Signing Mosaics

Someone asked how an artist could sign their mosaic work.
Here's a close-up photo of how I do it

I take a narrow strip of copper and bend it into my initials (which luckily are ones that can be strung together out of a single strip).

I then embed them in the mortar, just like any other tessera.

This idea came from Matteo Randi of the Chicago Mosaic School.

Moonstruck

This evening's progress...

I've been using the Laticrete glass tile adhesive (thinset mortar). This is the third mosaic I've done with it. When my free sample runs out I'll definitely be purchasing some of it. For this mosaic I colored it with Gamblin Mars Black dry pigment - it took quite a bit of the pigment but I ended up with a rich black mortar... exactly what I wanted.

I'm thinking that I'll be at the SMU centennial dinner tomorrow with blackened fingers though... oh, well...

New Mosaic - Moonstruck

This morning's work.

Looking at it from both ends...

A close-up...

And a view without the distraction of my messy workbench...

New Mosaic - Moonstruck

Today's progress:

New Mosaic

I've started a new mosaic today. I have a thin, white smalti pizza that I purchased from Mosaic Smalti that I've been brooding over for about a year (long incubation process for this one).

I've decided it's time to get to work on it.

Thin, white smalti pizza, approximately 9.5" x 11"

The problem I've had over the last year or so is how to best use this piece of glass in a mosaic. I've not worked with a whole pizza before.

In the past I've worked with lots of cut smalti as well as some broken pizzas. Those never seemed as precious to me as this piece of glass. By precious I don't mean near-and-dear-to-my-heart, but something else that I cannot quite define - maybe something in need of exacting care... I don't know... that's not exactly what I mean either. 

The Year That Was, stone & glass mosaic
using fairly large, broken pieces of smalti pizzas.

I wanted to combine the white glass with other interesting materials. I had around a pound of gold smalti that I picked up from Tiny Pieces last September when I was in Chicago for a couple days. I've always wanted to use gold smalti (but it also seemed a bit precious for where I was at with my practice). 

I decided that the gold smalti would look good with the white. 

This combination seemed to work in my mind, but I felt like it needed something to oppose the preciousness of it all. Something that would supply some sort of contrast.

As I was rummaging through the other materials in my studio I gravitated to the shelves that hold all my rocks instead of the glass supply shelves. I found the coal that I had gathered from a industrial site last year and decided that that would be the third material for this mosaic.  

Materials selected, I decided to do some planning rather than just jump in and break/cut up the white smalti pizza. First I traced it on heavy paper and made several cut-out models of the pizza. I then cut the paper models up in varying ways that I wanted to test out before actually cutting it up.

A few of the paper models

Over the course of a few days I tried several placements of the pieces and I finally came up with an arrangement that I thought worked best for the idea that was starting to come into focus in my head.

I outlined the pieces on a large sketchpad and began experimenting with how the materials might work together.

Planning the mosaic, paper (17" x 14" pad), gold smalti & coal.

I like the contrast - not only contrast of color, but the contrast of shiny/dull finishes, of smooth/rough texture, and - perhaps most of all - the contrast of luxuriousness/baseness.

So, now I'm ready to cut up the smalti pizza and get started. I also want to cut the gold smalti to 1/4 its current size so that the veins of it will be more delicate than they are in my planning diagram.

For now, the working title for this piece is Moonstruck.

Sea Sky Mosaic Update

The completed, framed mosaic.

I'll be packing it up in a few minutes (I just want to look at it some more) and delivering it tomorrow.

Aggies

Real aggies...

A gift from a co-worker... to use in mosaics.

Happy day!

Sea & Sky Mosaic Update

Finished all except for the framing of the mosaic tonight.

I thought the glass work was done and was going to call it a night, planning to finish up the detail work tomorrow night and frame it Friday evening, but then I noticed a mistake...

So I went back in the studio with it, fixed the mistake and added the border. Tomorrow night I should be able to do the clean up and frame it so that I can deliver it on Friday... 

 The border isn't quite dry in this photo so it looks a bit splotchy. It will even out and lighten a bit as it dries, but then the sealer will darken it back to a shade slightly darker than it is in the photo.

