Category Archives: Mosaic and other crafts

A kiss full of color and whimsy

03 Saturday Dec 2022

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“You should be kissed and by someone who knows how.” ― Margaret Mitchell

My love affair with mosaics continues.  For this next piece I used a painting that I saw online as inspiration. Watercolor paint and glass tiles are very different materials to work with, so I knew the result would be very different.

I am happy with this first attempt. I will try it again with different materials and colors.  At times I still struggle with having the patience not to rush with a project, and the result usually reflects that.

Wishing you all a blessed weekend!  And if you have the chance, kiss!

“When my date takes me home and kisses me good night, if I don’t hear the philharmonic in my head, I dump him.” — The Mirror Has Two Faces

“I didn’t want to kiss you goodbye — that was the trouble — I wanted to kiss you good night — and there’s a lot of difference.” ― Ernest Hemingway 

“I kissed him hard. The few people in the bar must have been thinking that all they were seeing was just a kiss. They didn’t know that this kiss stood for my whole life – and his life, as well. The life of anyone who has waited, dreamed, and searched for their true path.

The moment of that kiss contained every happy moment I had ever lived.” ― Paulo Coelho, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept

It is still Halloween here

01 Tuesday Nov 2022

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“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day. 
—”Old Man’s Advice to Youth: ‘Never Lose a Holy Curiosity.'” LIFE Magazine (2 May 1955) p. 64”

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween.  Growing up in Brazil there was no Halloween, so I never got into it. I never cared for dressing up in costumes, even at Carnaval, so last night was uneventful.  I have been mostly glued to the news about the elections in Brazil.

Trump, I mean, Bolsonaro lost, and because he has been following Trump’s playbook, he has yet to call Lula, the president elect, to congratulate him and concede defeat.

I fear the protests.  Not the peaceful protests, but the ones that aim to just cause chaos and disruption.  Any kind of fanatical behavior scares me. Most of the ones protesting have really no grasp on why they are doing what they are doing.   Blind allegiance is scary. 

Don’t get me wrong, similar to the US, there was a lack of good candidates.  But between the two, I am taking Lula.  I didn’t vote, but I would vote for taking care of the rain forest, for the better treatment of the indians, the poor, the minorities and the women.  My vote has been always for peace.

I pray. May there be peace! In Brazil, and in the world!

“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.”
― Albert Einstein, The World As I See It

Here is another piece I finished.  I am having fun coming up with these weird stuff. It was not meant to be weird.  Actually,  I really had no idea what it would look like.  It has been fun being creative.

My sister adored this one.  She is my biggest fan, but she can also be a tough critic (she hates that pizza one).  She says it is all about the eyes, that it seems to be staring back and looking in.  It is hard to see that in the pictures. 

I continue to fall more and more in love with mosaics.

“As a rule, the more bizarre a thing is the less mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most difficult to identify.” ― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

A different kind of pretty

01 Thursday Sep 2022

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I just finished this piece.  I love it, but most people don’t like it.  The only person that liked it is my sister. 

It is interesting that people normally try to be kind and say they like something when they really don’t.  I get it, I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings either.

But with this one piece, there is no hiding their feelings.  Everyone at the studio said, straight to my face, they didn’t like it.  One said it is the ugliest baby she has ever seen (true lol) and the other said I made Sonny Bono (kinda of lol).

I love that!  I feel honored to have people’s honest opinion.  They know me, they know I can take it.  I rather have honest opinions and not sweet lies. I like that we can all joke about it.  What I love most is the realization that I don’t feel the need to make only “pretty” things. 

I love when people look at something I made and have a reaction, good or bad.  

