Category Archives: Works in Progress

Mosaic sturgeon will be brightening up Astoria- Part 2

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Back up in Hillboro this past week for more work on the Astoria project with Lynn Adamo and her faithful minions.

When I arrived the fish were all completed except for a little eye surgery (later) and the watery background was begun.P1000376

Lynn’s order of blue smalti from Mexico had been delayed by U.S. Customs and had just arrived in the middle of last week when artists’ Richard Davis and Jennifer Kuhns were just leaving.  So Lynn was anxious to get going with the background and cover some ground (literally).

However, we had a limited amount of certain blue colors we were using as accents. The only way we could figure out to evenly distribute them throughout the piece was to scatter them loosely across the template, then bag them up and label them according to the sections they would end up in. The system may look weird, but it was fairly quick and effective.

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Layout of fish with accent colors evenly distributed.

Notice the eyes of the fish in the photo above…somewhat ghostlike…

As I lay more of the blue field, Lynn began her “eye surgery”.

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“Eye-ectomy” being perfomed on the first fish.

We decided the eyes needed more of a true pupil to make them a bit more animated and alive, so we trimmed out the existing center,

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P1000401 …and voile! A much more lively fish.

In addition to these minute tasks, we also decided to make a new template that was fully laminated and protected from the weather, as our previous one was getting a bit soggy in the rain, and shrinking as a result (!) making it difficult to get an accurate measure and fit for our MANY sections of mosaic on mesh.

That took up some of my evening and half of the next day to do- working on the kitchen floor and in the front room in sections until I got it all done. We then moved it out onto the back porch and transferred all the completed mosaic sections to it and taped them down so they wouldn’t shift – ensuring a better fit later when it’s installed.

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Taping the sections together to avoid shift during fitting.

Lynn was very meticulous with keeping things organized and clean during the whole process- and you have to! One little sliver of misplaced smalti can throw off the whole thing.

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Cleaning up the shards of glass, bits of dirt (no shoes here!), and other detritus blown in from the yard.

By the time I left Friday morning we had fitted all the mesh for the next sections, gotten a little further on the blue field, and had the planning behind us so Lynn could move forward more quickly and easily to completion. (Or so I like to think!)

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Slowly but surely…and looking beautiful!

I’ll be going back up at the end of next week for the final push…and will keep updating as we progress…

But be sure to keep up with the progress of this project for the Garden of Surging Waves in Astoria, Oregon on Lynn’s blog at www.lynnadamo.com/blog/ too!

Mosaic sturgeon will be brightening up Astoria- Part 1

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Hello good peoples of the internet! I would like to introduce you all to a wonderful mosaic artist, a fabulous pie baker, and an all around awesome human being- and they all exist in the person that is Lynn Adamo of Hillsboro, Oregon.

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Lynn enjoying her pie and ice cream

It’s hard to believe, but Lynn is all that and more.

She recently won a commission from the City of Astoria to do a 10 foot diameter mosaic to be placed in a new park in the heart of Astoria.
The premise of the park is to honor the immigrants who helped build our great Northwest as well as honor a bit of the natural history of Astoria to boot.
The sturgeons depicted in Lynn’s mosaic are representing the fish canning industry that helped make Astoria prosperous.

Mexican smalti “tortillas” (thick, richly colored slabs of glass) were created specifically for this project and are being laid by many hands under the direction of Lynn.
She has created a veritable hive (or swarm?!) of worker bees from which to draw on when the projects get large, and/or the time window for completion is short.

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Janie prepping smalti “B” cuts for installation

I am lucky enough to be one of the happy drones working on this gorgeous endevour.

I first went up to Hillsboro (home of Intel) around the 3rd or 4th week into the project. When I arrived things were well underway with one fish completed and another begun.

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I  worked with Sandy Arbogast, Jan, and Scott over three full days-and we made some respectable progress, finishing the second sturgeon

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The meals were fantastic during my first visit too. P1000353Bob grilled us a fabulous flank steak one night and some delicious pork the next. Served with his home-brewed beer- what could be better!

And as if that weren’t enough- Lynn topped it off with one of her amazing berry pies with berries fresh from their own yard.

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I was absolutely spoiled. And I loved every minute of it.

Mosaics are time intensive- and even with the 5 of us working we weren’t able to finish the last fish before I made my way back down the trail to Talent.

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Luckily she had some more great workers with her the next week-Richard Davis and Jennifer Kuhns. Both experienced mosaic artists in their own rights, they whipped through the last of the fish and moved onto the water before their three days were up.

