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Blessed with a Star on the Forehead

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Blessed with a Star on the Forehead

Tag Archives: arts and crafts

Why did the chicken cross the road?

03 Friday Mar 2023

Posted by A Star on the Forehead in Daily Life, Mosaic and other crafts

≈ 37 Comments

Tags

arts and crafts, ceramic and grout, chicken, chicken mosaic, farm animals, hen, rooster

“I dream of a better tomorrow. One where chickens can cross the road and their motives remain unquestioned.” ― Anonymous

I am not sure if I made a chicken, a hen or a rooster.  It didn’t come out as I intended. But then again, most of my pieces never do.  They always end up very different from my original idea.  Still, I love them all.

 

“Roads are no place for naive chickens dreaming of nirvana.”
― Shalom Auslander, Hope: A Tragedy 

“She entered with ungainly struggle like some huge awkward chicken, torn, squawking, out of its coop.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

“Alvin smiled back, and kissed her. “People talk about fools counting chickens before they hatch. That’s nothing. We name them.” ― Orson Scott Card, Alvin Journeyman 

“If I didn’t start painting, I would have raised chickens.”
― Grandma Moses

“Ah, that is interesting! Are there chickens?”
“No.”
“Nothing is perfect,” sighed the fox.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

 

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Life is as beautiful and fragile as a multicolored glass vase

09 Thursday Feb 2023

Posted by A Star on the Forehead in Daily Message, Finding Me

≈ 49 Comments

Tags

arts and crafts, mosaic glass tiles, multicolored vase, Stained glass like

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.” ― Seneca

To all that sent good issues to my brother, I thank you so much.  All the good wishes and prayers worked.  I am happy to report that he is doing much better.

Here is my latest project.  I keep trying different materials and projects, to eventually find my voice.  Perhaps I don’t have one specific voice.

This vase looks great on a window with the sun hitting it from behind.  I took the pictures at night, so I added a light to achieve the same effect.

   

“Life is like a box of crayons. Most people are the 8 color boxes, but what you’re really looking for are the 64 color boxes with the sharpeners on the back. I fancy myself to be a 64 color box, though I’ve got a few missing. It’s okay though, because I’ve got some more vibrant colors like periwinkle at my disposal. I have a bit of a problem though in that I can only meet the 8 color boxes. Does anyone else have that problem? I mean there are so many different colors of life, of feeling, of articulation. So when I meet someone who’s an 8 color type…I’m like, hey girl, Magenta! and she’s like, oh, you mean purple! and she goes off on her purple thing, and I’m like, no I want Magenta!” ― John Mayer

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My 2022 in mosaics – finding peace in the broken pieces

22 Sunday Jan 2023

Posted by A Star on the Forehead in Daily Life, Mosaic and other crafts

≈ 39 Comments

Tags

arts and crafts, broken ceramics, broken pieces, mosaic pieces, plates and mugs, rebuilding and repurposing, whimsical and fun

These are all the mosaic pieces I made in 2022.  I have already posted about all of them separately, but wanted to have them all together in one post.  It is fun to see the variety of inspiration, subject and materials I used.

Trust me, they look much better in person.  But then again, I am biased. They are all my babies.

January/February: This piece came out of nowhere.  As I was gathering somes glass pieces, they looked like a face to me.  That is how this very pensive and troubled woman was born. Her name was supposed to be Susie. But it is nameless for now.

 

February/March: This frame was not as I intended.  I intended on a frame for my brother.  But then came the flowers and sparkles.  I don’t think I will be using sparkles again. It is very shiny, but also very messy.

 

February/March: I was inspired by a greeting card.  Many band-aids later, this little bird was finished. It is hard to tell but it is made of glass pieces that I cut very small to give the idea of a snowy forest in the background.

 

March/April. I decided that my pensive and troubled lady needed a boyfriend. Just call him Jean Paul.

 

May/June: This pizza was inspired by the post I wrote called The Pizza Debacle.

 

May/June: I had just returned from the casino and saw some gambling inspiring ceramic at the studio, so why not?

