Space Mosaic Five

My fifth space mosaic for the wall, done.  26" across.  Stained glass (both modern and vintage), vintage costume jewelry, amethyst, pearls, crystals, broken art pottery, iron pyrite, glass beads, dichroic glass

Just finished a batch of Garden Stones.

and just sold my Round Space Mosaic:  

Out of This World - Framed

Aaron Brothers on Brodie Lane in Austin did a wonderful job framing these.  I'm so pleased.  Thank you, Justin at Aaron Brothers!

18" x 24" Mars Outer Space Mosaic

18" x 24" Black Hole Space Mosaic

 24" x 48" Cow Jumped Over the Moon
Stained Glass Mosaic

Installed side by side they are 7 feet wide.  

Round outer space mosaic is ready to be grouted --

I'm probably procrastinating because I will be using BLACK grout and I hate working with it!  (but love the results.)

So the space mosaic languishes, propped against a wall, while I work on a new project, a birdhouse, which I haven't done in ages.  My daughter went to Telluride, Colorado, and bought me a porcelain rose in an antique shop which she meant to be used as a perch for a new birdhouse, so that's what I working on right now.  Hopefully I will get up the initiative to bring out the black grout and finish the space mosaic this week.

Meanwhile, I am distracting myself with thoughts of beginning a new endeavor, alcohol ink on glass ... 

Round Space mosaic progress, and Rain!

The new project is going smoothly and is more than half finished.  And we got Rain yesterday, lots of beautiful, cold, gushing, excessive, blowing in the wind Rain.  It was heavenly.  The gutters couldn't handle it and the back yard was a lake.  In July - in Texas - how wonderful!

I just published a poem on Hubpages about the mosaic process.

The-Mosaic-Artist-a-poem

click to enlarge

The Cow Jumped Over the Moon

Had to come back and include a closeup. Left-click once on the picture to enlarge.

Space Mosaic Done

Three panels, totaling 7 ft x 2 ft. (Left-click on pic for a larger view.)

Space Mosaic Center Panel Done, 4 ft x 2 ft

These pics are all of the center panel. To view closeups, click on a picture, select "show original," then click on the picture again to enlarge. Note the cow jumping over the moon, in honor of CowParade Austin.

Space Mosaic WIP center panel grouted!

I grouted the largest piece yesterday. Black grout is the devil's own grout, but it sure looks good once you get it cleaned up. My fingernails will have to be clipped short although I did wear gloves and I coated underneath my nails with bar soap before I started . . . still the grout stained my hands! So the grout looks good but I am not going to post a pic until I get some metallic paint on it. That's what I'm doing today. So much fun.

Space Mosaic WIP - ready to grout

Click on the image to enlarge.

Ready to grout with black grout - then metallic paint and some touches of GLow In The DarK paint! Seven feet long, two feet high. I am happy with it. Earth - Saturn - Mars - Black Hole! Sorry for the glare on the bottom third.

Ready to put the space mosaic together

I spent yesterday preparing the substrates. I am using three gallery-wrapped canvases; the center one is 24" x 48", and there will be one on each side measuring 18" x 24", so this will be a horizontal installation measuring 7 feet long and 2 feet wide. I flipped the canvas over so the back is now what I call the front. I glued pieces of 1/4" birch plywood to the front of each canvas, using Liquid Nails, and then placed wood screws at each corner. I clamped it all together and left it overnight. Remember, I already have the mosaic done on mesh! so it should go quickly.

Space Mosaic nearing completion

Left-click once, then left-click again to enlarge.





Currently covers about 4 feet x 4 feet, and probably will be rearranged; it's just randomly laid out in these pictures. Also, the camera's lithium batteries died so these are just regular batteries until I can get to the store. One needs to envision the pieces all blended together with more black glass; the finished piece shouldn't have a hint of the squares. So exciting to be near the end. Still considering the substrate, framing and hanging issues. After grouting and sealing, there will be some metallic painting going on, including the awesome suggestion of my good friend Cathy, who thought GLOW IN THE DARK paint would be cool!

Space Mosaic - Earth in progress - still needs work

(click on the pic and then click again to enlarge)

Space Mosaic - Saturn almost done

Saturn will be a small part of a large mosaic (perhaps 9 feet by 3 feet) that depicts a tiny portion of the universe and will include planets, spiral galaxies, comets, and other heavenly bodies. For inspiration, I visit the Ministry of Space Exploration website and gaze in awe at the magnificent images of outer space.

(a detail pic, a large Austrian crystal with a tail of crystals, located on the far right in the larger pic)




I think this mosaic will be a triptych; I toyed with the idea of triangles but I'm not sure that shape is conducive to outer space. I like the idea of a large circle also. It will probably consist of three equal squares, hung close together side by side.

Space mosaic - WIP 6-11-11

(left-click on image to enlarge and then left-click again to enlarge further)

Here's what I have on mesh and ready to install, an area about 2.5' x 3'. I estimate that I have about half a cow's worth right now, and next I plan to work on the Earth, Mars, Saturn, and a large comet.

To explain how these pieces will be used: A mosaic on mesh can be trimmed into any shape that's needed. Right now these pieces are 12"x12" squares, but the goal is that, after installation, there will be no hint of individual squares, but rather, the mosaic will be blended into one harmonious whole. A mosaic on mesh can be installed on a flat surface, or onto a moderately curved surface, such as the body of a fiberglass cow for the CowParade. I am toying with the idea of several separate pieces, such as a triptych, and what I am really interested in is stretched canvas, in the shape of 3 triangles, each framed with black metal.

Hand-poured stained glass, Swarovski crystals, vintage costume jewelry, glass beads, pearls, 24K plate rims, pique assiette

Space mosaic work in progress

Here are pieces I've finished so far, little vignettes that will be used as filler around the planets and the large comets. (Click on the picture to enlarge, and then click again to enlarge further.)

These are done on mesh (netting), the largest ones being approximately 12 inches by 12 inches. This technique will save me hours of work; it's a simple matter to glue the mesh piece to the cow and the piece will conform to the cow's curves. I order this mesh from Wit's End Mosaics and apply the tess to the mesh with MAC glue. I wrote a how-to article about this method: http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-mosaic-on-mesh