Minnesota "State Bird"

How can we possibly make this whole mosaic art piece

without featuring the Minnesota "State Bird" in one of the panels?!!!

And it looks like these two little rascals

have been busy collecting their liquid ruby prize. Watch out!

Whoa! Looka that big fly!!!!

Three of us really fussed over how to represent the wings.

Sarah thought mirror might work - and it did!

The fly has iridescent eyes and glass button wings.

 Ann N. puzzled over the Morning Glories and

came up with these beautiful jewels.

It can be a slow process

trying to figure out how to make a delicate flower

using these hard tiles, beads and mirror.

After much trial and error, Ann succeeded in this variety of blossoms.

The egret is coming together beautifully.

Again, there is much gnashing of teeth when it comes to

choosing the colors and cutting the right shape.

I love doing it.

 This berry patch was finished by Sarah.

The background is navy and will have a dark grout

so the berries will show as lovely as they are.

There is a lot of cutting to create the winding vines and the lovely leaves.

 Helen's daffodils are emerging beautifully.

The variety of colors make them come alive.

And look! There's a sweet lady bug helping the flower garden.

Two of them! One big, one little.

 Sarah completed the bunny that will be in the cabbage patch.

The inside of the ears are made from some of the polished stones from Sandra T.

This bunny has a white belly to match the white bunny tail.

 More navy tiles for the background of these poppies.

Betsy left it almost done one day - hoping that the rest of the background would

magically be done when she came back the next morning.

Ha!

Well, she finished it and went on to the next project.

Yay, Betsy! We must persevere!!!!!!!

 Here's Betsy puzzling out the next step. Think, think, think.

 

Artist, Kathleen G. came in and got right to work

using her talents and arranging colors for the pumpkin patch.

 This is only the start.

Just wait - you'll see a gorgeous outcome with great use of color.

It's been a good week in the Mosaic Studio.

Details! Details!

Once a design is drawn, we have to determine

where to make the division to break up the work.

Here you see Betsy making that decision and drawing the red line for cutting.

The design is then cut apart

The next step is to cut the cardboard backing to fit each piece 

and tape the design piece on to it.

Then it is covered with clear plastic

and lastly the mesh on which to glue the tiles.

These final designs are requiring more detail
which means a lot more cutting and much more auditioning of colors.
Our egret has been named Charlotte Elizabeth because of her regal dance.
She is requiring shading in her feathers
and many possibilities have been auditioned.

 
Betsy is working on the poppies so gracefully waving in the breeze.
(oops - I accidentally put in an extra "o" on the word poppies
 - then giggled and corrected it)

Helen is creating a little bunch of daffodils.

Here is where you will find an acorn.

Hint: it's in one of the daffodils.

Sandy H gave me a big bunch of beautiful glass beads today.

They were immediately used in the wing tips of Helen's hummingbird.

Aren't they pretty?

It was a very good day in the studio today.

Bits, Pieces and Donations

Oscar the Grouch is keeping watchful eye(s) on Sarah's progress as she works on a very large butterfly of unknown species.

And here it is all finished!

Some shapes are worked on separately from the main panel

and then we glue it in place.

Here our Bonny Butterfly will be resting amongst the large flowers

created by Greta McLain and tiled by Sarah.

Some forms take a lot of thought for placement of color and size of pieces.
Helen put beautiful red glass on the ruby throated humming bird.

A little more progress happened before she had to leave the Mosaic Studio.

As you can see, she is using some pretty small bits of tile

 to represent the feathers, beak, head and throat.

She will finish it next time.

We just don't have any idea who this person is

 as she works on her wave... do we Cori?!!!!

Hahahahahahahahahahaha.

Oh wait! Is she waving?

Hey - ya gotta love those tennis shoes.

We do have a lot of fun as we work together.

 

Betsy has created a long panel of rabbits, vegetation and local bugs.

I'll keep most of it a secret for now - maybe next week you'll see more.

 

And lucky us.

We got a donation from my friend Deb.

She went to the second hand stores

 and found plates of various colors to be used in the mosaic.

It's difficult to to think of smashing such pretty plates....

..........but, oh heck.... give me a hammer. 

And lucky us again. Betsy is designing a second panel.

She gave me choices; one with a barn, one with geese, and one more.

I chose this one with ants and mosquitoes, birch trees, sun flowers,

morning glory and cone flowers.

It just seems so Minnesotan to include the state "bird".

This one won't bite tho.

