Unitarian Tree Of Life Mosaic, Part 2

I love grouting! But I knew grouting this tree would be hard. 

I knew I would need to take great pains to reveal each piece of tessarae because each piece has meaning to someone in the congregation. But within each leaf there could be a small tie clasp sitting next to a thick chunk of outdoor tile!  So revealing each piece was going to be hard!

To prepare the tree for grouting, I first had filled the spaces between the leaves with black tile that had been donated. 

I knew I was using black grout so these tiles would recede somewhat and help to delineate the leaf shapes.There was also too much space between most of the leaves. 

Then I taped off half the tree. That is usually a painstaking process which I dread but today it wasnt so bad! 

The grouting process is an artform in and of itself. It begins with an attack of the piece - covering the artwork rather violently with handfuls of colored "slop" and ends with a delicate buffing and polishing that can last for hours. 

But in between is the painstaking removal of the grout that covers each and every piece of tessarae. And if one is working outdoors in the sun, the time between these steps speeds up considerably! 

I love working in the sun but it means the grout dries faster, needs to be removed faster so it doesnt dry onto the tessarae. But the fast drying time means you can get to the buffing and perfecting stage faster too. And the best part is removing the tape to see the shape edges all around the piece. Love it!

 I like to use dark grout and am getting to like just plain black the best. I chose it for this tree mosaic because it was the only color not used in the leaves themselves! 

I knew it would also set off the jewel-tone colors in the leaves. And it creates a little bit of a stained glass look that I like too.

Mosaic Tree of Life for the Unitarian Church of Berkeley, CA

I want to share this project with you all because it is 
very sweet and profound. 

I am in the process of creating a mosaic tree for the Unitarian Church in Berkeley. They contacted me last Spring with an idea - to have their congregation create a mosaic together. The ministers there are Barbara and Bill Hamilton-Holway. 
Their idea for this mosaic started with these thoughts:

"Unitarian Universalism brings together pieces of wisdom from world religions, science, poetry, personal experience to create a whole that is beautiful. Each person contributes their unique piece to add to the whole. Out of our broken pieces, together we create beauty."

Starting in June, Barbara led a series of sermons about the nature of healing our own and each others brokenness through love within a community. In this project, each person would hold people's "broken pieces" in their hands and create a whole new work of art with them - symbolizing the healing we can offer each other.

The congregants were asked to bring pieces for the mosaic tree - things that symbolized their lives, their loves, their wins and losses and just anything else they wanted to share with the group. They brought pottery, jewelry, plates, mugs, etc. I processed these offerings, broke everything down and all of the pieces were put into communal bins. 

We organized three mosaic workshops - on June 17, 24 and August 14 - where each person would make a mosaic leaf. Well the response was overwhelming! The first week 62 leaves were made. The second week, 72. The third week, 93! I actually ran out of substrates the second and third weeks. What a great group of people! Here are some of the many leaves they made.

I took the leaves home to let them dry on their mesh backing, then cut them out and repaired any non-sticking areas, then carefully packed them up. 

At the same time, in my studio, I created sections of the trunk using other, larger and not-appropriate-for-leaves pieces. For example I used these small, old and delicate porcelain horses whole because I felt it would have been a shame to break them up for tessarae for the leaves.

I began the installation of the mural at the beginning of August . By this time I was very eager to begin! 

I decided on a Weeping Willow shape for the tree - a graceful, drooping shape that also reminded me of fireworks. So I used long, thin pieces of mirror to delineate a "falling" flow to the branches.

This is only about halfway done now. I will work on it every day until it's complete. Stay tuned for more pictures as the work progresses! This tree is approximately 8 feet tall.

The dedication will coincide with the church's anniversary on September 30, 2011.