In the Studio

I’ve been busy working on the elephant and nothing much else in the studio this week. I was positive I would be swayed by another project or two, but so far, I am being true towards the vision of seeing this 3-D project finished. This pleases me greatly!

It looks like the muse has been uninterested in much other than the 3-D elephant at the moment and I was thinking perhaps I should try to work on a few things for the shop and the elephant too. I was feeling slightly guilty for only wanting to work on the 3-D project and not concentrate on the shops. Now I know I don’t have to push or try to squeeze the creative juices; but sometimes the pressure to get things into the shops makes me think I should be doing double duty. Luckily, with the shops fairly full of items thanks to the older mosaics I’ve pulled out of boxes to list, I can take my time, working on what I want without the pressure! This is new for me … I like it! Woo-hoo!

From the photos, I think it’s hard to know exactly which section you’re looking at. So here’s an explanation: I’m working on the front section and a little bit of the sides of the elephant adding mirror first as an outline and then filling in the spaces with stained glass. So far, I’m staying fairly true to the design I’ve drawn on it. So many swirls and lines are being filled in with mirror that some days it seems I’ve gotten nothing accomplished until I’ve actually looked at photos. The one above is a good example of this. After taking another few photos of the progress this morning, I can see I’m going at a pretty good clip! This is the right ear, head and trunk so far.

Again the frustration has kicked in on the fact that I can’t get as clear photos as I like to get on this little guy. But work-in-progress photos are important for me to have and if that means more than one fuzzy photo in the album, so be it!

I had the chance to visit with my cousin over the weekend and she gave me some odds and ends from crafts she’s done and bits and pieces of things she thought I might be able to use for my mosaics. She gave me a few gold plastic charger plates just like the ones my daughter used for her wedding only hers were silver. I put silver mirror on 8 of them for a unique mosaic table setting.

Silver charger with silver mirror, grouted in white sanded grout and painted using purple acrylics and sealed.

My cousin also gave me a lot of sculpting clay with lots and lots of cutters in lots and lots of shapes. The last time I played with clay, I wasn’t very impressed with my results and decided it was probably okay to admit it wasn’t my thing. However, lately, I’ve been wanting to try again and do word charms for my mosaics and just about the time the thought took place in my brain, I was handed the box of all the tools I’d need to make them with! For free!! How cool is that?!

A few things she gave me might end up being altered art pieces; something completely different for me to try and it’s possible they will be just okay once finished. The point is, however, I have new things to play with to keep my creative brain functioning for a very long time! Again … how cool is that?!

Be at Peace.

☼-EarthMotherMosaics
©2012 Cindy White, EarthMotherMosaics

In the Studio

It’s been a little slower this week in the studio. I owe it all to a minor injury involving my thumb and the glass nippers. Ouch.

On a bright and happy note: this week I made a few sales on Etsy and am both extremely happy and more than a little sad about saying goodbye to them. The pieces were all with me for a while. The large crescent moon, the Bohemian sun and a small abstract wall hanging using scrap glass were packed up and shipped out on Monday! One customer purchased the moon and sun, another the abstract.

I’m feeling very blessed to have a gift that others like and want to have what I’ve made in their home or give as gifts. This thought keeps me humble, grateful and during daily meditation, I always give thanks for the gift that has become my destiny. It’s an amazing feeling and I’m sure those who do this too, know exactly what I’m feeling.

Lots of emotion goes into creating art. For me, it starts as colors in a dream, sometimes a simple shape, and I dream about it often until I’m really ready to work on it. This is how I do it. I don’t draw very often or make more than a few notes. Usually once I wake up from the dream, I head right to the crafts table and get out what I was dreaming about if I know where it is. I always remember what I’ve dreamed and it’s almost always just before I wake up in the morning that I have these “visions”. But it takes time, care, love, thought and more often than not, blood to create my mosaics. These 3 that sold this week were especially loved. The large moon was nicknamed “Mr M” after my grandson. The Bohemian sun was a true gift from the recesses of my mind because it started out completely different in design. I remember taking everything I had glued down off and starting completely over. And that little abstract wall hanging was made on a wonky piece of Wediboard. Once I finished it, I promptly took a few pictures of it and packed it away thinking it wasn’t very good and not something I wanted to look at. The day I took it out of the box, dusted it off, and then listed it, it sold. Amazing.

These things have made me a little unproductive and less than creative between the injured thumb and my emotional feelings about these mosaics. I allow the mourning process to follow through it’s course and wait until there’s a glimmer of a spark once again. It is normal, expected and always unpredictable because I don’t know when it’ll strike or how long it will last for both the feeling of loss and the reawakening of creativity.

A few days ago my thumb was feeling so much better and more healed than hurt. I was also adjusting to being without the mosaics I sold. Time was healing both. I tested my hands with the tools to see if I could use them. I could! I started cutting up some glass and got back to the 3-D elephant. I only worked on it for a few minutes before I was needed by a family member and wasn’t able to get back into the groove until yesterday. I had a fairly good day working on it for a few minutes here and there while the home was buzzing with activity from the family and again much later, when all were asleep, I went back to it. It really is a slow process and the pieces of glass and mirror are so very small.

