Closer Look: Past Life

In this video, I talk about the making of this mosaic, which spanned about 18 years, and take a closer look at the materials.

Marble and Gold Vase: A Closer Look

I’m getting so COVID-lonely that I’ve decided to make some videos so that I can talk to somebody. 😎

Here is a short little closer look at this vase/bottle that I mosaicked last year. The size of it says “vase,” but the narrow spout says “bottle.”

You can read my posts about making this here, here, and here.

It is available for purchase and I have recently added it to my shop.

I Heard the Mountain Sing, in progress

In my previous post, I linked to my in progress videos. In video, Part 2, I talked about breaking some rules. Now, in my 3rd video, I both clarify and elaborate about three unofficial mosaic rules that I am breaking.

If you’re interested in hearing about how I understand and process these rules, watch I Heard the Mountain Sing, Part 3 (Breaking Rules)

Paths Taken, Part 11

Just a brief video on finishing the edges.

Paths Taken, Part 10

In this video, I talk about various aspects of the smalti execution and finishing.

Framing Mosaics: Vexed by Wedi?

In the above video, I'll share a few things I know about framing mosaics, and how I have found to deal with challenging substrates like Wedi Board.

Iskandria: Video Tour

What is this little mosaic all about? I'll tell you about it in the above video.

Paths Taken: Palette and Procreate

Previous posts on this project.

 Continuing where I left off, I talk about my palette and how I am using the Procreate app in my design process.

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By importing an image of my proposed palette (at left) into Procreate, I was able to create swatches that I could use to refine my palette and play with design ideas around color and shading. 

Paths Taken, Part 7

Good progress in the past few days! I got to the point where I was really enjoying working on my drawing of andamento lines and working out how I needed to navigate the flaring and some of the trickier intersections and diversions of flow.

In this video, I will discuss how I got to this point and some of issues that came up.  

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At left is my drawing as of this video. There are a couple of areas that I will be tweaking, and I talk about those in the video. Right now, I feel it is about 99% there.

I'm very happy with the flow and the overall size of the pieces, especially the shape and placement of the larger pieces which will be cut from smalti B-cuts and pizzas.

Next, I'll finalize my palette and how I want to work with the shades and values that I have. 

Storyteller: Video Tour

The above video takes a closer look at my mosaic Storyteller. 

Paths Taken: Yet More on Andamento

In this video, I'm discussing some of my challenges in working out how to express the flow that I would like to express.

Paths Taken: More on Andamento

After reflecting on my previous discussion about andamento, I wanted to talk about it a little more and clarify my understanding of the term. 

To summarize:

1. The English translation of andamento is a/the trend. Mosaically, I understand andamento to be the way things go, the movement, or more specifically, the sense of movement.
2. There are multiple ways to express the chosen andamento for a mosaic, including cutting and laying techniques—different opuses, and material and color choices.

In the above video, I talk about andamento as it relates to my current project, and I offer a couple of examples of different andamenti and the techniques chosen to express those andamenti.

Anatomy of a Mosaic: Paths Taken

I started this mosaic about 4 years ago, but retreated from it as I was heading into a sabbatical of sorts. I had decided that I did not like the pattern of the pieces of shale that I had adhered to the substrate. I thought that, at some point in the future, I would remove the pieces or just throw it away. 

Now, 4 years later, I think it will make a great andamento challenge for me. I've decided to finish it, and to take you along with me as I go. 

I'm calling it Paths Taken, and I will blog the making of it, starting with this post. I'm not very good at making videos, but what the heck! I think even a so-so video can help explain things and be a useful accompaniment to photos and text. So, here goes!

The first thing I needed to do was to make a support frame for the back of the mosaic. Adding a support frame allows for more flexibility in hanging and framing decoratively, and takes care of the problem that Wedi creates in making such choices. With a support frame on the back, the mosaic can be decoratively framed or not, and hanging hardware can be installed on this back support frame.

I used 8 Kerdi washers, which are similar to Wedi washers, to properly bolt the support frame to the back of the Wedi board.

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Let's just talk a bit about the materials:

Back when I started this mosaic, I printed images of it in which I whited-out the bare substrate so that I could play around with the andamento. Fortunately, I kept a couple of my attempts and I recently found them:

I'll take some time now to revisit and complete my andamento drawing, and I'll be back with you when it's ready to go!

Stabby: A Video Tour

Above: Stabby, detail

To watch the video, click on the small, white right arrow—difficult to see—centered in the above image.