Long Time No Blog

Whew!! Last few months have been a whirlwind.
Wrapped up a great juried art show season with Penrod at Indianapolis Museum of Art,
Carmel Arts Festival and Hyde Park Square in Cincy.
My "Kitchen Kitsch" series mosaic-ed vintage toasters were sure crowd stoppers and always generated smiles! Just my intent.
As always, mosaic-ed wine buckets were top sellers and I took lots of special orders.

Finally I have them all finished and delivered. That's a relief.

I'm so pleased to now be represented by two Indy area art galleries:
Gallery on the Square in Danville, Indiana, voted Indy area's #1 art gallery by WTHR Channel 6 ! You'll find some beautiful wine buckets and mosaic-ed garden turtles there.
http://www.galleryonthesquare.net/

also ArtSplash Gallery in Carmel's Arts and Design District. ArtSplash is all new and a very cool place ! The "Kitchen Kitsch" series is available there, plus mosaic-ed Patron bottle decanters !
http://www.carmelartsplash.com/

Coffee Kitsch

So, here's more in my "Kitchen Kitsch" series....
"Coffee Kitsch"
A mosaic-ed vintage Sunbeam Electric coffee perculator.
When I start a project, I have a "vision".
But I'm always thrilled when it's all finished and
my "vision" turns out to be so cool.
It's kind of quirky art deco...?
just what I had in mind
+ lots of shiny bling!
Still needs to be sealed and "Dremel-ed".

It should be ready to bring to Penrod Arts Fair this Saturday, September 11. I'll be in the Red Section.
See you there !
http://www.penrod.org/

Love the Kitsch !

Check out this great new find at a thrift shop!
A 70's era electric cofee perculator.
Sure haven't seen anyone use one of these in along time.
Why not recycle it into more "Kitchen Kitsch"?
I'm thinking of doing it up in red, white and black. Gotta have some splashes of mirror...
You know me, I love the bling.
I did a vintage toaster in black and red..
should be a nice companion piece.

You can see it on my website,
http://www.mosaicsgarden.com/ See "Gallery" and "More".
I'm starting on it tonight, so I'll keep you posted on its progress.
Hope to have it finished for Penrod Arts Fair this Saturday, September 11.
http://www.penrod.org/

Kitchen Kitsch

Well, I finally finished the vintage mosaic toaster! A 60's era classic Toastmaster.

It's just beeauuteeful!

I'm entitling it "Kitchen Kitsch".

Maybe I should have chosen a different title

since the dictionary defines"kistch"as

pretentious bad taste.

Some may call it bad taste to choose a toaster as art,

but I think of it as campy art with bling !

I have a mosaic "toaster as art". ...

How about "toaster as musical instrument "??

Check out comedian Heywood Banks playing the toaster and perfoming "Yeah Toast!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BILAFuSi-i0

And my friends, the innovative artists at Gallery on the Square in Danville, Indiana were "the toast of the town" when they recreated "American Gothic" on the town square street with over 4000 pieces of toast !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQicvyI34_Q

"Kitchen Kistch " will be available at the upcoming Penrod Arts Fair at the Indianapolis Museum of Art on September 11.

"Toaster "as Art

I love to recycle old, broken vintage toasters into mosaic art. The retro profiles of the 50's and 60's are so cool. And I think this toaster might turn out to be one of my favorites.

I can't resist the puns !
I'm about "toast"!... measuring, cutting, nipping, grinding.
A toast to mosaic art!..... Sorry.

I chose working with shades of turquoise, because it's so mid century modern "kitcheny". I can still remember my mother's kitchen with light turquoise kitchen counter tops. That was THE color ! She even had a turquoise Thunderbird convertible.

I started with a find from an antique shop. I had to really clean it out. Yuchh ! crumbs and goop from 50 years ago. Then, spray paint the rusted guts silver and tape it off and paint the old faded Bakelite a new shiny black. Cut off the old nasty fabric cord... and I'm in business and ready to mosaic.