This piece to me represents a lot different things: family, diversity, beauty, love, among others.  With this piece I feel I am beginning to find my creative/artistic voice… and it is not pretty! 😉

“There is no exquisite beauty… without some strangeness in the proportion.” ― Edgar Allan Poe

“It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.”
― Leo Tolstoy, The Kreutzer Sonata

“Sometimes people are beautiful.
Not in looks.
Not in what they say.
Just in what they are.”
― Markus Zusak, I Am the Messenger

“To see something different gives you a chance to be something different!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

“No one escapes some degree of chaos for it is so ever prevalent; it is the human experience. This realization does not mean we can’t improve. It does mean we can accept our state of chaos, lighten up on ourselves, have fun, and work on improving…we are a work in progress. Enjoy the journey.” ― David W. Earle LPC- Love is Not Enough

Getting back to mosaics

27 Monday Jun 2022

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Here are two mosaic pieces that I just finished. They are not my favorites, but they do look much better in person, than in my not so clear pictures.

it is good to be getting back to the studio after almost 2 months away.

I started making the pizza when I was dating B.  I thought it would be fun to have a reminder of a date that didn’t go so well. This date:  https://atomic-temporary-33385295.wpcomstaging.com/2022/03/15/the-pizza-date-i-mean-debacle/ 

It turns out, as you may know, that the entire short relationship didn’t turn out well. I don’t want any reminders of that, but still I don’t like to leave things unfinished, so I finished it.

Below is a frame that was born out of a broken ceramic container that had play cards on it. I had just returned from the casino, so it seemed fitting.

“The beauty of being shattered is how the shards become our character and our marks of distinction. This is how we are refined by our pain. When the storm rips you to pieces, you get to decide how to put yourself back together again. The storm gives us the gift of our defining choices. You will be a different person after the storm, because the storm will heal you from your perfection. People who stay perfect and unblemished never really get to live fully or deeply. You will not be the same after the storms of life; you will be stronger, wiser and more alive than ever before!” ― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life

Life imitates art or art imitates life

07 Thursday Apr 2022

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“The trouble is not that I am single and likely to stay single, but that I am lonely and likely to stay lonely.” ― Charlotte Brontë

I made a mosaic piece of the face of woman a couple of months ago: https://atomic-temporary-33385295.wpcomstaging.com/2022/02/21/happy-woman-having-an-off-day/

I thought she was lonely, so I made her a boyfriend.  The moment I created a boyfriend for her, I got myself a boyfriend. 

He still needs buttons on his shirt, to match her necklace, but I haven’t found the the perfect ones yet.

Here he is:

“If you’re lonely when you’re alone, you’re in bad company.” –― Jean-Paul Sartre

“Solitude is fine but you need someone to tell that solitude is fine.” ― Honoré de Balzac

“Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.” ― John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

“being alone never felt right. sometimes it felt good, but it never felt right.” ― Charles Bukowski

“The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.” ― Mother Teresa

“Remember: the time you feel lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself. Life’s cruelest irony.” ― Douglas Coupland, Shampoo Planet

And here they are together. I think they make a lovely couple. 🙂

“I am awfully greedy; I want everything from life. I want to be a woman and to be a man, to have many friends and to have loneliness, to work much and write good books, to travel and enjoy myself, to be selfish and to be unselfish… You see, it is difficult to get all which I want. And then when I do not succeed I get mad with anger.” ― Simone de Beauvoir

 

I think I see a bird… yes, it is a bird!

22 Tuesday Mar 2022

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“I would like to paint the way a bird sings.” ― Claude Monet

Here is my newest project. It is supposed to be a bird in a snowy forest, as you can see on the Christmas card (1st pic below) that inspired me. 

Each little piece of glass was cut by hand. At the end of every session I had some nicks and cuts. I love working with mosaics so much I don’t mind a little pain.

I am just glad that it does resemble a bird, or does it?

“The reason birds can fly and we can’t is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.” ― J.M. Barrie, The Little White Bird

“For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.” ― Kahlil Gibran

“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.” ― Robert Lynd

“Some birds are not meant to be caged, that’s all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure.” ― Stephen King, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption

 

The 4th date and a misframe

13 Sunday Mar 2022

Posted by in Daily Life, Daily Message, Dating, Mosaic and other crafts

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“I find only sadness and melancholy when I wade through the past, even when revisiting good memories. The past is gone; I can neither grasp it nor reshape it. Therefore, I must force my eyes to look toward the future where my mortal powers thrive.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich, Being Bold: Quotes, Poetry, & Motivations for Every Day of the Year

The fourth date was on Thursday night.  We met at a wine bar called Aura.  He remembered that this is the same place we had our second date 5 years ago.  At that time the place was called Gnarly Vine. 

