Hello everyone, I hope you had a good weekend! Here in Portland we had a sweet and brief return to beautiful warm weather for a few days before returning to cool and wet fall.
This is part 3 of my Mermaid Mosaic Project. I recommend scanning photos briefly in Part 1 and Part 2 to get a sense of what’s come before. The process will make more sense and this series will be more fun to see.
We left off with the cutting phase of the mosaic. For this, we use what’s called “leather hard” clay which are slabs of clay that have sat overnight pressed between pieces of drywall to give us the perfect firmness and give for hand-cutting (with a scalpel) and smoothing the clay.
This is a cut section of the shell where the mermaid sits:
Once we cut a section of the mosaic, we keep all the pieces together on a kiln shelf through the bisque firing at 1828 degrees fahrenheit and then for glazing and the glaze firing at 2232 degrees when the porcelain vitrifies and the glaze melts. This way, when it comes to reassembling the tiles onto the “set drawing” they are all in the correct configuration and can usually be put together without too much figuring.
As we progressed, the sheer volume of this project filled every space in the studio. I had a few other small projects going on as well so we were brimming and spilling over beyond.
one of my favorite parts of this mosaic is the border which was inspired by seaweed
After sections come out of the glaze firing we arrange them and put a face-adhesive over the tiles to keep them in place for the tile installers. Each section is numbered and the tile setters are given a map to follow.
Here I set the tail which was extremely enjoyable. Getting each tile put in just the right place takes a bit of time but it is enormously satisfying to see the work come together!
And then arranging the fin:
putting them together:
Rob putting together the seagull
And lastly the face and Sandpiper detail. You can see the temporary numbers on the face-adhesive which is like a huge piece of tape. It gives the mosaic a peculiar sheen, but in the Part 4 you'll see it in it's final state installed and the quality of surface is beautiful.
Thanks for visiting and supporting, please come back for more! I post every 3-4 days or so.
Your art is really awesome,upvoted:)
thank you so much!
@ natureofbeing, your post has been upvoted because i love art and craft. Moreover, that is a very nice piece of art you displayed here. What are the materials for the production?
thank you @gimh, all of my work is in clay or ceramic as some people call it. I draw out an idea, cut it into a wet slab of clay, then fire and glaze and fire it. Take a look at some of my previous posts and you'll see more that will help make sense of my process.
@natuteofbeing, nice job and i followed you to see more. I will check your previous post and goodluck with your job
awesome, thanks!
I find your art amazingly beautiful. I had the same wet weather here in NC but it was actually needed because it has been so dry lately. I look forward to your next post!
thanks so much @bluelightbandit, we are mutual fans :-), thanks for supporting my blog here!
I am still at "mind blown" as far as this whole project goes! How you guys were able to keep order and perspective in something that large... and have it turn out so perfectly... just WOW.
:-) thanks I appreciate your compliment! It takes a certain kind of crazy to do this kind of work. The method and logistics are the same for small pieces as for large, but yes you are correct with one this large it was much more! What was really challenging about this project though was not having enough space and the funky porcelain behavior- that warping and strange shrinkage was SO much extra work and so frustrating. Anyway, thanks for your support!!
ps, are you going to steemfest?
Unfortunately, we have too many things going on here-- especially with the flooding thing and rebuilding after that-- to do SteemFest this year... maybe next year. Hopefully!
Oh wow you're doing a mosaic ocean scene! Two things I love and this work is beautiful! Love that tail. Definitely well deserved upvote.
Thank you, I’ll keep my eyes peeled. It’s something I’ve wanted to try doing in my own small way, so I’ll enjoy learning at the same time I admire the work 👍
thanks so much :-)! 1 more to come in a few days and if you like this definitely check out the first two posts even if just to scan the images.
great post! very interesting to follow the process how to make mosaik! thank you for sharing! upvote and follow you!
feel free to visit my art blog!
thanks for your support! You don't have to ask :-), I usually do if I have the time.
Your Maid's tail is simply gorgeous @natureofbeing!
thanks @rebeccaryan! So great to connect with you! xoxoxo
It does not seem a easy task at all. lots of effort there I guess. Time, patience and perfectness all are important here.
Keep up the good work.
You are correct it's not easy but can be enormously satisfying! Thanks for your support and comment @hafiz34 and ps. I love the poet hafiz, is your name related to him?
great work
Wow, @natureofbeing!! This is stunning! <3 I love the scales on the mermaid :D
thanks so much :-)
Wow, this is so top level work! Admirations.