Sea & Sky Mosaic Update

Just a quick photo of where I'm at with the mosaic.

Getting very close. Maybe one more evening's work on it.

Sea & Sky Mosaic - Update

Started working on the sky part of Sea & Sky... I'm almost up to the point where I'll change colors to the darker aqua blue. Two more courses on each end (one in the middle) and I'll be switching.

In the water I wanted to show the various currents (surface currents and deep water currents, waves and eddies and the like).

The sky itself doesn't actually move - it's the air currents that I want to envision. The goal is to create a feeling of motion that is different from the motion/chaos of the water. Something more unified and subtle.

So far I'm liking it.

Sea & Sky Andamento Study

I was a bit stuck on how to do the sky of the Sea & Sky mosaic. After staring at it for a while and roaming off to do other things only to return to staring at it I decided to do an andamento study and see if I could get unstuck.

The sticking point was that if I want to finish the mosaic using the same type of glass I'm limited to two colors (or make a trip to Kokomo Indiana for more colors...). There's no blending - or at least no painterly blending - possible in mosaics. So only having two colors for the sky was making my head spin when I thought about how to proceed. My options were:

1. Do the sky in a different type of glass. Even if I thought this would look good (or if I could come up with a way to make it look good) I still didn't have the colors that I thought would look right.
2. Do the entire sky in one color - except that I didn't have a sufficient amount the color I would have used (if I did do it that way). Glass quantity aside, I think that would have made the sky exceptionally flat (color-wise, not texture-wise)... not a good thing, in my opinion.
3. Find a way to do the sky with only two colors that would make me happy. 

So after fretting over it all day yesterday I decided last night that the first thing I would do today was the andamento & color study. I needed to come up with an idea that would result in a pleasing junction between the two colors that wouldn't be harsh or jarring or fix the viewer's eye.

 In addition, the andamento needed to suggest wind currents that were moving/flowing in an interesting, believable way. The wind currents needed to be present but less dynamic than the water currents.

Step 1: Draw the what-I-have-done-so-far on a page in my large sketchbook. This drawing is full-scale. I did not draw the water, just the horizon line/boundary of the sky and the sailboat. Sometimes I only have a blank square or rectangle at this point.

Step 2: Attach a piece of tracing paper above the drawing. I use tracing paper so that I can do as many sketches as I need to to get it "right." I can explore different andamento and see how changing the flow of the glass (or stone) alters the work. For this piece the andamento was only going to be flowing in one general direction, but on other pieces I might sketch in a focal arrangement of glass or stone and then play around with the andamento around it.

Step 3: Explore the color shift. The entire point of the andamento study was actually to do a color study so once I was happy with the andamento I attached another piece of tracing paper and tried to figure out how to make the two colors work.

I haven't decided if this is the right way yet. I think it is the right way based on the andamento. But I might want to try a different andamento and color path.

I'll have to let this set for a few hours or a day or two and see what I think about it.

Sea and Sky Mosaic Update

Worked on the mosaic a bit on Saturday - between talking to Art Tour goers - and a bit more this evening.

I've got the sea done. After Thanksgiving I'll be working on the sky...

At the end of the day Saturday

Tonight's progress

Sea and Sky Mosaic

Just a quick update on the Sea and Sky mosaic.

I've got a bit more work done on the water. The Laticrete mortar is very nice to work with. It holds up well to my putzing around and seems to stay workable for quite a while. It may be that I'm using a thicker application of mortar... but in any case the Laticrete is working well. Makes me wish I had a local source for it.

Sea and Sky Mosaic

It was yoga night so I didn't work on the mosaic. But I thought I'd mention a few technical items.

I'm trying out a new adhesive – Laticrete Glass Tile Adhesive. They sent me a generous sample last month and this is the first I've tried it.It starts out a brilliant white. I've colored it for this project, using a variety of dry pigments (Gamblin & Earth Pigments Mayan series).

