Rooster Mosaic Backsplash

I have wanted to make rooster mosaics for a while. I was recently contacted by a gentleman, for whom I had made a mosaic fireplace surround 5 years ago, to create a new piece to go behind his stove. He was redesigning his kitchen in a black-and-white motif, sort of a "bistro" theme. His floor is black & white and the cupboards and walls are bright white. Well, when I Googled "bistro" a lot of rooster art came up! So I designed this piece: a simple white tile background with 6 tiles with a grey-metallic finish and 4 solid black tiles. The centerpiece is a glass mosaic rooster. I really like how this came out. 

Here are photos of the process:

First the design. I laid out the tiles on a mockup of the space. 

 Then I cut the rooster out of Wedi board. I don't like the "strings" that stick out of the sides of the Wedi but I do like how easily it cuts. 

Here it is finished in my studio and ready to be packed up to go to the job site:

  Next step, the installation! Here is the space "before".

Here is the space "after". 

You can see the substrate nailed to the wall by the contractor. I tape all around and put tarps on the floor to protect all the new white paint. 

The install begins. 

I held up the tiles with blue tape to keep them from sagging. I didnt want to use quick-setting adherent because I wanted to be able to measure and level each row and shift the tiles if necessary. 

And here it is at the end of the first day. 

 Second day - grouting!

 Again, taping everything around the piece is essential.

 Almost clean!!

I went back to seal this a few days later and the stove was in place. Here she is finished! 

I think I am going to keep making rooster mosaics. I really like the image and "feel" of roosters and chickens. 

 

Rooster Mosaic Backsplash

34" x 36"

2013

Mosaic Rooster Sculpture

I have spent the past few months learning to create cement sculptures for mosaics.
This rooster is my masterpiece so far!

He has movement and personality. Instilling those qualities into a
cement piece isnt easy. 
But diligence and practice makes perfect. Or sort of perfect.
The basic armature of all my 3D shapes has been 
styrofoam from Home Depot.
For this guy, I cut out basic shapes - for both depth 
and width - and taped them into place. The next step was to cover this 
with fiberglass mesh dredged through a slurry of cement and water. 
 The piece started to come into focus at that stage.

But the final perfecting was done with cement and Darjit. 
(Darjit is a "green" product
made of paper that makes the cement more maleable.)
For the mosaic finishing phase I used what I had in my 
studio - glass and mirror and some marbles. Pretty simple tessarae. 
But there are many tricks to be learned about how to mosaic 
a 3D object. If you arent careful, there can be many 
dangerous "points" sticking out.

Rooster
26" tall x 21" long x 12" deep
November 2010

I rely on ideas popping into my head, seeing visions and
being struck by inspiration to lead me to my next project.
Roosters jumped into my awareness recently
the way frogs entered it a few years ago.
So I am following this artistic thread.
Below is a site about the symbolic meaning of roosters and other animals.
http://www.whats-your-sign.com/symbol-meanings-of-the-rooster.html