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Emily

This weekend I was in Boston with friends from college. Emily now lives in Chicago but she also flew to Boston for the weekend so we could all hang out together. Emily was one of the first people I met in Boston during a community service program that went on the week before college officially started. I am so glad we were there on the same weekend and we had a great time reminiscing and reliving our Boston days.

These colors immediately reminded me of Emily. I had a few drawings of owls around my studio from when I was working on something for my sister and so it suddenly came together.

 Once I finished laying the tiles I had to choose a grout color.

 I went with Dolorian Grey.

 And it's done! I love the owl in those colors. I don't think I have ever seen a blue and orange owl but it sure does carry it well.

Leah

I met Leah my freshman year in the dorms at Boston University and we have been friends since. She always cracks me up and it was so good to see her! We had a great weekend of eating, drinking, dancing and watching Avatar on Sunday night.

I chose natural and fall colors for Leah. Once I had the colors picked out I decided to do leaves and a random mosaic background.

This time I went with Quarry Red for the grout color. Grey would not have worked in this case and this earthy red color worked well with the design.

I loved the way it came out. It sparkled.

We kept seeing mosaics along our walks. this one was hidden in the Prudential!

Barty

I flew to Boston this weekend and had in mind to give my friends each their own mosaic. I didn't think I would get them done but luckily the girls did not mind the sandy grout (which will go away once it fully dries) and the newspaper wrapping (which I happen to like).

 

I started this piece the way I have been doing most of my projects, with colors. Danielle wears a lot of cool greys and purples so I immediately thought of her when I picked out this palate

Danielle's was an abstract pieces. There are mirrored, iridescent and marbled glass. While working on this I thought of buildings, windows and landscapes. This is the un-grouted stage.

 

I went with Dolorian Grey grout color because I did not want anything to take-away from the design. Sometimes it is best to choose a neutral color to bring together a piece.

And it's completed! The girls opened up their mosaics the morning after I flew in, when we were all fully functional and comfortable. Danielle wore a purple shirt :)

Danielle picked me up at 7:30am after I flew in on the red-eye. We parked and immediately stopped for coffee to catch up. It only rained a little on the day I arrived and the day I left. It was such a great trip!

Letterpress Class

This weekend I took a Letterpress Class with Jordan Ferney at her lovely studio in the Mission. There were 8 business cards printed from designs we planned out the weeks before (one per person). The class also included a history of letterpress and explanations of the tools, systems and processes used. It was a great class, I learned a lot and went home with some awesome business cards.

This is a copy of one of the sheets right off the press.

These are lead types. You arrange your type (upside down from left to right). Each new size, spacing and font requires a new lead type. You can imagine how time consuming this must have been (think about the size of newsprint!). And ever wonder where the phrase "mind your p's and q's" came from?

Here is the press in action. The big roller on top has a thin layer of ink that distributes to the smaller rollers which will cover the raised surfaces (our designs) and then press on the paper.

This is called "furniture" which are blocks of wood at all different thicknesses for packing in your lead type (you don't want anything to move when the press runs over them). We did not use these.

Instead of using lead type, Jordan had our designs printed on photopolymer plates which is the most common way to transfer a design from a computer design to be ready for letterpress. The effect is the same and the raised surface will create the desired impression on to the paper.

Assisted Work: Hayes Valley Sculpture

This week I got to work with Rachel Rodi who is assisting Laurel True of True Mosaics on a sculpture that will live in Hayes Valley, San Francisco. The concept and design was done by Laurel and the empty spaces will be filled with a beautiful green glass design and then grouted. I am so glad I got to be part of this project and cannot wait to go visit it in Hayes Valley when it's completed.


I took some of the work home with me to do in my apartment. I can definitely say I feel comfortable cutting out ovals.


I had to wear a dust mask because of all the debris. My hand and arm got pretty tired but I was able to finish in a couple of hours, just in time to watch the Giants win on Wednesday.

Look Samantha! I have the same garbage can as you. Except mine is blue.

Lovely Work

As part of IMA's network I was introduced to Kim Larson's Art blog. I love her southwestern skull and it makes me think of my sister.