Tag Archives: doing mosaic with glass tiles

Mirror, mirror on the wall

10 Monday Apr 2023

Posted by in Daily Life, Mosaic and other crafts

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“It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.” ― John Joseph Powell, The Secret of Staying in Love

M. came to spend the Easter weekend.  He is leaving tomorrow.  I will be posting about it in the next couple of day.  In the meantime, here is a mirror I made at the studio a month ago.  I forgot to take pictures at the beginning and along the way.    “Every man carries with him through life a mirror, as unique and impossible to get rid of as his shadow.”
― W.H. Auden, The Dyer’s Hand and Other Essays

  

“For I do not exist: there exist but the thousands of mirrors that reflect me. With every acquaintance I make, the population of phantoms resembling me increases. Somewhere they live, somewhere they multiply. I alone do not exist.” ― Vladimir Nabokov

   

“Mirrors,’ she said, ‘are never to be trusted.”
― Neil Gaiman, Coraline

“Why on earth do you carry a mirror around with you?”
“It’s purely a defensive device. We seldom quarrel, and this is one of the reasons. Can you imagine yourself getting all worked up and contorted and illogical and then coming face to face with yourself, looking at yourself exactly as you look to everyone else?”
― Theodore Sturgeon, Venus Plus X

 

 

 

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A star, not on the forehead

05 Sunday Feb 2023

Posted by in Daily Life, Mosaic and other crafts

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“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Happy Sunday everyone!

I go to the mosaic studio twice a week, so I am always working on something.  Often, even before I finish a project, I already have an idea of what I am going to work on next.  This time I didn’t.

Looking around the studio I decided to do a star.  But the star shapes we had there didn’t appeal to me, so I decided to use a square frame and draw a star.

Very often, the end project is very different from my initial intention, for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes my initial idea is too ambitious (not in this case), sometimes the materials are not doing what I need them to do, sometimes I lose interest and I just want to get it done to start something else.

It is easy to dream up something… getting it done is the hard part.

I love doing mosaics, and the studio is my happy place,  but there are times that I only focus on the result and not in the process.  Mosaics is a my constant reminder to enjoy the journey and to stop focusing only on the destination.

I am, and forever will be, a student of mosaics and life.

Here is the star I made.  It is done with colored glass, and some small mirror tiles. I used black grout, instead of something lighter, to make more of an impact.  In the end it is not what I initially had in mind, but still I am happy with it.

“I know that I am mortal by nature, and ephemeral; but when I trace at my pleasure the windings to and fro of the heavenly bodies I no longer touch the earth with my feet: I stand in the presence of Zeus himself and take my fill of ambrosia” –  Ptolemy, Ptolemy’s Almagest

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

19 Tuesday Jul 2022

Posted by in Daily Life, Finding Me

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“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

Just silent, not gone

11 Monday Jul 2022

Posted by in Daily Life, Daily Message

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“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

 

Art redone: From oil painting to mosaic in glass

19 Sunday Sep 2021

Posted by in Daily Life, Mosaic and other crafts

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“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” ― Albert Einstein

Here is another piece I just finished. I like to use old paintings that I find in stores or tag sales.  It serves two purposes: First, it already has a frame, often it is antique and beautiful.  Second, it gives me a starting point, an inspiration, even though the end result is, oftentimes, much different, as you can see below:

Doing mosaic art is my happy place, and I I love discovering that I do have some creative bone in my body.

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go…” ― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!