The Buggy Garden Mosaic - Grouting, Day 1

This is the continuing story of the mosaic mural I created for Hug A Bug Preschool in El Cerrito, California. A workshop was held on November 17th for 15 parents to each make a small mosaic insect to be incorporated into this larger mosaic work to be permanently installed on their site. 

 The install went smoothly on December 10th and the next day I arrived to begin grouting. The weather reports called for a small rainstorm to hit in the early evening so I had a feeling the grouting wouldn't be finished in one day. And I was right! 

 Grouting a mural with the type of "terrain" of this one is a difficult process. Some of the figurines stand out an inch from the base while other tessarae are very flat...some are glossy in texture while others are porous...and some tessarae are very meaningful to the individual who created the "bug". And the grout itself has to have a texture (not too thick yet not too runny) that can easily fill in all sizes and shapes of grout joints! So I knew that grouting this was going to be a slow and painstaking process. And I was right!! 

 But there is such a wonder when "the reveal" begins - the wiping away of the grout and slowly buffing each piece into a high shine!

 As expected, though, the weather took a turn for the worse - dark, damp, cold and blustery....so I stopped and will go back and finish tomorrow.

 

The Buggy Garden Mosaic - Installation Day.

In the previous post, I showed you a little bit about the creation of this mural for the Hug A Bug Preschool in El Cerrito, California. The next step was the installation - always a mix of fear and excitement. 

 The key for me is to be organized. The first step was to prepare the artwork by cutting it into manageable pieces in my studio and packing it safely for travel (in the back of my truck!). I also have a written list of materials that I consult so that I dont forget anything.

When I arrive, I lay out my Thinset and mixing materials near the water and electricity, being careful to lay a tarp down first. Then I take the artwork and the installation materials to the actual site. Again I carefully lay out a tarp under the wall space. 

 In this instance Nancy had already gotten a handyman to create a place for the art using Hardibacker board and even made a "frame" for the art out of wood. The size is 6' x 3'.

I begin the process of measuring the wall, taping my design to it perfectly centered and taping off the wood around it so I dont make a mess.

 And then it is just a matter of troweling the Thinset onto the wall, adhering a piece, troweling Thinset onto the next section of wall, adhering the next piece, etc. 

 And voila! Finished and drying. Next step? Grouting.

The Buggy Garden Mosaic

I am currently finishing a commission for Hug A Bug Preschool in El Cerrito, California. Here I just have to stop and show you the breathtaking view of San Francisco from their front door!! 

 I was asked to create this piece to commemorate their 30th year in business. On November 17th I led a group of 15 parents in a mosaic bug making workshop held on-site. They were each asked to bring little pieces that reminded them of childhood - or in some way were special to them - to incorporate into their "bug". This was a wonderful and warm event held on a grey and drizzly Saturday morning.

 I designed several different insects - like butterflies, dragonflies, bees and even an inchworm! I mounted them so the "artists" would be gluing their tessarae onto mesh. 

 Afterward, I took the mosaic bugs home to dry. In a few days I mounted each one onto a lightweight substrate called Easyboard. (I used the last of my stash because it is no longer being made.)

 I knew that my design idea would be a simple one - a garden with bugs and flowers. I really like the work of the artist Hundertwasser so I allowed myself to be influenced by the psychological freedom that his art expresses. 

 The finished size of this is 6' x 3' so I split the design in half and used the mesh method to create it in my studio. The usual types of flowers didnt interest me for this "garden" so I just went with my own vision of "flowers" instead. I created them on a substrate (Easyboard again) to give them depth. I envisioned the large middle one first. In this photo, it is on the right. I "saw" a lollipop-like spiral in red and white.  

 While I created that flower, the vision of the next two, on either side of it, came into my head, with three petals each and stripes on one but checkerboards dominating the other. Nancy, the head of Hug A Bug, asked me to incorporate some small figurines into each flower so I did that too - you can see some of them here. And after those were finished, the last two flowers were created - rounding out my design.

There is nothing like the first time you lay out your mosaic as a whole piece to get a good look at it.

The next step? Installation.

Vine At The Arbors Mosaic Mural Installation

The installation of this mural, "Vine At The Arbors", began on the
Winter Solstice - a very auspicious time. It marks the end of the darkness and the coming of the light - a new beginning when all things are possible. I like that!
This mural is on the outside of a community building in a new housing
development in Richmond, California.
It's made of glass and high fire tile and measures 9' x 7'.
On the first day my assistant, Saundra Warren, and I traced the
paper template of the art onto the wall.

The second day was the one I had been planning for weeks
and it went smooth as ice!

Each piece was adhered with thinset to the wall and held in place with tape.

By the end of the second day, we had installed all the pieces.

The third day was grouting day. The worst - the VERY worst - part of this whole process for me is the taping off of this kind of intricate art. It is painstaking and there are no shortcuts - the surrounding wall must be protected! It took us three hours to complete this taping job.

Unfortunately I ran out of the grout with one square foot left to go!
Because of the Christmas holiday the grout store was closed so I had to
wait several days to totally finish.
But finish I did!
Here are some close ups:

Vine At The Arbors
9' x 7'
Glass, mirror and high fire tile
December 2009
Special thank you to Saundra Warren for her much appreciated assistance!

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

"FIZZ" Mosaic, March 2009

Delaine Hackney's latest mosaic installation was completed on March 21st, 2009.

This is Delaine.It is called "Fizz" and decorates the facade of the ShadZee Bakery at 6o Crescent Drive in Pleasant Hill, CA. This piece consists of 6 panels that measure 5' x 6' each and 4 panels that measure 1' x 5' each. The mosaic work took a couple of months and the installation took two weeks.

Before, above. After, below.

Before, above. After, below.



Before, above. After, below.


The design is comprised of impressionistic bottles done in a sort of 60's style.

(that's me!)

Each bottle is a different color and uses tiles, broken dishes, marbles...
you name it...in Delaine's unique style!
The weather was mostly excellent - wonderful Spring warmth, not Summer frying!
The first panels went up in one day. By the second day we were grouting the first panels in the morning then moving on to install the next two in the afternoon ...
and so on.

The install went smoothly but the most tiring part was dealing with the scaffolding.
Every morning and every evening the "Schlepping of the Scaffolding" would commence. I had to photograph the experience one day! Here are Delaine and Julie demonstrating!
The top "walls" were about 30 feet in the air. They, and then the cross bars securing them, needed to come down first.
But by doing that we had to take down the very things that made us safe up there!
Then the highest platform needed to come down....and, again, with every little bit we would remove, the scaffolding got that much more precarious.
Then the next set of cross bars, the next platform, etc.... And by this time, at the end of each day, we were tired, hungry and filthy! At the beginning of this installation, fear would make us be very careful....by the end of it, we were old pros at this and would be giddy and giggly with exhaustion.
So slowly the scaffolding would come down...inch by inch....piece by piece....becoming more wiggly with each dismantling step!

Then the biggest humiliation of all - we had to drag this contraption across 4 lanes of traffic to the room where it "lived".
It reminded me of the beginning of the old "Monkees" tv show where the 4 of them are pushing a bed down a street....but I digress. By that time we were SO ready for the day to be over we would just laugh at how ridiculous we must look.

Here are the players in this mosaic installation:

Delaine Hackney: designer and principal'

Julie Alpers: mosaics and installation,

and me: mosaics and installation.