Although I said I wasn’t going to share any more photos of the elephant until it was ready for grout, I wanted to share the latest shots I took of the head and trunk area I’m presently working on because I like to see it’s progress and maybe someone else might as well. I’ve come to the conclusion this may take many more months before it’s ready for grout at the pace I’m going, which is fine – no deadlines and no rush for it. I would like to work on other things once in a while, so when the muse allows it, I’ll do just that.

2 days of work, a few minutes up to a few hours at a time were spent filling in areas already outlined by mirror and adding more mirror heading down the trunk.

Close-up of some of the detail work on the head, right ear and moving down the trunk.

Hope you enjoy these photos and I’m sure I’ll share more once the trunk and both ears are filled in.

I posted something on my Facebook page and haven’t gotten any feedback at all from it which means no one saw it or no one has an opinion. Both are fine, but just in case there may be someone who would like to weigh in on this, I’m offering it here. This is what it says:

“I’m taking a poll tonight: I’m wondering what I should make next to put into my shop? What would you like to see? I’m not starting anything new tomorrow, so you have time to give it some thought and post here when you’ve made a decision. You can look on Etsy to see what I’ve made if you need to. It’s convenient to click on the tab above and check out the shop. Meanwhile, if I see a trend towards one kind of mosaic, for instance: do you like the celestial things the most? Pique assiette mosaics in fun shapes? Or how about the candle holders in many different colors? Maybe something I haven’t yet done that you’d like to see? I’ll definitely start there for the next one when the time comes. Let me know what you think and if there’s enough responses to really see a trend for one thing over the other, I’ll do it. I’ll share the results no matter what. Thank you!”

Now, if you have an opinion and would care to share it, please do so on my Facebook page if you have “liked” it and can comment on the post. If you can’t find the thread or don’t “do” Facebook, please leave a comment here, or send me an email. I’m open to listening to what others have to say about this. I seem not to be able to think of much else other than the colorful mosaic elephant I’m working on!!

I listed something new today which makes 75 items in my shop now. I’m thrilled. That shows you how many I’ve had tucked away in boxes and older pieces hanging on the wall. There are still a few things I’ve yet to find and hope they are somewhere in storage. Hopefully I will find them soon and be able to list those too!

Mosaic Abstract Art, Wall Hanging, Stained Glass, Deep Earth Tones, 13 inches
Price: $187.50

Be at Peace.

☼-EarthMotherMosaics
©2012 Cindy White, EarthMotherMosaics

In the Studio

“Hear ye, Hear ye … the auction is coming, the auction is coming!!”

Those who have followed along with me for more than a minute know I like to donate my mosaic art whenever possible. My piece call “Syncopation” will be included with this year’s Beyond Borders: mosaic auction…a benefit for Doctors Without Borders/Medicines Sans Frontieres (see links for info below). I donated a mosaic last year and will donate every year, as long as they want me. The fantastic, Lin Schorr, “Coordinator Extraordinaire” and all around terrifically talented lady, has outdone herself once again. I will be mentioning this auction quite often now, just in case someone may have missed the information and because it starts in a few weeks!

If you want to see all the hard work Lin does for this auction check out her Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lin-Schorr-Mixed-Media-Mosaics-Community-Projects-Events/103594013025721

Interested in the auction itself? You can find it here.

http://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/AuctionHome.action?vhost=DWB-MSF

The auction starts officially on September 1st and is run completely online. Join in on the fun and excitement of helping DWB and owning some beautiful mosaic art.

It’s been fun in the studio this week. I am getting the final touches on the abandoned art pieces now. I have planned where I want them to go; we’ll see if it goes the way I want it to! The most important thing is to get them placed where they will be seen, without ME being seen and picked up before someone tosses them out (I hope not!). And too, I’d love to get a photo of each one before I leave it but I’m not sure that’ll happen. It’s all so exciting!

If you’re interested in learning more about this wonderful art movement:

http://michaeldemeng.typepad.com/art_abandonment/2012/06/art-abandonment.html

Or join the Art Abandonment Facebook Group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ArtAbandonment/

“Luna Nuren” my 3-D mosaic project is going well. It’s a slow process because the pieces are cut so very small but it’s worth it to get the detail I want for it. Unfortunately I nipped the edge of my thumb on Monday evening and that has slowed the work up quite a bit. With the thumb covered up, I can’t hold the small pieces of mirror and glass to cut even smaller nor can I pick the pieces up too well. However, I do it anyway and last night nipped the edge of the bandage (but not me) in my attempt. This is dedication, love, madness!

“Luna Nuren” – 21 inches across, 13 inches high
Work-In-Progress

Because I can’t place it on my windowsill to get the proper sunlight like I do for all other mosaics I take photos of, I am struggling with fuzzy and often out-of-focus shots to share the WIP’s. When she is finished, completely, I plan to take her outside for a proper photo shoot!

