Laying Down the (first) Fish Mosaic

My porch has become a 'mosaic studio', having all the flat surfaces covered with tiling paraphernalia, and the only way to re-claim that space was to move my tile-covered fish templates outside and begin laying them down. The Home Depot staff advised certain adhesive and grouting materials and after a lesson from my husband in mixing the non-sanded adhesive goop, we began. I say 'we' because even though I thought I could do it all myself, I really did need the assistance of my wonderful, more experienced life-partner. So we worked together - it was like doing a jig-saw puzzle, but somewhat more stressful. It took longer than I thought it would (about 2 hours), but fortunately the adhesive mixture did not dry as quickly as I had thought it would when we began. Enough adhesive had been mixed to cover about a third of the 5 foot square pad, and that is how much we filled in. My husband skimmed on the adhesive goop, then I laid down the border tiles. After that I lightly scratched the shape of the fish into the goop, and then we both began to fill it in, removing the tiles from the cardboard template but improvising too. Once the fish was filled in, I then put down the dark blue glass tiles (wave lines) and then we added the water/background tiles around the fish. It was a physically exhausting process (as awkward the kneeling-body positioning was required), but the results so far, are worth it. What do you think?

Painting with Mosaic Tiles - just for fun

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We are doing some front yard landscaping here in Florida, and re-inventing our front door entrance and walkway. This is what it looked like a few days ago. As you can see there are gardens on either side of the door into the porch. Those hideous pink stepping stones will disappear and the pathway will be re-configured into an S curve. BUT it's the concrete 5' square pad in front of the door, that was calling to me. The simplest thing to do would be tile with a nice porcelain tile it, but that seemed too boring and I wanted to try something else. Why not a floor mosaic picture instead? Of course I have never done, let alone tiling work, before, but, thankfully, my patient and clever husband (the original DIY-selfer extraordinaire) has. I decided on an underwater scene of fish - the blue colours fit with my interior design palette of whites, blues and greens, and my husband loves to fish.  Here is my design.......

We went shopping and found lots of small decorative tile items on sale, bought a selection, brought them home and then I began to play. In starting I divided the tiles into piles, one for each fish, like this......  

 

 Then I began to lay out each pile of tiles in patterns on the cardboard fish templates I had cut to scale. As in painting, you start with one idea and it evolves, and so here too. I began with the top/biggest fish and soon realized that I would not be able to stick to my earlier pile tile decisions, but that was ok. After several hours this is what I had. Now I just have to start!

Pelican Pete

Pelican Pete

10" x 10" acrylic on canvas

SOLD

At some point in the recent past I was on a dock in Florida - where there are always lots of pelicans - and I snapped a number of photos as they stood around waiting for their fish dinner. I really like the simple composition here - featuring a strong diagonal  essentially dividing the canvas between the water and dock, or dark and light value colours. The diagonal is repeated in the shape and direction of the bird's head and long bill, while the bird's body/chest presents a welcome contrast in shape, and relieves the symmetry of the diagonal line.

Tulips and Memories of Spring

Memories of Spring

12" x 16"  acrylic on canvas

SOLD

Tulips have appeared in the grocery stores. Every year I buy them throughout the winter (even when in Florida) as they remind me of spring. They are such great flowers to draw and paint because they change and evolve each day, starting out as tight buds and then opening up into their more wild and extreme state before finally dropping their petals. So - if you need some spring in your life, buy some tulips, or better yet a tulip painting that will remind you of warm sunshine and digging in the garden.

More Reflections on Water

This is the second abstract painting inspired by reflections on water. I started with a detail from a photo (posted yesterday) I took at a park in Berlin two years ago and then played. As you can see (if comparing) different palette and different brushwork - but the same compositional concern for balance, rhythm, variety and dominance is there.
I quite like this one too and find it visually intriguing the more I look at it - like look at water.

Water Reflection Abstract Two

16" x 16" acrylic in canvas

This is for sale - contact me for price if interested.

Abstracting from Nature - Reflections on Water

Water Reflection Abstract One

16" x 16" acrylic on canvas

SOLD

I am all jumping all over the place these days in terms of what I am painting - including dogs, people, flowers, landscapes and now abstract works. I have never really been a very linear-minded person, so working exclusively in one mode on one subject over a period of time is not, despite good intentions, really me. What I have found is that after some time (months, years) I have a body of work that can be divided into subsets or series that show a similar painting focus and aesthetic interest. I make no apologies as I enjoy the creative freedom to switch and play with new motifs and ways of interpretation. 

Over the last few days I have been working on two paintings - both of which were inspired by the patterns, shapes and colours of reflections in water. My starting point for each was a small detail from a photo that provided the initial composition structure, and after that it was all about colour, shape, line, value, rhythm, balance, and the pleasure of moving paint around. I am really happy with this first one. As I look at it on my wall, I find it quite  visually satisfying. Unfortunately the photo does not do it full justice, as it's difficult to see the layers of colours, and the yellow, while intense, is more buttery than it may appear here - but you get the idea.

Here is the photo from which the detail came - can you find it?

Amaryllis
10" x 10" acrylic on canvas
This is for sale - contact me for price if interested.

Every once in awhile, usually at Christmas, I buy myself an amaryllis bulb, and then spend several weeks waiting for it to bloom. I have wanted to paint this flower for a long time, but did not want to deal with the space around the long stalk like stem. Solution - ignore the stem and fit the flowers into a square composition. I really like how the colours and the brushstrokes in the flower and the background are broken, and not blended smoothly. It looks very Cezannesque.