 

June/July: I bought some old frames at a tag sale.  This one had blue flowers on it.  I let them guide me.

 

June/July: This next one also started with an old painting from the tag sale.  It had a painting of fruit in it, so I decided on grapes for my design.

 

August/September: After doing the woman, and then her boyfriend Jean Paul, I decided to create a whole whimsical little family. This is a piece that a lot people disliked, but of course, I loved it.

 

September: This flower is made of mugs and plates.  It has some texture and height to it.  Originally I liked my work to be flat, but the more involved I get with mosaics the more I want to try different styles and techniques.

 

October/November: After doing faces using glass, I wanted to try to make a face using ceramic.  It became a mask and I am happy with it.

 

November:  In an effort to try different surfaces, this time I used a vase.  While it is not my favorite, I am happy with the result.

 

November/December: This was based on a watercolor picture.  It is very hard to translate watercolor to mosaic. I am happy with this first attempt.

 

December:  This is one of my favorites. It is happy and it makes me happy.

 

This is the last piece I did in 2022.  It is out of broken plates.  I made this at home and grouted at the studio.

I am inspired now to make a post with all my mosaics from 20 and 21.

“I must try to enjoy all the graces that God has given me today. Grace cannot be hoarded. There are no banks where it can be deposited to be used when I feel more at peace with myself. If I do not make full use of these blessings, I will lose them forever.

God knows that we are all artists of life. One day, he gives us a hammer with which to make sculptures, another day he gives us brushes and paints with which to make a picture, or paper and a pencil to write with. But you cannot make a painting with a hammer, or a sculpture with a paintbrush. Therefore, however difficult it may be, I must accept today’s small blessings, even if they seem like curses because I am suffering and it’s a beautiful day, the sun is shining, and the children are singing in the street. This is the only way I will manage to leave my pain behind and rebuild my life.”
― Paulo Coelho , The Zahir

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Final mosaic projects of the year: A basket of flowers and a picture frame

21 Wednesday Dec 2022

Posted by A Star on the Forehead in Daily Life, Daily Message, Mosaic and other crafts

≈ 58 Comments

Tags

arts and crafts, broken plates, ceramic mosaic, flower basket, Mosaic projects, picture frame, plates and mugs

“The earth laughs in flowers.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

My last 2 mosaics of the year.  The basket of flowers I made at the studio, and the picture frame I made at home.  I am trying to get used to doing projects at home, for those times that the studio is closed.

They are mostly made from dinner plates and coffee mugs.

With each project I get more and more ideas.  The mosaic world is huge and I want to explore it all!  May you find a hobby you love as much as I love doing mosaics!

“I must have flowers, always, and always.”
― Claude Monet

“In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends.”
― Okakura Kakuzo

“If you want a forgotten corner to be remembered, a featureless place to be loved, a shadowy emptiness to shine, put some flowers there!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

“There are no bad pictures; that’s just how your face looks sometimes.”
― Abraham Lincoln

A BLESSED HOLIDAY SEASON TO ALL!  THANK YOU FOR GRACING ME WITH YOUR PRESENCE, ENERGY, SUPPORT AND LOVE!  YOU ARE APPRECIATED AND LOVED! 

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A kiss full of color and whimsy

03 Saturday Dec 2022

Posted by A Star on the Forehead in Daily Life, Mosaic and other crafts

≈ 47 Comments

Tags

arts and crafts, colorful, colorful creations, couple, glass tiles, Kissing, love, mosaic, Saturday, watercolor

“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

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“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” ― Confucious

18 Friday Nov 2022

Posted by A Star on the Forehead in Daily Life

≈ 24 Comments

Tags

arts and crafts, ceramic tiles, Confucious, curvy mosaic, Friday, golden vase, indecision, mosaic

Up to now I have worked mostly on flat surfaces.  I wanted to try something that had curves. I chose a beautiful golden vase that was almost too pretty to cover.  So I chose not to cover it completely. 

But now I am not sure if I should leave it this way or go back and cover the whole thing.  While I decide, I started a new project that I am excited about.  Well, I get excited about all my pieces. 

