Yes I Am Still Working

Howdy friends. I had a couple of loyal readers ask if I was still making mosaics. The answer is yes. I have been busily cutting pieces of glass into smaller pieces of glass and gluing them onto wood. I typically only post when I make something new. For the last month, I have been making copies of previous pieces. It is not glamorous, but it pays the rent. So, no worries, I'll try to post occasionally just to let you know that everything is OK.  Thanks for stopping by.

Sunset Beach

Today's mosaic is called Sunset Beach. I made it mostly because I would love to be taking a walk on a sunset beach right now with my darling wife. Since we are nowhere near the beach at the moment, I decided to do the next best thing and make a mosaic.

My design started with a simple silhouette of a man and woman holding hands. That is me and Mary in case anyone is wondering.

Next I scattered some mosaic tile around to get a feel for some color combinations. I don't always go with plan A. In this case, I really thought I was going to do purple water but decided to go with a cobalt blue instead.

Next I started cutting and gluing the background in place. I decide to cut the 3/4 inch tiles in rough quarters and run them in rows.

Here is the Sunset Beach after I finished the cutting and gluing. I speckled some sunlight reflections on the water.

And now it is time to do the grouting. Where did my pretty mosaic go?

And here is the final of Sunset Beach.

Sunset Beach Final

Sunset Beach Final from Side

Sunset Fun Facts (Source: Kidzworld.com)

The Colors of the Sun

As the sun sets, the light must travel through more of the atmosphere before the rays get to you. By more atmosphere, that means more molecules which scatter the blue and violet light. (Think of it like a glass of water - at mid-day, the light is refracting through the center of the glass of water. With a sunset, the sun is refracting across the surface of the glass of water). If the path is long enough, the blue and violet lights go further than our eye can see. This leaves the pink, orange and red colors for us to look at. So that's why sunsets are usually pink, orange and red.

Sunsets and Pollution

The most beautiful sunsets happen when the air has small particles of dust or water, like after a volcanic eruption. These particles reflect light in all directions, resulting in more reds and yellows, and less pinks. The more particles in the air, the more the light is scattered. Cities with high pollution have great sunsets cuz more light bounces around. If the air is very dry and clean, like in the Arctic, the sky near the horizon will stay blue and the sun will be bright orange.

Snowy Owl

Today's mosaic is a snowy owl. I just happened across a snowy owl when I was surfing the internet one day and thought he was a cool looking bird. I started sketching and came up with the drawing that you see here.

Snowy Owl Sketch

Next I transferred the drawing to a frame.

Snowy Owl Sketch on Frame

I will happily admit that this was a challenging piece. I can only cut the glass tiles to a certain size. I tried to give the piece a level of detail while still maintaining a minimal tile size.

Snowy Owl Cut and Glue Partial

After completing the owl, I began working with the background. I went with a stony field and a blue sky. Lots of shiny bits.

Snowy Owl Cut and Glue Complete

Here is the final piece. The owl is roughly 1 foot by 1 foot.

Snowy Owl Final

The tiles wrap around the side of the piece.

Snowy Owl Side

Here are some Snowy Owl Fun Facts (Source: National Wildlife Federation)

• Brrr! Snowy owls live farther north than any other kind of owl in North America!
• Fine Feathers! A dense coat of feathers keeps a snowy owl warm during frigid winters. Even the owl’s toes and claws are thickly feathered!
• Early Risers. Most owls sleep during the day and are active at night. But not snowies! They are out and about during the day, especially at dawn and dusk.
• Lemmings for Lunch. A snowy’s favorite food is a small, hamster-like rodent called a lemming. In years when there are lots of lemmings in an area, you’ll find plenty of snowy owls there, too. But when lemming numbers fall, so does the snowy owl population.
• Shhh! A snowy spends much of the day silently perched on a high lookout, keeping an eye--and ear--out for prey. When it spots a meal, it swoops down, making a short, low flight, and nabs it with its sharp talons.
• Coming Near You? If you live in the northern plains, New York, or New England, chances are good you’ll see snowy owls in the winter. The birds are “regulars” here at that time of year.
• Down the Hatch! Snow owls often swallow their prey whole in one big, gulp.
• Don’t Mess with a Snowy! A snowy will attack any predators, including wolves, that threaten its ground nest.
• Whatchamacallits. Snowy owls have lots of names: Ghost Owls, Tundra Ghosts, Arctic Owls, and Great White Owls.
• Keeping Their Cool. During hot weather, snowy owls stay cool by panting and spreading out their wings.

Sunflower 2.0

Sunflower Partial

I made a number of sunflower mosaics earlier in the year. They were very popular. I sold every one that I made and I didn't have any left in stock. I decided to make some more, but as soon as I started, I had and inspiration to juice them up a little bit. I used some different tiles, and I didn't cut every tile into little squares like I did on the previous batch. I like the difference.

Sunflower 2.0 Final 

Sunflower 2.0 Side

Sunflower 2.0 Back

Butterfly

Butterfly Partially Complete

I'm trying to finish up a bunch of mosaic pieces so that I can start the new year with a clean slate. This piece is called butterfly 2.0.  Why is it called 2.0? When I started my wall hanging pieces, everything had a frame. The 2.0 pieces have an internal frame. This makes the pieces much more accessible for folks because no matter what color of stain that I used on the frames, it would not match someone's decor. No frame, no problem matching. problem solved.

Butterfly Final

The photo below shows what is going on behind the scene so to speak. There is approximately one inch of recessed space behind the mosaic. This is where the hanging wire is located. This system makes hanging the mosaics a snap. They lay perfectly flat against the wall.

Butterfly Back

Star Wars Yoda

I completed another commissioned piece based on the Star Wars Universe. This piece is Yoda.

First I did a sketch.

