FLOWER POWER

The making of an exterior flower…

Yes! I am blogging about my New Work. This is something completely different from my Mixed Media Mosaics and I have had lots of questions about my process for an exterior mosaic. This client already purchased a Red Lotus that was hanging in her last Boulder home. But, when she recently SOLD that home, she left the mosaic… For this piece, she wanted something a bit different but still a Huge Single Flower. I blew up my pattern and stuck it under an exterior netting used for mosaics. Yes, I used my TACKY GLUE to adhere the hand cut glass pieces to the netting. For the center I then hand cut circles out of the glass. The client chose bright colors for the background and the center burst- I think what she picked out was perfect to set off the white petals. Once I glued all those small glass pieces to the netting, it was time to use exterior mosaic thin set and epoxy grout so that it could stand up to the Colorado winters.

As you can see in this picture how successful I was gluing it onto the netting. It is like when you purchase tiles for your floors and it comes on netting- same concept. In the background is a CARTOON for a new Chief commission I am working on. When I do this kind of work, I always begin with a drawing/pattern so I can follow what I am doing without getting lost. This piece was a labor of love- so much work but then so well worth it!

Here are a few shots of the completed piece. The second picture is a virtual room that I photo shopped the piece in to show scale and how this art would look like in a room. The third picture is the actual piece in her new forever home, a courtyard in Boulder, Colorado. The fourth picture was taken before grout.

Stay tuned for lots more blogging!