Monthly Archives: May 2014

Time for the Art for the Home & Garden Show and Sale!

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Well a true spring has finally come to the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon, and I have been working hard to create several new items of art for the Art for the Home & Garden  Show and Sale that I hope you will enjoy in addition to some tried and true favorites.

First, mosaic jewelry.

2014-03-31 14.16.17 2014-03-31 14.23.12 2014-03-31 14.21.54   Beautiful handcrafted tiny works of art to decorate your already awesome selves. I have selected beautifully crafted silver plated and solid copper bezels as my substrate, then I cut teenie tiny bits of glass, ceramic tile, semi precious stones and Italian millifiore and Mexican smalti to arrange artfully and tastefully within the bezel. After adhering these pieces and allowing them to dry, I grout them all in with a nice deep charcoal grout. Now they are ready to wear to impress your friends. I get noticed every time I wear mine! I have a large selection of one-of-a-kind pendants to choose from.

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Mosaic pendants by Miss Mosaic (red oval with hearts has been sold)

Next, I’m in the process of creating ceramic flowers to adorn your gardens.

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Ceramic and steel garden art flower BEFORE glaze has been added.

I start by rolling out and stamping wet clay, allowing it to get close to leather hard before cutting it into shapes sort of like making sugar cookies, but without the handy cutters (still need to make those). After they have dried for a few days, I bisque fire them then will coat them with glazes that capture the beautiful textures, and refire to a higher temp (2100F). Afterwards, they’ll be ready to stack into colorful flowers and place onto their “stems” of steel, with leaves welded onto them.

In addition, I made a large beautiful mosaic butterfly, suitable to hang indoors or out.

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Garden art butterfly by Miss Mosaic

These will brighten your garden or home no matter what the season!

I also have art for your home too!

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Mosaic birds for your home by Miss Mosaic

Cute little mosaic birds I created can decorate your walls to bring a little bit of nature inside and brighten up a room. These I made by cutting MDF board out in bird shapes I sketched out, then sanded and sealed with Kilz to keep out air moisture. Next I hand cut bits of glass tile and adhere to the base, grout them up, paint them again, and wha la! Happy little birds 🙂

If none of this has grabbed your fancy, I also have my ceramic plaques and beautiful sgraffito carved bowls (my favorite below) and possibly more fine art mosaics to liven up your home and bring a little handmade love into your lives.

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Sgraffito bowl by Miss Mosaic- side view

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Inside a sgraffito bowl by Miss Mosaic

I hope to see you at the sale in person- I will be doing my work shifts between 12:30 and 3pm on Friday and Saturday, so if you want to chat, that’s a guaranteed time to catch me, up at Mary Dee’s on Prim. I look forward to catching up with those of you I haven’t seen in a while, and visiting more with those I see more often.

The sale is easy to find- just take Wimer St. up to the top crest of the hill (off of N. Main St. in Ashland, OR). A map and flyer are here: AFGshow Come celebrate the wonderful creativity this valley has to offer right on your doorstep, support your local artists, and enjoy a wonderful day exploring!

If you can’t make it to the sale, please don’t hesitate to contact me here or by email at missmosaicgirl@yahoo.com for sales or commissions of my work! And share this with your friends to help support me! Thanks everyone!

Cutting and Laying Workshop at Ashland Art Center

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April was an absolute dream of a month weather wise here in Talent, Oregon; a gorgeous Spring display of color and bloom took my breath away almost every day.

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Getting started, everyone was standing up and excited with possibilities.

I was lucky enough to get to do some teaching in the midst of all this glorious weather and was joined at the Ashland Art Center once again by six lovely women,

studying the techniques of cutting and laying tile for mosaics.

We had scheduled a 4 hour workshop, and once again, I tried to cram tons of information into a one day class. We discussed different tools for cutting ceramic, stained glass, glass tiles, and other types of materials, as well as ways to lay tiles and shape them to create flow, movement, static areas, and areas of energy.

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Morgan created a setting sun – deep red over her cliff.

 

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Kay loves to break the rules once she knows what they are 🙂

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MaryDee was challenged by the toughness of the porcelain tile, but did an amazing job!

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Johanna works slowly, like me, but was focused on getting it “just right”. And she did!

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Our brave newbie did a tremendous job while entertaining us with tales of her zoological shenanigans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the end of the day,  I think they were all getting the hang of it!

Several folks took home tools and materials to finish their pieces as time allowed.

I hope they all enjoyed themselves, I know I did. I’m planning to do a two day weekend workshop in July or August at the Art Center and would love to see you there. Contact me here, or on Facebook for updates and more info.!