He remembers everything about the few dates that we had 5 years ago.  He remembers where we went, what I said, etc.  I don’t remember anything, but as he shares what he remembers, bits and pieces come back to me.

It is crazy that I totally blocked out any memory of dates with him.  I remember liking him, and that is it.  My lack of memory of the past it is probably a combination of covid mental fogginess plus selective memory.  No sense in dwelling in the past.

We agreed to stop talking about the past and focus on the present. We are happy that we are getting a do-over.

If he doesn’t have to drive his daughter back to college tomorrow, Sunday, I will be going to his house for homemade pizza.  I am looking forward to seeing his home.  One can tell a lot from how a person lives. Fingers crossed that she is able to get a ride.

“. . .Looking forward to things is half the pleasure of them.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

While I was waiting for my latest piece (a bird) to dry, I decided to do a picture frame.  It was going to be a gift for my brother, but then came the flowers and the butterfly. And instead of grout I used glitter, tons of glitter.  It is hard to see the glitter in the picture.  It is no longer for my brother 🙂

“Happy Woman Having an Off Day”

21 Monday Feb 2022

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I love, love, love this piece. It came out of nowhere. This is a piece that makes me feel that I do have a creative bone in my body.

As I was organizing some glass pieces for another project a saw this face materialize in front of me. I abandoned what I was going to do and decide to finish the face.

The same day at the studio, there was a woman that I often see there.  She has been doing mosaic for years, and does commission pieces. 

She is always talking, always having fun.  We have a good time together.  On that day she was quiet and gloomy.  She was not her usual self.  She said that there was not a specific reason, she was just having an off day. 

It was definitely a different energy with her being so quiet.  I was trying to make jokes and cheer her up.

For some reason the tiles in front of me made me think of her.  Perhaps the pained, sad look and the short hair.  I announced that I was naming the piece after her.  

She was so happy.  I could see glimpses of her usual self returning.  She said that there was never anything named after her, and she was over the moon.   

Fast forward a couple of weeks. I was at the studio working on this project and another woman heard that I had named this piece after her friend.

She said: “It doesn’t look like her.” I said: “I know.  It is not supposed to look like her.  It is just the idea of her.” 

She appeared a bit annoyed, but didn’t say anything.  Later on, she said, out of the blue: “People should be careful about naming pieces after people, specially since it doesn’t look like them.”

I said: “She knows and she is happy about it.”

She then said: “Sometimes people hide their feelings.”

What? I was so shocked with that statement.  I said: “I am sorry you think that way.  I will ask her about it.  There is no way that I would do anything to hurt her or anyone.”

I was going to ask the woman herself about it, but then the studio closed for 2 months and I haven’t see her again.  For now the piece is nameless.  None of my pieces have names, but for some reason I feel this one needs it. 

For now the name is “Happy Woman Having an Off Day”.   I welcome ideas for a different name.

Since when the world got so sensitive? It is just a name on a piece. It is not a portrait, and not meant to look like the person.  It is meant as a compliment, just a fun and nice gesture.

I feel her friend created an issue where there was none.  But, I guess, I could be wrong. I have been wrong before 🙂

I have learned a lesson. Well, I am trying to learn the lesson.   I am very impulsive, and often say what comes to mind.  Naming the piece right then and there was an impulse.  I can’t assume that everyone would be okay with that.

Toning myself down is hard. I was not intent in causing pain. But, as they say: The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

In the meantime, I had to hold back tears when the woman told me that I was perhaps insulting and hurting her friend. Who is the sensitive now?

