Hello dear friends!
Holy smokes, it finally happened, after 6 months of work, my mosaic mural designated for a pool house in Portland, Oregon USA is complete!!
In my last post about this project, I was still cutting in wet clay:
hibiscus flowers cut and carved in wet clay, about 11" in diameter
And some areas were already fired, glazed and in the process of assembly:
During the last week or 2 of making a large scale piece like this (8' x 6'), things can get pretty messy in both the mosaic and the studio itself. Lots of revisions always happen at this point so there's a rush to remake pieces here and there and try out a million options to figure out the best solutions to the aspects of the mosaic that don't feel quite right.
Once I finished the entire mosaic in my studio, I applied a face adhesive to hold it together during transport and installation. Then Rob and I cut up the mosaic into sections and drove it across town to the site where we lay it out on the floor of the pool house to prepare it for the installers.
Above you can see the little white labels on each section. Those are numbers that correspond to a paper drawing of the mosaic with those same numbers ; this "map" is instrumental for the installers.
And here I am on June 26, 18 proud , exhausted and very relieved to be finished!!
A word of thanks to all of you who have followed and supported me over the past 2+ years here on Steemit and especially now given the recent fits and starts in my participation as I try to re-install Steemit into my daily life after an absence of several months. It’s been surprisingly hard to jump back in! I’m having to redefine why I want to be here and rediscover the platform’s value in my life again. Please keep your eye on me as I make my re-entry, it will make all the difference for me!
A special thanks to so many of you whose steadfast support, inspiring work and words of encouragement have been hugely instrumental in my return. To name a few, @ericvancewalton, @voronoi, @hansikhouse, @donnadavisart, @world-travel-pro, @dandalion, @steemitph, @cryptogee, @opheliafu, @yahialababidi, @anna-mi.
aka Ruth Frances Greenberg, I am a ceramic artist specializing in mosaics, tile and all things clay from my home studio in rural Connecticut. I’m here on Steemit to offer my support and friendship to creatives, individuals and projects that I value and want to see more of in the world. The decentralized economy and blockchain technology are promising and I am very pleased to be a part of this exciting new revolution.
Your support means the world to me and enables me to pursue my life and creativity with more freedom and opportunity, thank you! You can learn more about me and my work at www.ruthfrancesgreenberg.com
Welcome back, Ruth! I'm so glad to be reading another post by you. How I missed you and your wonderful art!!! Know that my admiration for you and your work has not wavered, and you can count on whatever support I can possibly give.
And oooooohlala! Mahalo looks absolutely stunning! I can imagine the delight of the lucky customers who now have that in their pool house. I don't think it's possible to grow tired looking at that magnificent view.
It's great to be back @dandalion, thank you! thank you for all you do here and for your amazing support and great work you do here, it's always meant a lot to me.
I'm blown away by the detail in this mosaic and seeing the process broken down makes me appreciate it even more. One of the perks of a creative profession is to leave a legacy of beauty for countless generations to come. Great work, Ruth!
Thanks so much @ericvancewalton, I often consider these "countless generations to come" when making decisions in the studio and always hope that my work is timeless enough technically, conceptually and aesthetic!
What a Beauty, Ruth, and how fascinating the peek behind the scenes! You must be very proud, and I am proud to know you. Good to have you back :) Many thanks, for the honorable mention, friend
_/|\_Thanks so much @yahialababidi! And honestly, thank you for the great work you're doing here...the times I've popped onto steemit in the past few months I always took a look at some of your posts.
Also, I just realized I spelled your name wrong when I tagged you in my post, I just fixed it and I'm so sorry!!
Nothing to apologize about, my friend, what’s in a name ?🤓
Your presence, here, buoys me up, as an artist, and the caliber of your work & commitment to it is an inspiration ✨
Thank you, for your ongoing support. I hope my posts continue to keep you good company & wish you continued success 🙏🏼
you are very gracious, this is just about the kindest comment ever, thank you!!
