tummy decides what I can eat and what I cannot. S/he doesn't like chocolate, or citrus, or peaches. Or apparently black beans. We recently took a short vacation to St. Augustine where I ordered a bowl of black bean soup. I took one bean (not one bite - just one bean) and bee-lined it straight for the ladies room. Luckily there was no line for the stall, otherwise I would have chosen the sink for expressing the bean. Nobody needs to see that!

Now that things have calmed down a bit, I'm working on a piece for the yoga studio. It is a lady meditating... and coming along nicely (just very slowly) This time I'm recording a video of the mosaic process so people can see what goes into these pieces. I wish I had more time for mosaic lately, but this summer Florida heat is a killer. I dream of the cooler days yet to come.

Dragonfly Stone

My latest piece is another garden stone. It was made from both Italian glass and ceramic tiles. The glass was brought back to me from a friend who visited Italy in 2009. I have been saving it for a special piece. I made a boarder with green glass beads, and the rest of the tiles were handmade by me. The dragonfly wings are a purple/ brown glaze (same tiles I used in the Octopus mirror) and the body is purple. I like the combination of green and purple. I have a photo of this garden stone on my phone, but having trouble getting that connected to my computer here...  maybe I'll figure it out soon and can post it. Ugh

I decided to give this as a gift to my mother, for her front doorstep. The last garden stone I did is holding up quite well in the Florida heat, humidity and rain. I wasn't quite sure if it would break apart due to the outside elements, but I feel confident that I know what I'm doing.

Dragonflies are one of my favorite subjects to work with. Carefree. Delicate. And fun to watch.

Fly away little friend. Make a new happy home.

Love; Sold

I recently sold one of my favorite pieces, the Love Mirror.  I give thanks to my friend Christine at Full Circle Yoga, who lets me use a part of her retail space as gallery space. It's always exciting to know that someone out there likes my work. I love all the little details that went into making this piece: the beads inside of the top hearts, different textures that make up the picture. I hope the new owner found a special place to hang it. Now I need to create a couple of new pieces for the yoga studio. What a way to find inspiration.

Butterfly Garden Stone

I've been diving into new creative endeavors this spring - sewing and gardening. Two skills I wish I had and never really learned. For the past few weeks I have been learning to sew and take care of plants. They seem like simple tasks that I should be able to handle! I love the idea of having a butterfly garden. Once I feel confident that I won't kill the new flowers, I'll expand the collection to include ones that will attract butterflies.

I've been blocked creatively for the past several weeks. I think it is the looming promise of more mosaic mirrors that is holding me back. I tried to work it out by making new tiles and molds over the weeks, planting some flowers and cooking a lot, but nothing has really broken my block. I decided to make something for my new garden. No pressure. It's just for outside.

Last week I took a spare garden stone and drew out a butterfly design. I quickly put together the pieces to make the mosaic. It came together so fast I couldn't believe it. When it's right, it's right.

New Tiles

Some time ago, I found this fish decoration at a junk shop. I always wanted to make something with it and decided it would look cool on a tile. Last week I rolled out the clay and made some impressions. I actually made them to be cast in plaster, so that I can pour and reproduce them to be 4x6" and 4x8" tiles. Pretty cool! Now I can line my kitchen or bathroom with a boarder or something. My daughter will probably say they're scary. She thinks this about a lot of my pieces... I wonder what Tim Burton's kids think of his work?

There is some trickiness to the shrinkage of clay, etc., and my math isn't great... so this is an experiment to see what the final size will be after firing. Hopefully close to the intended size. I will pour and fire them soon and try out a couple of glazes.

The Break-In Artist

Every so often I wake up in the night to a loud crash or screech. Last night was one such occasion. Crash! I forgot to lock the cat door, and the Break-In Artist had come to visit. There is a white cat in the neighborhood that I swear just showed up one day and decided to cause trouble. Really, the poor thing is starving. I think someone dumped him off in the nearby woods this past Christmas. He's hungry and finding ways to sneak into my house to eat!
Last night when I got up to find him, I thought he had left the way he came in and I locked the cat door. But really he was hiding inside.  When I went back to bed... Crash Again! He had tried to leave through the door and was locked inside. He's fast! And I chased him all through the house opening doors, trying to get him out. I think he's partially blind because he was bumping into walls and doors like you wouldn't believe. I'm afraid there's gonna be some crazy catfight in my house one night around 2am. I'd better remember to lock that door.

“In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa

Back to Drawing

This week I've drawn out the next 4 mosaics I want to do. I am sticking with The Sea theme. It's peaceful to work on. Like how my fish tank is peaceful to watch. There is something about the water and the way the creatures move about in there. One mosaic will be just plants, sea plants floating about. One has jellyfish swimming upward. One Beluga Whale, and I also drew a sea snail slugging around. I'm not sure I'll be able to do all 4!  I was inspired to draw one night and ideas just kept coming.

I thought it would be best to have my ideas drawn out before making the tiles this time, that way I can customize more what object gets what texture and color. I have to be careful to not try and make all the tiles at once! I am really excited about the sea plants!

I'd really like sea plants in our fish tank, but apparently they are difficult to care for along with the fish. We got a tank last fall and I'm just in love with it! I love to watch those little fish swimming around all day.