I'm starting with stainless steel beads. It makes a nice, clean and safe edge. I like to use lots of mirror- silver and colored + Van Gogh glass is so rich. I really don't have an exact plan...so I'm just setting row by row. I found some irridized Italian Smalti from an old job and some seed beads tucked away in a jar. Perfect addition.
So.. I'll keep setting.....

Check out the mosaic toast in the background. My mosaic toasters gotta have toast....so I cut out a toast shape on backer board and mosaic it with brown and tan art glass. It's waiting to be "dremel-ed " and grouted and sealed.

Happy " Blues " Guitar

Well.. it's finished. And my "Blues Guitar " makes me so happy ! That's why I love this medium....it's happy art.

Just gorgeous.... but blue is my favorite color.

All the pieces fit together.... just as planned...whew!

"Blues Guitar" will be on display at the

ArtSplash Gallery on 111 West Main Street

in Carmel, Indiana for the upcoming

Rock the District event at

Carmel's Arts and Design District

on Saturday, July 24 from 12 noon to 9pm.

This is FREE music festival with 3 stages,

over 13 pop rock/ R& B/ blues bands performing

+ great food and ART in the galleries!http://www.carmelartsanddesign.com/rockthedistrict/

After the event, "Blues Guitar "will be available

for sale at the ArtSplash Gallery ( or contact me ).

It would be just THE work of art for a Nashville Cat !

Makes me think of the old Lovin' Spoonful song.

Find my mosaics at Gallery on the Square

Wow !
I am so pleased to join a very talented group of artists (and really nice folks !)
at Gallery on the Square in Danville, Indiana. The Gallery is located right on the charming town square next to the Royal Theatre.
http://galleryonthesquare.net/
Some of my works that are there... mosaic-ed garden turtles and mosaic-ed wine buckets and tubs.
And a few of my favorites ... whimsical mosaic mirrors with sayings like:
SMILE, BE HAPPY and JUMP FOR JOY!


Try to make it to the Gallery on First Fridays of the month.... very fun events!!
"Lunch on the Square" with restaurants and cafes offering specials plus musical entertainment on the Square
"Cruise-in on the Square" from 5- 9 with cool hot rods and awsome classic cars on the Square.
And everyone is invited to a Gallery Reception on Friday evening, July 9 for featured artists Craig Voight and Shirley Adams.
Craig is an innovative and talented scuplture / metal artist. Be sure to check out his woven metal sculptures! http://craigvoightconcepts.com/
Shirley is a renowned fiber artist. She is known for her artistic weavings... and PBS televsion show ! http://shirleyadamsfiberdance.com/
Gallery on the Square is also part of the Rural Routes to Main Street Cultural Trail. Great day trip to drive and explore. http://ruralroutestomainstreet.com

"Blues" Guitar

How about a mosaic-ed guitar all in blues?
I decided to call it
Blues Guitar .
I know..... it's a real cliche' name, but I couldn't resist!

Carmel Arts and Design District has invited me and a select few artists to design a guitar for the upcoming "Rock the District" event in the Arts and Design District on July 24.
So I took a look around my studio and I seemed to have a plethora of tessarae and glass in assorted blues. I was off and running with the blues guitar idea.

I am in the midst of designing and setting this beauty. Should be really cool.
I started with setting the fret, worked down and then set the perimeter with little triangle shape cuts and ball chain liner. That was all pretty easy.
Now I'm working with the inset field. I like the design idea, but doing it is turning out to be more difficult than I imagined. I made a paper template and drew my design for the glass cut patterns. I want a tight fit, so I am ending up grinding and regrinding each and every piece to fit exactly in the puzzle I created! ....Geesh ! Plus, never want any sharp edges.
I think I'll also do edges to finish it off...maybe with assorted 3/8 inch vits cut lengthwise and some mirror.
Plan to grout in a dove grey.....I'll post a photo of it soon when it's all finished!

The Art of Wine

It's Finally Finished !
The huge wine bottle has turned out to be even more spectacular than I envisioned. I just love those intense colors with shiny finishes. The mirror and jewel toned Italian smalti glass really pop with the field of irridescent black glass confetti set.
There was lots of measuring and calculating...
(I HATE MATH !) and I made lots of precise cuts, but it was sure worth it in the end.