You deserve good things, dear Ruth 🙏🏼 Sis in law visiting & one of first things she noticed were your plates & asked me for your website. She’s setting up a new home (& has exquisite taste) I hope she acquires your art ❤️
wonderful, I love hearing this!
So awesome! Glad you got through all the trials and tribulations :-) It looks stunning and you look so chuffed, I'm so happy for you!
Great to see you back as well 😁
Cg
Thanks @cryptogee! xoxo
Aw, thanks for the mention. This turned out so gorgeous! It truly is a piece of art.
I'm so glad to have you back on here :) I'm hoping I can make a visit work before I head off to the UK , I'm looking at things today to see.
The hardfork that happened made me worried that others were not going to come back, as sometimes a break will be hard to get over and people lose interest quickly, but thankfully it seems to be coming back.
I've noticed that #inktober has been helping with we artists as it seems to be helping to drive us all to get back to 'steemit as normal'.
Again, so glad you're back and can't wait to discuss what steem could mean to us in the future.
thank you @donnadavis, I've enjoyed seeing the #inktober posts and noticed them immediately since there are so many of them. I've even had moments of thinking I'd give it a try. I've always been a fan of ink drawings but have never ventured into the medium much myself.
I have to look into the HF20 changes because I haven't really noticed much except the option to hide resteems which I appreciate.
Fingers crossed that your travel prep goes easily enough that you have time for a rendezvous with me ;-))
And even if I can't manage it here at Toad Hall before I go definitely when I'm in the UK. I can meet at London or if you are in the southeast in Kent. We'll make it happen. :) And I see some skyping brainstorming happening once I get settled when we find the house in the countryside, currently working on that...
however we can make it work is great :-))
are you planning on going to steemfest?
No, I wish that I could, but I'll be in the UK so that's good, but we'll literally be in process of house hunting that week and my friends furniture is getting shipped in a container from USA and have to orchestrate that, so there is just no time or way for me to do it :(
If they do it in Autumn next year in the UK or even on the continent, it will be probably more likely for me to go. If they do a NYC version is Spring, that'd be good for both of us!
We can definitely meet up in UK, I'm still trying to see if I can free a day to hang at Toad Hall if you are in MA. I'll have to text call you soon. I was going to today and then spent the morning going over houses and talking options with my friends about UK plans so after drawing, finishing up projects due and steemit, it's the end of the day and I'm pooped!
I have a #sndbox collab to work on as well and that's due the 15th and I'm still trying to consider my packing etc etc. Well you know, you just moved cross country. It takes a lot of time:)
But, no worries we are in the stars together, you'll see, it'll come, the time :)
Are you going to steemfest?
wishing you well in all of your arrangements and still a ray of hope for an in person meet up.
I hope to make it to steemfest but have to secure some work first . I have many irons in the fire and if everything goes as I hope, I'll be a last minute joiner.
Oh my. That is absolutely stunning @natureofbeing. It's so wonderful to see it finished and in situ. I hope your customers really love it too.
You are not alone. Many of us are feeling the same. Things have quietened down considerably in the time you've been away so a bit a a readjustment has to made for many of us.
Thanks for posting the finished piece. It really is very beautiful. 😊
thanks for your comment and support @gillianpearce! curious to hear about your readjustment and how you're progressing here, I'll take a look at your blog :-)
OMG! @natureofbeing it looks AMAZING! It's finally ready! I've been sincerely wondering this last few months how the mosaic was going, and what a coincidence.. is the first thing I found now that I returned.
Absolutely brilliant, your work left me speechless since I discovered your blog.
I haven't been around here the last few months either ..due to an insane load of work and other stuff, but now that I found some free time I decided to come back and try to keep up with steemit...
Once again, astonished by your technique.
Wishing you the best ✨
Andrea.
wow, so great to hear that you followed this progress and actually wondered about it :-))) and so glad you're pleased with the results! Pleased you made your way back to the platform as well, let's do great things here!
