I think I should have a separate page for this, so it doesn’t get lost in all my rantings and silly stuff.
I am working on a series of “Day of the Dead” mosaics at the moment. I really love the theme, because the colors are really vibrant and you can get pretty funky and abstract. Plus, I love dead things. lol I love the whole idea of celebrating death! I believe death is merely the beginning of a new phase of our existence. A midway point. The Mexicans celebrate “Dia de los Muertos” on November 1st and it goes for 3 days, although many keep their altars up year round. I am working on finding materials to build my altar. I just finished grouting my dead Mermaid and I’m anxious to start on the next piece. I have a really crazy idea- traditional candy skulls, made from actual candy! As long as the candy is hard and won’t melt, it should last as long as tile! Jolly Ranchers come to mind…
Anyway, I will be posting my project updates on this page from now on.
I was really inspired by last weekend’s Open Studio Art Tours, here in the Morongo Basin. There are some incredibly talented artists out here. I am in the process of trying to buy an old abandoned house down the road from me, to turn into a workshop/studio. (and Tiki Bar!) I could really use more space, the corner of the garage is not cutting it anymore! The place needs a ton of work. It’s a concrete building that kind of sprawls out, there’s 4 or 5 rooms and nice porch areas in the front and back. I could really do a lot with the place.
10/16/08
Finit.
10/31/08
I got some skulls and a billion rhinestones! I started working on one skull last night. The rhinestones are 3mm and I have to glue each one individually. The skull on the right is what I spent 3 hrs working on last night and all I managed to finish is the nose and a small outline on the forehead! 3 HOURS!! it was fun though. When the whole skull is finished, I figure I’ll have put about 300+ hrs into it! Or 3,000. lol I’ll keep updating my progress. I would like to do about a dozen of these. If anyone has a source for cheap, bulk rhinestones, let me know!! They are surprisingly expensive!
11/19/08
These little rhinestones are a pain in the ass! I have glued about 1,500 of them on so far and haven’t even made a dent! I must have been stoned when I came up with this project…
I have some clay coming next week, that I am going to use to make some 1″ tiles. Haven’t come up with a design yet. My head is constipated. I’m still looking for a suitable surface for the “Dead Wedding Couple”. It has to be long and skinny. May have to hit some thrift shops or go scavenging out in the desert this weekend.
11/26/2008
The first set of 1 inch tiles popped out perfectly this morning! I am going to make a few more trays and then hopefully fire them this weekend. I screwed up on the glazes. I accidentally got Cone 6 glaze- I am using Cone 06 clay. Duh! So now I either have to buy some 06 glaze or some 6 Clay. Much cheaper to do the latter.
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12/20/2008
I’m trying out some blue, yellow and black Velvet Underglaze on some of the tiles. I’ll fire those to 04 bisque and then add a clearcoat and fire to 05. Or just skip the clearcoat if it looks cool without it. I have to get this stuff in the kiln soon! Unfortuantley, access is a problem. It’s in my sister-in-law’s garage, surrounded by junk!
Haven’t decided how I’m going to glaze the masks yet. I want to try a crawling/crackle grey glaze on the clouds. The clouds and corpse are for a really cool piece- well, it looks cool in my head, I don’t know how it’s actually going to turn out!
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OMG! She is gorgeous! I had no idea what to expect but I love, love, love it! No wonder it took you awhile, the detail is amazing.
Can’t wait to see what you come up with next. Get busy…you have a show to do in 52 weeks!!!!
So…you like her?? ;D TY! She drove me nuts!!
I am out scavenging the desert today for new materials! It’s amazing what you can find in those abandoned tweaker pads!
51 weeks!! lol
That IS pretty cool. One doesn’t usually think of mosaics having texture.
Looks like it ought to be a table top for a patio, some little wrought-iron chairs…
Lovely work! How big is it???? did you use stained glass and tile??
cant wait to see it in person………………….
It’s 9×9…I think. lol
Let’s see, I used a lot of Italian glass metallic tiles, mirror tiles, ceramic tiles, millefiori, and some smalti and glass pebbles to give it some texture.
The glass pebbles are translucent so when I glued them on, you could see right through to the ugly brown backing. Which was really…well, ugly. Then I got the idea to glue images I had cut out of magazines to the bottom of the pebbles. This worked out really well b/c the glass magnified the images. I thought it would be a good way to sign the piece as well- put my initials under one of the pebbles. I may do this on all my pieces from now on.
Oh and using 3 different colors of grout??? NIGHTMARE! It was a good learning experience though (black BEFORE yellow!!!) and I like how it turned out.
Hey VC!! Michelle Mark huh?? Interesting! hehehe
Like the mermaid my friend! Very nice!!
Thanks ((AIS))
What, you didn’t know my real name before now?! After all we been through together??? lol
damn! those mosaics are effing incredible….I LOVE MOSAIC…i want to come out and work for you when you are rich enough to hire a studio assistant! ha!
that mermaid is pure genius. you rock.
You are a way better artist than me dude! But TY!
Hey MIchelle, your art ROCKS! No pun intended, just lovely.
Sally