Be sure to come by and see it at the upcoming Art of Wine
in Carmel's Art and Design District on Saturday, June 19
from 5 to 10 pm.
This should be a really fun event..with Main Street closed to traffic, wineries setting up in the street and great live jazz and R& B music.

I will be showing my wine related contemporary mosaics....
wine buckets, party tubs.. and micro-mosaics on wine bottles and Patron bottles.
These make beautiful decanters! Come see me in suite 130 on Main Street,
near Joe's Butcher Shop.

I'm really looking forward to some great food and wine. Joe will be grilling street side...
with incredible BBQ ribs and steaks !
Check out the District's website for all the info : www.carmelartsanddesign.com

Fox 59 TV Interview

I'll be on the Fox 59 Morning Show this coming Thursday, June 10
on the 7:50 am segment.
It 'll be live from Gallery on the Square in Danville, Indiana.
Sherman is their "on air remote personality guy".
I'm supposed to show how I work and involve Sherman.
Not sure how I can do that, so I think I'll just bring a bunch of hand tools
and let him try to cut strips of glass and nip shapes.
....7:50am... early enough ! Should be exciting.....I'm getting nervous already !

That's a lot of wine !

Now.. that's a lot of wine !
I was invited to be a participating artist in " The Art of Wine " in Carmel Arts and Design District, coming up Saturday, June 19. So, artists are transforming giant wine bottles (super magnums-29 " tall ! ). I am in the middle of mosaic-ing this huge bottle with lots of mirror, jewel toned irridescent glass and bright Italian Sicis smalti.
What a project !.... lots of detailed cuts and measuring. But I am so excited to see it finished. I'm not sure what my theme is....kind of a circus/ fireworks thing.
I plan on grouting it in black.
It should be a "show stopper "!
I'll be sure to post pics when it's finished.

Mosaics Garden at Broadripple Spring Gallery Tour

Be sure to hit the Annual Broadripple Spring Gallery Tour on Friday, May 7..... 5pm to 9pm.
"An evening that celebrates the arts in Indianapolis' most creative community".
Over 17 galleries will take part + enjoy the one of a kind neighborhood restaurants, pubs and bars.

Urban Optiks, a Fusion of Art and Eyes ( find really cool and edgy eye wear there! ) will be featuring some of my works! I am really thrilled to be invited for the tour. The gallery is owned by Dr. Rob Diegel... a very creative, artsy guy, disguised as an optometrist.

Here's pamphlet and map of the tour: http://www.discoverbroadripplevillage.com/ImageUploads

Arts Go!

Well..... I just got back from the Gallery on the Square in Danville, Indiana. It was my first trip there and WOW! what a wonderful little gallery. There is a great mix of art and styles in a quaint small town square setting. Danville surprised me! it's a really cute little town with beautiful homes and landscapes.
I'm excited to be invited as their guest artist for May and also will be taking part in the 5th Annual ARTS GO! on April 24th and 25th. ARTS GO! is a Hendricks County art gallery/studio tour with over 20 sites and 65 artists represented. see:
www.hendrickscountyarts.org

My First Post!

So.. here I go with my first blog post, jumping right in to the new decade! I'm going to try to show what I'm up to in the studio.... new stuff all the time. I am so fortunate to be able to do what I love to do. I've been creating mosaics for over ten years ( albeit the beginning stuff was pretty bad ! ).. and still am excited about every new project. There are no boundaries in contemporary mixed media mosaics, no rules ! That's the joy of it. Sure, there are technical rules to make a sound, well constructed mosaic design.... but no rules in the creative process. Mixed media tessarae choices are endless. The mixture of colors and textures and design is pure eye candy.

My newest series of mosaics started last winter when a friend who owns a bar gave me a box of empty Patron Tequila bottles. I decided to make a thank you present for him by making a mosaic-ed Patron bottle in sea blue and gold with a crystal whale ( he's big whale fan ). That was my first bottle... and I was then off and running with bottle ideas! I like making them so they are art pieces and yet still can be actually used as decanters.