It turned out great! The colors fit that room perfectly. Hope you are doing well. :)
Hi Ben! Thanks, glad you like it :-). Things are going well now that we're getting settled but it was a bit of a roller coaster there for awhile. Glad I saw you even if just for a second in August when I was back in pdx for a quick visit! How're you?
I've enjoyed seeing this develop, and it looks absolutely wonderful in situ.
Thanks so much @opheliafu! Your work really looks great and you're still so consistent. As I mentioned - thanks for your presence here :-), it really inspires me and helped draw me back!
I think this is an important platform for creative minds- and I enjoy seeing the diversity of work that is created and shared on Steemit. And I always enjoying seeing the high quality of work you produce.
I agree, this IS a very important platform for artists and I look forward to using it more effectively to support what I'm doing as well as more potently supporting others!
And as far as quality, back atchya :-)))
Incredible ! An amazing feat of gorgeous design and detailed work and what a beautiful art piece it is ! I can't get over how gorgeous it looks like on the wall * ___ *
All the leaves, the animals, the arrangement of the waves, and the skies, and the colours you chose for each element !!!
This is absolutely exquisite, @natureofbeing <3 You are an amazing artist ! And I hope we will get to see more from you, for sure :) Steemit has gone through a few changes, but I believe it's establishing itself as a wonderful social media platform with an engaged and talent-oriented userbase :)
I am very glad to have come across your blog today, for sure !
You can count me as one of your new followers <3
thank you so much for your support and encouragement, I have a lot of hope for steemit and always have. I'm not very familiar with the changes going on and need to do some reading but am glad to be back.
UPDATE: Hi @natureofbeing this post has been featured in Exponential! C² Featured Posts, a daily publication of the @c-cubed blog. Check it out :)
https://steemit.com/curation/@c-cubed/20181005t225901150z
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.
thank you!
What a gorgeous post, Ruth! I am so happy to see that you came back to us with this finished landscape mosaic, because I have been watching it for many months now and following your progression in creating this beautiful and complex ceramic artworks.
I hope that you will stay with us more regularly, I was about to give you another nudge but I felt bad since I already did it once before. But I do think about you and miss your lovely posts whenever you are not around.
You're the sweetest, thank you and please always nudge me xoox
Yay! It's so wonderful to see you and your gorgeous art! I missed you. I know life has been busy. Thank you for coming back and sharing this on the blockchain. It makes me happy seeing you in front of your finished masterpiece. 💖
What a process for this mahalo landscape. Love the way you show the creation from start to finish. It's got to feel good to complete a project like this. :)
Hello @katrina-ariel, great to connect with you again, thank you for your comment and kind words :-)). I've missed you too and will pop over to your blog and catch up a bit on your life.
This piece seemed so long and drawn out and that's the way my story about it felt here on steemit too lol! Oh well, it's honest because it really was a tough piece for me emotionally and psychically and I've learned a lot from it about how to I need to shift my work life. Thanks for your support and friendship, both mean a lot to me!!
So great to see you on here once again. Hope the move went smoothly. The mosaic really turned out great. And I can't imagine putting it up. They really know what they're up to in that realm of things. Hope all is well out yonder. Cheers
hello @ddschteinn, great to see your comment, thank you! Move has been a roller coaster and ultimately very good :-). Hope you are well and so glad you're still here going strong.
You did an excellent job on this piece, and have developed your very own style of mosaic. Lovely.
Thank you @kathleenscarboro, glad you like it!
this is wonderfull!!!
thank you @misssadeyes!
You finished it! :D
:-) yup, back in June before I moved and it was such a push in the last month, whew! Anyway, the client was over the moon about it so that made all the difference. Thanks for your support!
Wow what a beautiful art!
Exceptionally beautiful work as always Ruth.
I was interested to read that you have recently returned to steemit, me too.
Welcome back :D