343: Kitchen backsplash

We grouted today, the final step for the backsplash. No blue today, but plenty of green. It's satisfying to see this piece looking so comfortable and natural in its home after so much time working on it in the studio.

The design and tessellation of the backsplash were inspired by the commissioning couple's trip to Newgrange, an ancient monument in Ireland.

342: Installation

Today we completed the first portion of the kitchen backsplash installation. I've been working on this project one day per week for the last few months, and I'm so excited to finally see it in its intended space. The adhesive requires 24 hours to cure, so tomorrow we grout.

280: A day in the mosaic studio

161: Trinity Knot

I surprised myself by finishing the trinity knot, the centerpiece to the backsplash, in one afternoon. Hope that's a good sign for the rest of the piece.

155: Testing, Testing

Preparing to grout the rough test piece I made this weekend for the backsplash project.

Grouted test piece. I'm so excited to get to work on the real thing, and so glad I did this test piece to work out some of the details.

146: First Day at Phoenix!

Today is a big day. Last week I quit my job, and today I started working part-time as the mosaicist for Phoenix Handcraft, the company my husband and I started just over a year ago. As of today, our family is entirely self-employed. Hoo boy.

 

After organizing my studio that has been deserted and unused since last summer, I began researching material to use on my current project, a kitchen backsplash. I noticed this window next door to one of my stops in search of the perfect tesserae for this project.

 

I spent most of the afternoon working on the layout.

At the end of the day, I took a break and wandered out into the metal studio. This is my husband's newest tool, a flypress. He calls it Smooshy.