Wishing you all a blessed weekend!  May it be restful.  May it be fun!

 

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

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.” ― Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds

“You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.”
― Mary Oliver

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It is still Halloween here

01 Tuesday Nov 2022

Posted by A Star on the Forehead in Daily Life, Mosaic and other crafts

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

anonymous and mysterious, arts and crafts, Halloween, mosaic masks, mosaics pieces

“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

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Life is a bowl of grapes, some sour, some sweet

19 Tuesday Jul 2022

Posted by A Star on the Forehead in Daily Life, Finding Me

≈ 35 Comments

Tags

art is a journey, arts and crafts, doing mosaic with glass tiles, enjoying the journey, glass art, glass grape bowl, learning to make mosaic art

“We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.” – E. B. White

Here is the latest mosaic piece I did.  As with some of the others, I started with a painting that I got at a tag sale.  It helps to already have a frame, and the painting already on it often gives me inspiration.  More often than not I end up with something very different than the original painting, but still, one can see the the remnants of it in it.  This one has no grout.  I just used glue.

I was going to label myself as the lazy artist because of that, but I am not.  I am being resourceful.  I am labeling myself the smart artist.  That I am calling myself an artist at all is a wonder.  I was never artistic or creative.  I have always been smart and good at a variety of things, but art was never among those talents.

So, to be doing mosaics and doing some pieces that people actually like, is an amazing feeling.  I still struggle with my practical and results driven side.  I want to finish a project as soon as I start.

The beauty of mosaics, and any art, for that matter, is getting lost in it.  It is the proverbial journey.  I am getting there.  

“People pretend not to like grapes when the vines are too high for them to reach.” ― Marguerite de Navarre

“My favorite fruit is grapes. Because with grapes, you always get another chance. ‘Cause, you know, if you have a crappy apple or a peach, you’re stuck with that crappy piece of fruit. But if you have a crappy grape, no problem – just move on to the next. ‘Grapes: The Fruit of Hope.'” – Demetri Martin

“You are but a tiny cluster upon the vines of heaven, where the grapes are worlds; yet you hold the power to ripen your bitter berries and add to the eternal vintage of cosmic sweetness if so you will.” ― Eden Phillpotts, Saurus

 

“My love, suddenly
your hip
is the curve of the wineglass
filled to the brim,
your breast is the cluster,
your hair the light of alcohol,
your nipples, the grapes
your navel pure seal
stamped on your barrel of a belly,
and your love the cascade
of unquenchable wine,
the brightness that falls on my senses,
the earthen splendor of life.”
― Pablo Neruda

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Just silent, not gone

11 Monday Jul 2022

Posted by A Star on the Forehead in Daily Life, Daily Message

≈ 40 Comments

Tags

arts and crafts, doing mosaic with glass tiles, don't forget about yourself, too busy to have fun

“We often think that our affairs, great or small, must be tended continuously and in detail, or our world will disintegrate, and we will lose our places in the universe. That is not true, or if it is true, then our situations were so temporary that they would have collapsed anyway.” ― Maya Angelou

Life has been incredibly busy. My co-worker has been out now for over 1 month being treated for breast cancer.

The good news is that she is doing well and will not need chemotherapy. The bad news is that I have no idea when she will be returning to work. 

I have been staying at work late every day and working on Saturdays to be able to get it all done. In the end I do get it all done, but I tend to forget about me along the way. 

I am trying not to let the things I love slide by.  Some of what I love most are mosaics, and being involved with my blog, writing and visiting my blogger friends.

I haven’t been that present here.  I will try to catch up to everyone’s blog in the coming days.  As far as mosaics I managed to finish the one below, and I am putting the finishing touches in another one that I will be posting in the next few days.  

https://www.instagram.com/blessedwithastar/?hl=en

 

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Getting back to mosaics

27 Monday Jun 2022

Posted by A Star on the Forehead in Daily Life, Mosaic and other crafts

≈ 34 Comments

Tags

arts and crafts, broken pieces, cards and casino, mosaic arts and crafts, pizza in the making, shattered pieces

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

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