These photos shared here will be the last, for a while. I’m thinking it looks mostly like a tapestry in glass and mirror, which is exactly what I want it be. But it is hard to see, in photos, exactly all the details.

right ear, head and trunk

Be at Peace.

☼-EarthMotherMosaics
©2012 Cindy White, EarthMotherMosaics

In the Studio

Wow! It’s been a busy week!

In Etsy teams related news, the PCF (Promoting Creative Friends) Team selected me as a Shop of the Day on August 2nd. I am always so thrilled to be chosen for this. The shop stats go up quite a bit! They also made me one of five of the featured shops for the weekly Shop Hop on their blog. The featured items change each Wednesday. http://pcfteam.blogspot.ca/2012/07/weekly-shop-hop_31.html

Here’s the link to find the team on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/teams/10036/promoting-creative-friends

I recently joined a new team (making the count to 19!!), the Strategic Promotion For Success Team and each week they add new items on their blog. I was lucky enough to get an item of mine on the blog this week! Yay! http://strategicpromotionforsuccess.blogspot.com/2012/08/new-finds-from-sps-team-8412_4.html

Here’s the link to find the team on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/teams/12274/strategic-promotion-for-success-team

Each day, I have been lucky enough to list something new on Etsy and/or renew some already listed items. I try to reign in my excitement to share what I’ve been listing to the teams who want to see them and on my Facebook page. Now that I only have wearable art listed on IndieMade, I can focus once again on making, photographing and sharing mosaics. Here are a few things I’ve listed this week. Clicking on each photo will take you to the listing on Etsy.

Have you heard about Art Abandonment? If you are an artist and want to feel the joy of giving art just for the sake of it, I highly recommend joining in on the fun. Started by an artist, Michael deMeng, he’s created an excitement in my online art community that is completely contagious! I haven’t yet done my first “drop and run” but I worked on some small pieces yesterday and will be taking them to abandon very soon. These are 3.5 x 2.5 inches and 2 x 3 inches. Once grouted, I’ll make the bottom two magnets and the top two will hang. I’m excited about this and am so happy it was brought to my attention by a good FB friend.

Soon to be grouted and abandoned with love!

If you’re interested in learning more about this wonderful art movement:

http://michaeldemeng.typepad.com/art_abandonment/2012/06/art-abandonment.html

Or join the Art Abandonment Facebook Group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ArtAbandonment/

I know, once I’ve done this, I’ll be doing it again and again. Gifting art is so rewarding and fun!!

Now at the crafts table, I had put the elephant aside to prime quite a few things, thinking I’d get more mosaics listed on Etsy. However, I spent the day yesterday staring at the primed pieces feeling absolutely nothing at all creatively. After doing the small art pieces above and struggling with the first one (top left) and only feeling my stride by the 3rd one (bottom right), I knew the problem was that I needed to get back to work on the elephant. Whether I felt it or not, the muse was only interested in completing what “we” had started. Never one to ignore the muse, I have placed the elephant back on the crafts table and will be continuing the mosaic work on her.

As always, check on my flickr photostream to see the progress of everything I do. I always share!!

Be at Peace.

☼-EarthMotherMosaics
©2012 Cindy White, EarthMotherMosaics

In the Studio

It’s been a wonderful week filled with nipping of glass and mirror and gluing down tiny pieces onto the 3-D elephant. I’ve gotten so much done in such a short amount of time. I’ve been working on it daily; had some unexpected free time using it wisely to work on it.

Today, this is what this little guy looks like so far:

I’m enjoying the journey with my mosaic elephant a lot. I’ve also named it. It is both male and female and it’s name is: Luna (female) Nuren (male) which basically means “shines like the moon” and “brilliance”. Once it’s finished, there will be a sun, moon and stars on it. I’m very happy with how it’s turning out but it is exhausting work. No complaints. It is just a reminder for those who don’t know it already, this kind of mosaic work can be tedious. I’m using tweezers for some pieces and even then it is possible to have the small pieces of glass go flying through the air before it lands on the glue!

I also concentrated on grouting the items for Etsy and will get them listed by the end of week.

And in other shop news, I have gotten IndieMade almost set up the way I want it. I did a complete overhaul on the site and reduced the amount of items to wearable art only. I’ve created 3 galleries which show glass-on-glass mosaics, wall art and home decor. Each gallery gives the Etsy links for each item. It finally makes sense to me to keep things separate as I was going to do when I first opened the shop on IndieMade. I got sidetracked with the older mosaics and couldn’t decide where to place them. Once I landed on my original idea to put them all on Etsy instead of IndieMade it made it easier for me to do. It keeps it simple for me and that is always a great thing! I’m limited to 10 items each month and may circulate them every 3 months because I have quite a few pendants, rings and buckles. Click on the photo below and it’ll take you to my store on indiemade.com.

Mosaic Pendant – Yellow – 3/4 inches
Price: $9.50

Be at Peace.

☼-EarthMotherMosaics
©2012 Cindy White, EarthMotherMosaics