"Cat In Tall Grass" Mosaic Sculpture

 Continuing my newfound interest in sculpting for mosaics 
is my latest one: "Cat In Tall Grass".

 

This guy is 32" tall. My initial vision was to mosaic him totally in purple glass. I love the effect of that particular color because it appears to be black until you get in into the right light. I think of it as a metaphor for so many things: you can't see it until you really look! I like much of my mosaics to be that way. You only really see them when you take time to linger and look. 

 

 As it turned out, I already had on hand a lot of green glass but only a little purple. So I rethought my design and decided that this guy would be hiding in the grass. He even has a bee buzzing around the back of his head!

 

I initially set out to create a pleasing shape that had 
popped into my head. I pretty much achieved it!

Here he is, in situ.

Cat In Tall Grass

December, 2010

Cement sculpture with glass and mirror mosaic

32" tall x 44" around x 16" wide

Jazz Cats Mosaic Mural Installation

My latest mural is called "Jazz Cats".

It is on a small backyard garden wall and measures about 10 feet long.

My clients told me they love cats and music so I designed this for them. They let me create it and install it sight unseen. Gotta love clients like that!!!
A finishing touch were the musical notes I added at the end. I happen to know that their third love is baseball so those are the opening notes to
"Take Me Out To The Ball Game". A little subtle humor!
I created the mural on mesh and Easyboard in my studio then installed it in a few hours on site. The process begins with tracing the design onto the wall.


All the pieces are stuck with Thinset and held in place with tape for a little while so they don't slip.

After the Thinset has set - about 24 hours - the next
step is to tape off the entire piece for grouting.
This is my least favorite step!
It is a painstaking process on an intricate design like this.

But once the grouting is done and somewhat set, the "reveal" begins.

Peeling away the tape is my favorite step!
I use a small knife to get into the smaller spaces.


The grout can be left rough by this procedure so I sometimes smooth it out with a popsicle stick.


Here are the "figures" close up:
Two cats and the notes:

The third cat and one of the two guitars:


And Voila!

"Jazz Cats"
Ceramic tile and glass
10 Feet x 1 foot (approx)
2009