I'm using Matteo's method – a thicker thinset application (mine seems to be coming out around 5/8ths of an inch) which allows for more control of the "set" of the tesserae on all three axes (X, Y & Z), making it easier to use elements of different thicknesses or odd shapes and still get them level and even.

One additional benefit I've noticed is that tiny tesserae seem more securely affixed than they do with a thinner thinset application. It does use a lot more thinset which adds to the cost and the weight of the work... but that's not a huge concern for a smaller mosaic.

Pablo Picasso Month - Day 8

Ha!

Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.

~ Pablo Picasso

This is particularly true of mosaic. First I break things. Then I make things.

I don't think Pablo meant it quite that literally. 

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Why Pablo Picasso Month?

Sea and Sky Mosaic

I think I got a perfect sailboat cut for this mosaic. I wanted to make the sailboat first - for some silly reason it felt like if I got that part right the rest would fall right into place... Don't know if that's going to happen, but the sailboat is exactly what I saw in my mind's eye...

You cannot really tell from this photo, but the glass is the thick Italian smalti and I chipped the edges after cutting the shape. I'm really pleased with it.

After that small success I thought I'd try doing some of the water. It's made up of opaque and transparent green, blue and purple glass that I got at Kokomo Opalescent Glass when Wes & I went on a road trip this past summer.

Detail view of the first evening's work.

Pablo Picasso Month - Day 6

I've started drawing more preparation sketches for mosaics. But I rarely follow my drawings with any clear intent... the drawings are only meant to get me started. They're just ideas... places to start from, not destinations to arrive at.

An idea is a point of departure and no more. As soon as you elaborate it, it becomes transformed by thought.
~ Pablo Picasso

The current mosaic is a bit of an exception. I want/hope to follow my drawings closely - I think it's because I really like what I've gotten down on paper.

I'll probably still end up deviating from the drawing though... following wherever inspiration takes me.

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Why Pablo Picasso Month?

Sea & Sky Mosaic

Starting a new mosaic - working title is Sea & Sky. It's a commission for a friend.

Commissions are always a bit more pressure- and stress-inducing. When I'm making something that's not commissioned I can make it how I see it... there are fewer constraints and the only expectation (for me) is that I do it better than the last mosaic I did.

A commissioned piece needs to end up matching the client's vision for the piece. They need to feel like what they asked for is ultimately what they got... and paid for. The last commission seems to have thrilled the clients, so that worked out just fine. It was an abstract encaustic painting - the main concerns for creating it were color and depth and form (and building the supporting framework). I think it was a success. I'll have photos next week of it hanging in its place.

This commission is a bit more tricky. It's representational and based on a smaller, previous work that the client really liked (but was not for sale...). We've discussed what he wants and I think I have a great idea in mind for it.

My goal, as always, is to exceed expectations.

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Andamento sketch
This is the first time I've done an andamento sketch... usually I don't plan things out that much. For this mosaic I really want to achieve a specific effect - thus the sketch... even so, I could not make myself draw it all out - I just did enough that I knew where I wanted to go with it.

Color selection

Mosaic Labyrinth

The mosaic part of the labyrinth is finished. We completed it with a team of students (along with one staff member and one faculty member) from Saint Mary's University, this past Saturday. They made nearly 60 blocks in just under 3 hours. The pace was fast and furious, but the work that was done was amazing.

We will be adding the ground cover plants later this week or next.

Most everyone wore their SMU red shirts

The labyrinth at the beginning of the day

Dr. Tadie and some of the New Student Volunteers - mostly freshmen

This student was kept busy placing the blocks that everyone made

A group shot - there's still a few blocks to finish,
but some students needed to leave, so we shot the photo

A closer view

Professor Joe Tadie puts in the last block.

And it's finished!

The Year That Was

The year mosaic (now titled The Year That Was...) is on its way to the Gallery of Contemporary Mosaic. If any of you are in Chicago between Sept. 14 and Oct. 31 you can see it at the Gallery, along with many other wonderful and amazing mosaics... It's quite an honor to be invited to exhibit in a gallery that regularly shows the work of world-renown mosaic artists.

The Gallery is in the Chicago Mosaic School at 1806 W. Cuyler Ave.