Yoda Sketch

Then I started laying out the glass.

Glass Layout

Next I glued Yoda.

And then I completed the background.

And then I completed Yoda with a gray grout.

Yoda Final Side

Yoda Final

Here is my client with the finished piece.

Colors used on this project

Eyes - White, Metallic light Brown, Black
Light Saber - Kiwi Eco (Maryland Mosaics)
Skin - Green Stained Glass
Shirt - Tiger's Eye, Sand, Oak
Backgound - Mix Mushroom, Basalt (B39), Metalic Blues, Gray

For those of you who are not familiar with Yoda. (Source: Wikipedia)

Grand Jedi Master Yoda is among the oldest and most powerful known Jedi Masters in the Star Wars universe. Series creator George Lucas opted to have many details of the character's life history remain unknown. Yoda's race and home world have not been named in any media, canonical or otherwise, and he is merely said to be of a "species unknown" by the Star Wars Databank. Yoda's speech syntax has been analyzed and discussed by academic syntacticians, who found it somewhat inconsistent, but could extrapolate that it has object–subject–verb word order.

The films and Expanded Universe reveal that during 800 years, he had a hand in training almost every Jedi, including many of the most powerful Jedi such as Count Dooku, who is identified in Attack of the Clones as Yoda's old Padawan Learner; Mace Windu; Obi-Wan Kenobi (partially, before Qui-Gon Jinn takes over as Obi-Wan's master); Ki-Adi-Mundi, Kit Fisto and eventually Luke Skywalker. During the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars, set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, he mentions that he trained another one of the leaders on the Jedi Council, Master Oppo Rancisis. In the Star Wars prequels, it is shown that he instructs several younglings in the Jedi Temple before they are assigned to a master. This was displayed in a scene in Attack of the Clones.

Star Wars Imperial Stormtrooper

A client approached me about doing a commissioned mosaic. The requested piece was to be something in the Star Wars universe. That is a mighty big topic area. I decided to do an Imperial Stormtrooper.

Stormtrooper Sketch

Then I started selecting the color scheme and the cutting and gluing process. I did much more layout on this piece than I normally do. Usually I just cut a piece glass and glue a piece glass. On this mosaic, I laid out at least a third of the tiles before I glued a single piece of glass.

Initial Layout

Here is the final mosaic as seen from the side.

Stormtrooper Mosaic (Side)

Stormtrooper Mosaic (Front)

Here is a photo of my client with the finished mosaic. May the force be with you!

Client with Mosaic

Background on Imperial Stormtroopers (Source: Wikipedia) The Imperial Stormtroopers are fictional soldiers from George Lucas' Star Wars universe. They are the main ground-force of the Galactic Empire, under the leadership of Emperor Palpatine and his commanders, most notably Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin. The order of battle of the Stormtrooper Corps is unspecified in the Star Wars universe, but its numbers are far fewer than those of the Imperial Army's regular troopers. Despite this, the apparently high combat effectiveness of the Stormtroopers as well as their harsh reputation serve as the main reasons for deploying them almost exclusively in most of the military engagements of the Galactic Empire.

They are shown in collective groups of varying organizational sizes ranging from squads to legions, and for some, their armor and training is modified for special operations and environments.

In Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, the first troopers were cloned from bounty hunter Jango Fett, to be the Army of the Republic in the Clone Wars. In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the Clone troopers executed Order 66 under the command of Chancellor Palpatine, slaying their Jedi generals.

Initially, the stormtroopers serve as the army of the Galactic Empire, putting down revolts and establishing Imperial authority. They are the back bone of the Empire.The Stormtrooper Corps swell in size after Palpatine allows the addition of recruits and conscripts alongside the clones, though the replacement of clones by natural beings lowered the effectiveness of the Empire's famed soldiers.

With the Empire firmly stabilized and an Imperial Army/Imperial Navy established, the stormtroopers were integrated into Palpatine's personal army and were stationed on Imperial bases and cruisers, as well as on the Death Star. After Palpatine's initial defeat, the stormtroopers continued to serve under the factions that broke apart from the Empire after Palpatine's death.

The troopers' most distinctive equipment is their white battle armor, inherited from their time as clone troopers. The complete armor set completely encases the body and typically has no individually distinguishing marking (in contrast to the clone trooper armor, which typically had various colorings to denote rank or unit, Stormtrooper armor has no rank affiliation). Liz Moore and Nick Pemberton sculpted designs for the helmet. Their designs were based on conceptual drawings by Ralph McQuarrie. The armor pieces of the costume were also designed from conceptual drawings by Ralph McQuarrie. Brian Muir, who was also responsible for sculpting Darth Vader, sculpted armor pieces for the stormtrooper costume in the Art Department at Elstree Studios. The suit was moulded and initially cast in plaster. Then Muir sharpened the detail at the plaster stage. The plaster casts were then remolded and cast in fibreglass to use as the "tools" for vacuum forming process. Suits were produced in house by Tashy Baines, the resident vacuum former, but then a problem developed with the machine.

As Shepperton Design Studios had already been used to vacuum form the helmets, the fiberglass molds for the armor were then sent to them for vacuum forming the suits.

By the end of production, two different helmets were produced; one for the common stunt trooper and a second design for close-ups. Fifty stunt helmets were produced in white-painted HDPE and six hero helmets were produced in white ABS plastic. Besides the material used, the two designs can be differentiated by differences in the eyes, the ears, and the mouth area.

The armor has also been the subject of light humor for years regarding its functionality. This is due to it making its wearer easy to be seen, restricting his movement and range of vision, and seeming to offer no real protection from blaster fire. One possible explanation for its continued use is that its purpose is to protect against projectile weapons (i.e. automatic guns) which have a much greater speed and rate of fire than blasters; because such weapons would be ineffective against the armor, they are never used.