“And why is it, thought Lara, that my fate is to see everything and take it all so much to heart?”
― Boris Pasternak

 

My very talented Mom

21 Friday Jan 2022

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“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” -― Stephen King

I had complained to my mom that my sister had a towel with little girls on it and I didn’t.  Mom set out to correct that. The result is the cute towel above.

I am very proud of my mom.  She has always been a hard-worker, honest and generous to a fault.  She is the type of person that, given the opportunity, could have been anything she wanted. 

Instead, she had to start working very early, at the age of 7.  Yes, 7!!  She only went to third grade in school, but is smarter than most graduates that I know. It was a sad childhood.  A poor family, 14 kids, she was the baby.  Her father died when she was 4 years old.  She says that when he died she lost her protector.  She adored him. 

Eventually I will write more about her life.  This post is about her beautiful macramé towels. 

Mom will be 87 years old in a couple of months.  She has been always very active, working and doing her crafts.  She hasn’t done much lately because of her issues with her hip.  She has been in a lot pain, so she spends a lot time resting now. 

She has always done knitting and crocheting. At the age of 70 she took a few classes and started oil painting.  My walls are covered with her paintings. I am not sure if I have posted them here before, but I will make sure to post them.

Then, she taught herself how to do macramé by reading some craft magazines.   Macramé is a craft that is done by knotting yarn, and other similar material.   It was a dying art that has become popular again.  It requires patience, precision and persistence.

It has taken her weeks to remind herself how to do the macramé knots for little girls, but she did it!  I admire her constant wanting to learn, relearning and challenging herself. Be it a new recipe, a new macramé knot, or a new painting.  

Below are some of the towels that she has made in the past for my sister and I.  She has made dozens more as gifts to friends.  She also has taught a few people how to do it.  Not everyone that she tried to teach was able to learn, but a couple are doing it well.

My mom’s life now is very different from her childhood.  My parents are spoiled by my siblings and I.  We try to make them happy, inasmuch as we can do that.

“Learning is an ornament in prosperity, a refuge in adversity, and a provision in old age.” ― Aristotle

“The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it. ”  ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.” ― Émile Zola

“According to this law [the law of Dharma], you have a unique talent and a unique way of expressing it. There is something that you can do better than anyone else in the whole world–and for every unique talent and unique expression of that talent, there are also unique needs. When these needs are matched with the creative expression of your talent, that is the spark that creates affluence. Expressing your talents to fulfill needs creates unlimited wealth and abundance.” ― Deepak Chopra

 

 

 

 

A face only a mother can love :-)

23 Thursday Dec 2021

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“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” ― Winston S. Churchill

I am in love with my mosaics even when they fail.  What is failure anyway?  The beauty of the creative arts, is that there is no right or wrong.  It is all subjective.

That is why I love mosaics: for its imperfections.  I look at this one and I see where I can do things better, different, but still I appreciate the time, effort and creativity I put into it.

This new piece taught me a lot.  It showed me that I need to learn certain techniques and how to use certain materials. Such as how to draw faces and how to use resin.

I am learning to love the creative process.  I am still in awe that I can be creative.  I still continue to try to rush, but I am slowly learning how to love the moment and not only to aim for the results.  

Here I present to you what was supposed to be an Indian with war paint on his face and a colorful headdress on his head.  The result looks more like a lion or a cat burglar.   Still, it is my creation and I love it, flaws and all!

“A thinker sees his own actions as experiments and questions–as attempts to find out something. Success and failure are for him answers above all.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” ― Kurt Vonnegut, If This Isn’t Nice, What Is?: Advice for the Young

“I believe in the power of the imagination to remake the world, to release the truth within us, to hold back the night, to transcend death, to charm motorways, to ingratiate ourselves with birds, to enlist the confidences of madmen.” ― J.G. Ballard

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” ― Robert F. Kennedy

 

“Do not let arrogance go to your head and despair to your heart; do not let compliments go to your head and criticisms to your heart; do not let success go to your head and failure to your heart.” ― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart