June 28, 2012

Mirror Mirror on the wall



I actually like it mirror-less much better.



Flea Market finds are unimaginable treasures. 
When I walked by this frame at Haifa's flea market it had my name on it. 
I couldn`t resist getting it. 
After some bargaining (granted...) I paid around $4.00 and took it home with a smile. 
It was grungy, maybe even more like real sticky-filthy, so I gave it an initial scrape outside with a metal brush and then a good soapy scrap in my kitchen sink. 

Say hello to Phoebe, she likes hanging out on this one.


After a thorough cleaning I gave it a coat of white primer 
which gave it a complete new "face". 
It developed a character and began taking a life of its own. 
I decided to leave the ornaments originally glued on the frame, weaving mosaics around them.


Once primed and ready for work, it was time to take out beads, 
glass, tiles, jewels, buttons and pretty much all art supply and play. 
I did not have an initial idea as far as how I would like this piece to look like.
 I just played with material, shapes and colors and then began putting things together. A constant dance of colors and shapes arranged and re-arranged.



Piece by piece, bead by bead, from red to purple and back. 
The work takes on its own life. 



It makes the work a lot "easier" when you have a loyal helper and a thief of beads. 
Phoebe is a beginner mosaicist.


Every time I add a "section",meaning a line of beads, a row of cubed glass, etc, 
I`d put the work on my table and take a good look from a few feet away. 
That helped me decide what should come on next.





Choices, choices... a constant play of colors and material.



Progress!

When I work on a 3D piece I keep circling it while planning the next piece, 
the next row, the next color to add. 
Viewing it 360 degrees helps me contain the piece as whole, 
as well as individual, various sections of it, combining it all together as one. 


This particular piece took me a few good months to complete. 
A residential move and a couple of other waiting-to-be-finished pieces in between kept me looking at a half finished frame for weeks without actually working on it.



Then one day it was done, yet not finished. 

I decided against mosaic on the drawer.  
It felt like it`d be too much. 


It was time to grout, seal and continue. 




Looking at it from afar for days after it was grouted I decided 
the drawer - as the work's foundation, called for a different texture and funky, bright, standing-out colors. 
I used acrylic paints. 
The inside was painted deep red/crimson. 
The outside was painted with orange/purple checkers 
and a deep purple contour in between. 
The original ornament on the drawer turned copper.



Done. 












I love it on a purple background. 
Probably would look good with a Goddess hanging in the middle. 









June 21, 2012

Mosaics, piece by piece: It all starts with a bead

Mosaics, piece by piece: It all starts with a bead: My studio is always crowded with staff I find all over (often used/thrown-out furniture and such). This chair wasn`t too comfortable to se...

June 20, 2012

Green Thumbing

I love creative and funky gardening. I spend hours on the net admiring various green thumbing, wishing I had a bigger space to garden. 

When I lived in AZ I had the biggest yard/garden space and kept playing with it as seasons changed. Mosaic pots, painted pots, broken ceramics altered, bird feeders and baths, endless change and play outdoors... endless fun.



The day I moved in it was simply a huge playground.


Then I played,


and played and played. Broken ceramic turned into yard art, flowers and vegetable slowly moving in to become a part of my sacred space. Vintage vase turned upside down becoming a pot holder. Cracked ceramic urn gets a coat of broken tiles, planter bottom mosaic into a bird bath, solar lights and the gnomes... can`t have a garden without them.


Styrofoam box mosaic, green Perrier water bottles legs. 


Blown-up-bottom vase in veggie patch under copper cat's watch.


Beautiful eggplant in pained pot.


Plants of tomato and sun flower add color to AZ's natural desert tones.


Cucumber patch expansion


Zucchini from my garden v/s grocery store bought (& waxed?)


Decorating the entrance.


When winter came it was time to play in my indoors studio


June 15, 2012

It all starts with a bead



 My studio is always crowded with staff I find all over (often used/thrown-out furniture and such).

This chair wasn`t too comfortable to seat on. I took it apart to use the wooden seat as base for mosaic and planned on using the metal part as a pot holder in the garden.


I first brush on a coat of white, water-based primer on the wood. When you work with transparent glass you want to maximize its original reflection. I find white background is best.

It then starts with a bead.

Placing the bead takes a back&forth play till it "sits right".
Once the first piece is glued, work around it begins and takes on its own life.


I usually find what I initially had in mind, will turn out very different as work progresses, colors added and the various materials form new ideas and (grout) paths between the pieces.




 




Almost done... 


Once the process of choosing, cutting, placing and gluing is done, I set the work aside for a while before grouting. Although the Weldbond glue dries fairly quickly, 
 I give it a few extra days to fully dry and harden.

End of a journey.

Finished, grouted and sealed. 














June 12, 2012

Finally.

Almost three years ago and after ten years of living in the United States, I returned to Israel, where I was born and raised and settled in one of the most beautiful places, on top of Mount Carmel. 
Although art has always been my air, wind, fire and water, while living in NY I specifically fell in love with clay and creating ceramic art. 


After spending four years in a college ceramics studio (funny enough, not majoring in ceramics...) I moved to AZ to pursue a more extensive art career. 
Throughout my life I`ve always mentally created mosaics. 
Each media I experimented with, be it the various paints, paper, clay, fabric, etc. took a multi dimensional aspect, partly as raw, physical-matter and partly as a piece-of-mosaic-skill, to throw in the my art cauldron for continued, eclectic creation. 

It is who I am... ethnically eclectic. 
This blog is for sharing what I`ve learned, the journey of creating art through my eyes. A life long path.

If you`re into it, jump in! Feel free to ask and/or comment. If you`re not into mosaics and/or art, feel free to click away to the next homepage of your interest, and Merry Meet, Merry Part, till we Merry Meet Again. 

Some of my favorite work to-date.
 
Cooper Cat




Henry

Ocean Goddess
 To be continued...