In addition, Richard whipped up some fabulous gourmet meals using his culinary background as a chef. The photos I saw on Lynn’s blog looked good enough to eat!

Now I am geared up for my next mosaic session with Lynn. It’s round two and I’m determined to just “knock it out of the park”-as Lynn might say. You who know her know she is a HUGE baseball fan. It warms my heart just thinking about her checking the scores throughout the days-keeping tabs on her Giants on the laptop as she toils away 🙂

Mosaic Town is growing

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Mosaic town has been growing steadily over the past week, and is almost complete. I have added three new buildings and created several montage photos so you can see the process as well as the various views of the new buildings.

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This is the 2 Story House made of handmade ceramic tile with a glass mosaic tile roof.

I created the texture on the red tile by rolling the wet clay onto a sheet of deeply textured fabric, then lifting and repositioning the fabric and rolling it again. The glaze catches in the different depths of the texture, causing some areas to have deeper colors than others.

The little yellow swirls are left over sun-centers from my History Underfoot mosaic. They make me happy, and I wanted a happy home- so there they are!

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The next building to be created was the Mod Building. Not sure where this came from in my head, though the Price Tower by Frank Lloyd Wright, in my hometown in Oklahoma, has always been a big influence. It might be a residence, it might be an office, it’s up to your imagination.

This one is covered in three colors of handmade tile, sea foam and clear with a touch of green for the walls, and forest green for the roof areas. The windows are made of a painted glass that adds great depth, as well as suggesting an interior light source.

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The final building I see as a Theatre of some sort. Cinema probably, though could be a regular theatre too.

It is covered in a huge array of colors and textures I have had sitting in my studio for a couple of years now. The front and sides are in a bright cheerful yellow, with the back being made of a combination of red and textured red handmade tiles.

The decorative tiles around the doors and windows are bits from tiles that warped or cracked in the kiln, but I didn’t want to throw away. The roof is made of orange tile and orange/brown tile from a failed attempt at a platter. I used the platter edges to edge the front of the roof. Oh, and the gingko leaf on the back is cut from the same failed platter. Happy it found a home here.

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So the town is now complete. I grouted them today, and as soon as I can find the appropriate garden setting I’ll photograph them to post here, and they’ll be up for grabs by some lucky new owner. Of course they need to live indoors in the winter to prolong their lifespan, but what a fun way to decorate your home!

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Progress on Mosaic Town

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Just a brief update on my little town project.

Today I completed another building I think of as the Office Building-with a striated copper tiled roof of glass and seafoam green handmade ceramic tile for the walls.

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Again-this is ungrouted to date.

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I am starting on the 2 Story House tomorrow, but have already deviated from my original drawn ideas.

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I loved these little yellow spirals I had left from a previous project, so decided to use them here.
The doors/windows will be of glass tile, while the main house siding will be a textured red ceramic tile I made a year or more ago.
I’ll keep you all updated on the progress.

Creating Mosaic Town

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Hey everyone-Happy 4th of July-or as I like to call it, Interdependence Day.
I’m working on another mosaic town and thought I’d share some progress photos with you today.

I start with a hunk of insulation foam board. Yep-the kind they use to insulate homes with. The color denotes the density. Pink and blue are most common here in the states. This is dense enough that you can stand on it and it won’t compress at all.

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I cut the board into shapes using various saws and rasps

And sitting on top of this foam is a roll of self adhesive fiberglass mesh tape. Most often used for creating seams in drywall, this makes a fabulous cement-tolerant wrap.

So- Cut the foam board to the desired shape, wrap with the fiberglass mesh, then coat with a layer or two of a special cement mix created by me using the guidance of a great book-Creating Concrete Garden Ornaments, by Sherri Warner Hunter (the mastermind of this art form). And after a little sanding and waiting for it to dry it looks like this:

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A few of the buildings for my mosaic town after their cement coat

I’ve drawn my suggested windows, doors, etc. to guide me during the mosaic process. I now begin covering all sides and the roof tops with a combination of handmade ceramic tile and commercial mosaic glass tile, adding little bits of different textures and colors to add interest. Here’s how it’s going…

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and after finishing up the next day…

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Once these are thoroughly dry and I’ve done a few more of the other buildings, I’ll grout them. That always brings it all together, smooths out the rough edges, and makes them feel finished. More to come, but now I’m off to the annual July 4th BBQ potluck at my friend’s home. After drinks and dinner, we’re watching the ultimate summer movie- JAWS. So in honor of that, here’s the cake I’m bringing for dessert…

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Hope you’re having a great day off, or just a great day wherever you are.

