Latest Batch of Garden Stones

Just finished these up today.  They range from about 6" across to 13" across (the koi).  They are weatherproof and meant to grace your flower beds.

Soar.  Mosaic on Wedi board.  11" x 12.5".  Broken plates, vitreous glass tiles, Lisa's pearls.

Left-click once on the photo to enlarge.  I've done three butterfly wall hangings and one butterfly pitcher since I finished the South Austin Music sign, and I'm ready to tackle a larger project.  

Nature Helps.org contribution

12"x12" on mesh, part of a mosaic quilt to be auctioned off and proceeds donated to Nature Helps.org.

Still more mosaic butterflies

Another mosaic butterfly

Help, I can't stop. These are so much fun to do. This one is 9 inches wide, made from a vintage plate with touches of gold.

Butterflies butterflies

After making butterflies for the Calusa Nature Center, I couldn't stop. This one is now installed on our house, to the left of the front door. The edge tiles are all the same, an iridescent grey, but the reflection makes two bottom ones look different. It's installed directly onto the stone, using mortar (thinset). (Left-click once on the image, then again to enlarge.)

More Butterflies to Fly to Florida

Couldn't resist doing more mosaic butterflies on mesh. Yesterday a dear friend gave me a bag of costume jewelry. Check out the butterfly bodies! They were part of a cuff bracelet and each link is made of three black faceted glass beads set together in metal. Two butterflies are red-orange stained glass and two are dichroic glass, one predominately pink and the other lime green. The dichroic glass didn't photograph well but the glass is fabulous.

(click on the photo to enlarge)

Mosaic Butterflies to fly to Florida

Here are the steps to make a mosaic on mesh and ship (ungrouted) to its final destination where it will be installed and grouted as part of a larger mural. The artist in Florida (Eve Lynch) will trim away the mesh from the edges of the design. These butterflies and many many others will form a cloud of butterflies at the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium.

Note that on the blue butterfly and the orange butterfly, I pieced together two scraps of mesh. Just overlay one piece over the other and glue together.

Step 1 -- a design on paper.
Step 2 -- the paper overlaid with a piece of clear plastic such as a sandwich baggie.
Step 3 -- the paper and the plastic overlaid with the mesh.

Mosaic onto the mesh, buttering each tile with glue by dotting the back of the tile with glue but not covering the entire tile. Continue with this procedure until your mosaic is finished. Allow it to completely dry. Peel the mosaic on mesh free of the plastic. Sometimes it's easier to turn it over and work from the back, and sometimes it helps to peel at an angle. I like to turn the mosaic over, free up a corner of the plastic, place my hand over the mosaic, and then jerk the plastic off quickly.

Step 1 - a design on paper

Step 2 - clear plastic over the design

Step 3 - mesh layered on top of the plastic

Another community project

Eve Lynch of Kraken Mosaics is planning a wonderful community project, a cloud of butterflies. I will be making three butterflies on mesh and mailing them to her for installation and I will show the progress here.

Her website is http://www.krakenmosaics.com.