The panel below is for the outside of the concrete box at the top of the water trough.

I put in a dancing egret, some sand pipers (I think that's what they are),

the Minnesota state flower - the Cypripedium reginae....

........which is of course the Lady Slipper,

water lilies, evergreens and cat tails.

Probably will add a frog or two, dragon fly, and whatever else.

 We had a good two days in the Mosaic Studio.

Little By Little.......

 

We had great groups on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

We're all working like crazy to get the project to the finish line.

Don't ask about the finish date yet... we don't know.

Above is Helen working on her elegant wave.

And below, Jane and Betsy are concentrating.

Jane is creating her wave using a variety of colors.

AND some turquoise stones she got at a garage sale!!!

The stones were in a garage sale casserole (she didn't know it) 

and when she got home,

she threw them in the garden.

When digging them up this spring, she found that

 they had wriggled their way pretty deep into the ground.

Digging is a good exercise. Yes?

Sorry Jane. But, thanks for thinking of them --- and us!

Jane's panel is turning out really great.

 

Here's a closer look:

 

The Children's Flower Garden has been a joint effort -

The kids made the flowers and the dragon fly.

I did the lettering.

Sarah did the fill behind the flowers and the letters.

This is one of four panels for the Children's Flower Garden.

It is so satisfying to finish a panel and have it turn out so pleasing.

The two side-by-side panels with Bob the Beaver are done.

I get teased for wanting sparkles and bling - but doesn't it look pretty?!!!

(shhhh - and there's a lady bug on one of the cat tails. shhh)

Betsy and Pamela K are beginning the lower right side of Bob the Beaver panel

I suppose the left panel is Lorna Loon.

As you can see, matching stems and waves are tricky and take a fair amount of concentration.

It was a good two days in the Mosaic Studio.

The Children's Flower Garden.

We've begun work on the Children's Flower Garden!Earlier this year, the Sunday School kids came for two sessions in the Mosaic Studio.

They each designed and created a flower for the larger mosaic.

Sarah's dog Gladys loves to sit in the Children's Flower Garden.

The kids will have fun searching for their flower.

One more panel for this garden is being worked on. It's the one with Lewis the Cat.

That will be posted next time.

Ann N. is working on the right half of the back panel in the "box".

She has incorporated a black bird she made earlier.

See him? he's weighing down one of the cat tails

and has his eye wide open for a possible bug treat.

Here are the four panels that will fit together on the back.

There's a fair amount of matching going on here;

the cat tails, the waves and the sky are important to go together.

 

We had a good two days in the Mosaic Studio.

Three quilt buddies came today.

 Three of my quilt buddies came to the studio today. I just knew they'd be wonderful at the art of mosaic; just switch thinking from fiber to tile!

Here are Sarah, Deb and Betsy.





Sarah is a prolific quilter and has bed quilts and wall art for her friends and family. Colors are beautiful and designs pleasing...always lovely.
Deb makes fiber art with an eye for color and design and creates stunning wall art.
Betsy can't stop being creative. Plus her fiber art has been commissioned and displayed across the U.S. Locally, you will see one of Betsy's pieces on the wall of the Jane Brattain Breast Center in St. Louis Park.

Below, we positioned two quarters together so we could match up stems etc.

 and worked on lengthening the cat tails and added some water.

 I auditioned colors to accentuate the lovely loon and baby
plus making the sky a bit different from the color of water....
....thus an evening sky that is slightly pink and the yellow sun reflecting on the water.
                 ...ORRR, it could be early morning.
                          Don't know - don't normally see that part of the day.
By the way, the blue water is made from a ceramic mug that we smashed up.
The occasional curves in the mug pieces give a little shine to the water.

 Deb is a "new-bee" and by golly, she made a gorgeous wave.
Thanks, Deb. You're a natural. You should see her quilts; they're beautiful.

 Sarah finished up another wave that was started last week.
Looks good, Sarah.

It was a really fun day in the Mosaic Studio today.

The Sunday School Kids Came Back!!!

The Sunday School kids LOVE doing mosaic.

Here they are working away today on something they can take home.

This will remind them that they helped to beautify the Rain Garden

with their lovely renditions of flowers for the Children's Flower Garden.

A little design, a little glue, a little tile........

 And here's what they created!

 Look! It's a puzzle - one was added to this photo and one was taken away.
Can you find the difference?

Ya gotta love those smiling faces.

It was a good day in the Mosaic Studio