Making ceramic plaques

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I finally finished Pete and Carol’s tiles last week and they picked them up Tuesday (yeah!).

Now it’s time to make some work for the June “Art for the Garden and Home” show.

Save the dates- June 7-9th up at the top of Wimer St. in Ashland, OR. 
447 Pape St. And 421 Prim St. Both just off Wimer. There will be tons of signs!

Times are from 10-5 Friday and Saturday, and 10-3 on Sunday.

Mary Dee’s garden is also on the Ashland Garden Tour-so plan ahead Sunday so you have time to see both the art and the plants.

I’m beginning this week by making my ceramic plaques.

I roll out my clay the ol’ fashioned way with a big rolling pin, just like making biscuits!
Next, I roll handmade stamps across the slabs to create texture

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After the clay sets up for half a day or so, I cut it into the basic sizes I’ll use for the individual plaques.

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Then I wait several more hours, or overnight to add carved details like wording, or individual designs.

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Once the tiles are completely dry, they get their first firing, or bisque (1830°F).
It takes about 12 hours for the kiln to come up to temperature, and 12 hours to cool.

After that, I either glaze them using handpainting of glazes or underglazes for color-and spray with a clear glaze if needed.
Then a high firing up to cone 5 (2185°F) for another 12 hours.

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After the tiles have cooled for about 12 hours, I can touch them without burning myself.

I add hanging wires and beads to some, others have built in wires on the backs. And little felt dots so your wall won’t scratch!

And that’s why it takes so long to make these little guys and why they aren’t $2 each! Lots of love and attention is taken with each piece, and no two are exactly the same.

I also make these to order-so keep me in mind for addresses, special messages, new homes, etc. But give me at least two weeks to a month to get it done!

Here’s the address tile I made for my house.

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I can do most any color, but I can’t really color match-as that’s a crazy process I prefer not to get too into if possible. But try me 😉

This is just one of the ways I make these tiles.

I’ll save the other subtractive  method for a future post.

Hope you enjoyed your mini tutorial!

The tiles are coming! The tiles are coming!

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Whoot whoot! They came out great-there will be a line of these that wrap around one step of Pete and Carol’s front porch entry.

About 34 linear feet. I will be so excited to see this project completed.

They just put in all of their front garden landscaping last fall and I think it’s going to be a beautiful final touch.

Their home is a gorgeous Italian villa on top of a hillside just outside of Talent, OR.

As I write this we’re having a thunderstorm rage outside (unusual for this area) and I’m counting my blessings that the kiln was fully fired before this hit.

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The power has been flickering off and on and that’s no good when you’re running a high voltage kiln!

I still have one more load to fire, but I think I’ll wait for a better day to start that one.

Penelope’s plaque

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My friend Penelope Dews has graciously been trading me for half the cost of clay classes with her over the past several months.
I am finally learning to throw on the wheel thanks to the wondrous “technology” of –
you guessed it –

Electricity!!

More on throwing in another post. Back to this one.
I am finally holding up to my end of our bargain by creating a vertical mosaic address plaque to hang beside her front door. Here are some in process photos.

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Making a bit of progress… Starting to feel the sun and moonness coming through…
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Decided to extend some of the “rays” to give it a sunnier feel. Now for the background. Black? for contrast? I’m undecided. Then there’s the address portion I haven’t even shown…earth colors I think- or white…need to play with it some more.

Continue reading →

Working on tiles for Pete and Carol

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I’ve spent a good part of the day trying to glaze 3 color handmade tiles for an exterior application (stair risers). So far it’s gone slowly, as each color has to be applied using a sprayer and hand shielded with templates image

so there’s reduced overspray.  Tricky as hell, and time consuming, but the test came out well-so I’m hopeful this works!
This is the first of 34 pairs….!

Several days have passed. Much cursing has ensued. I’ve been struggling with the glazes a bit.
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I primarily have been using a line of Laguna glazes called “Versa 5”. These are cone 5 (high fire) glazes that are mixable with all other colors in the line. Just like paint- which is awesome because you usually can’t do that with high fire glazes. I can make endless combinations of colors. Perfect for what I’m doing, which is trying to color match some commercially made solid body porcelain tile by Winklemans, out of France.
I created a mosaic for Pete and Carol’s porch using the Winklemans, and the ceramic tiles are designed as stair risers to “match”.
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I’ve been spraying the glaze and capturing and recycling the overspray. Unfortunately, this recycled glaze refuses to stay in suspention. This means all the silica in the glaze falls right to the bottom of my sprayer, clogging it immediately.
I’ve resorted to hand brushing parts- they’re now in the kiln, we’ll see what happens…