357: In progress

I started cutting and laying the tile for my next mosaic project today. This is the top for a side table that will go in the D.C. Design Center's 2012 Dream Home, along with several other items we are making. The interior designer heading this project chose the design at the bottom, and it will be worked in unglazed porcelain and opaline glass. The change in scale of both the design and the material from the backsplash to this little table is considerable!

348: Start

Sample material and new wheeled cutters for my next project.

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.

335: View from my desk

314: Drawing

 

Started on a new project today, literally on top of the last, not yet fully completed project. This one will be a coffee table, the base built by the metalsmithing and woodworking talent in our business, my husband.

Speaking of the business, have you seen our new website?? phoenixhandcraft.com We're so excited and thrilled with the results.

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.

153: Take Two

Another window sill discovery. These two pieces of wooden fruit need to be rinsed off, and they wound up here to dry, reminding me of an earlier shot of this little turtle and another orange.

I stopped at this park a few weeks ago to try to capture an image of the city skyline. The bright, early evening sun and a family playing on the only blue structure meant I didn't get the shot I had in mind, and I've been wanting to return for another try.

Now that I see all the images together, I think I might prefer the shot in the previous post. I like the spontaneity of the first shot, while these are more careful, controlled and less risky shots.

113: Four Seasons Mosaic

My family and I visited the installed mosaic series on this very hot, very humid morning. This is the summer panel. For more shots of the completed and installed panels, check out our Facebook page.

I felt a bit shocked to see the small size of the bolts used to attach the panels to the brick wall, one in each corner of each mosaic. My husband assures me the ones used are long enough and strong enough to do the job.

The entire series, followed by a few images from the courtyard garden and water feature. All ceramic objects were created and glazed by kindergarten through fifth grade students.

My husband, the metalsmith and manager of our business, Phoenix Handcraft, designed and built this beautiful bridge with some assistance from fifth grade students at the school. You can see the mosaic series and garden in the background. For more shots of this bridge, see our Facebook album.

89: Last Two Grouted

We grouted the last two panels today. Here some students are spreading the grout on Winter.

Cleaning grout off the lower tiles in Summer.

Buffing Winter after it has been sponged off but before we get into the nitty gritty cleaning. Quite a bit of careful effort is needed to remove the excess grout from these detailed tiles.

Completed Spring from earlier this week. The grout is the final color now and the panel has been washed with a vinegar solution to remove the grout haze.

Completed, dried, cleaned Fall panel.

Summer after grouting today.

And of course, Winter.

Before I left, the art teacher sent me off with a parting gift: a box of marker caps she has saved over the school year from dried-out markers. How could I say no to such a gift?? These will be repurposed as mosaic tesserae one day. For today, they served to entertain my children. You can probably guess how that ended...

86: Grout

We grouted two pieces today! Here the students and a parent volunteer are cleaning grout out of incised lines in the tiles and clearing off lower or thinner tiles that were covered over during the grouting process.

Spring, grouted. The grout color will lighten fairly significantly to a soft silvery gray within 24 hours or so as it dries.

Fall, grouted. Not all mosaics are grouted, but when used, it serves two purposes: to seal between the tiles, thus protecting them, and to visually pull the mosaic together, creating a more cohesive finished piece.

Fall detail.

Summer detail. This was the last area needing to be filled in on this panel. I love the flock of geese, and note the life cycle of the frog represented in the pond.

Winter, with detail below.

Next and possibly last day for me on this project is Friday. Hoping to finish grouting the last two panels that day.

82: End of the Week

The only change here is that the sun has been adhered, and the tiles scrubbed with a little vinegar, which removes the gray haze from the thinset adhesive.

Fall is done! Detail below is the same one from yesterday which grass background filled in.

Summer with two details below. Very little left to fill in on this piece. 

Winter after just two days. I am really amazed and impressed at how quickly this one came together. Moon and bat details below. Spring is set at sunrise, Summer at midday, Fall at sunset and Winter, as you see here, is set at night.

One more exciting outcome of this project for me has been that at least two of the parent volunteers have really taken to cutting and laying the mosaic tiles. It's so satisfying to be able to share and maybe even pass on a little of my love for working in this art form.

I'll be heading back in for a couple mornings next week to help grout, and my husband is building a beautiful sunflower motif bridge to be installed in the school's courtyard garden. Keep your eye out for more updates!

81: One Done! (almost)

Today we started work on the fourth panel, Winter, and essentially completed laying tile on the first panel, Spring. You can see all four mosaics in progress here.

To save on costs and waste, the students share gloves. Hand sanitizer is how we keep it clean. We tried cheaper vinyl and latex, but these heavier duty gloves can handle more shifts. I've been amazed at the span of hand sizes, from the teeniest tiniest that barely fill the gloves to third graders with hands bigger than my own who can't fit squeeze into them!

Spring, complete. Well, except for adhering the sun in place and grouting. I'm so pleased with the final result, but especially the effect of the sky. I was feeling so nervous about it, but in the end I think it reads successfully as a sunrise.

Spring detail. How darling is that caterpillar??

Fall at the end of its fifth day. For several reasons, both practical and aesthetic, we decided to alter the horizon line from the original flat, straight one. This panel will represent sunset, and I'm feeling much more confident about creating a second gradient with a crowd of elementary students. I find color gradients to be more challenging in mosaic than in other mediums.

Fall detail. The ponds will link across two panels each, Spring to Summer and Fall to Winter.

Summer at the end of Day 3 with details below. As appropriate, lots of insects in this piece!

The circled X is a space saver for a hole by which the mosaics can be hung. There is one in each corner, and I expect the bolts to be used will be huge. These pieces are heavy.

 

Winter at the end of its very first day with details below. This piece was an incomplete sketch  this morning.

 

To honor the goal of this project, I have included here only photos that contain blue in them. If you would like to see more, you can find them here. To see the day-by-day of each panel, check this out.