Mosaic Lemon Bench

My friend, Saundra Warren, and I have just completed our first project. (I've written about Saundra in a couple of previous posts) We started from scratch with just an idea and, voila, the result is this Lemon Bench. And this is Saundra hard at work.

Recently Saundra had purchased a tile saw. As you may know, nowadays when you buy a large item, it is very common for it to come encased in a styrofoam box within the outer cardboard box. Saundra had an idea for us to put that styrofoam, usually a nuisance to dispose of, to good use. We decided to turn it into a cement bench that we could then mosaic. First we covered it with strips of fiberglass mesh dipped in a cement slurry - like paper mache only using cement instead of flour. After we had totally encased the styrofoam with it, we covered it with cement. Tips and techniques on how to do this are all over the web. And it's easy and fun to do too.

Next we needed to decide where the bench would ultimately "live". I have a sweet and rustic little brick area under a lemon tree out in my backyard, so we chose that place. Saundra is an expert at taking leaves, fruit and other organic things and making ceramic tiles and molds out of them.

So we took lemon leaves and lemons from my tree, as well as ivy leaves which grow all around it, and began a long process of creating the decorations for the bench. They came out just great.

With Saundra's personal tutoring on how to get the glaze to come out just right, and after some wrestling with the kilns, our ceramic pieces were ready. We supplemented with factory tiles in various shades of white and with small hits of other color tiles too. I also created some glass and mirror butterflies on Easyboard to add sparkle. Then we grouted with Antique White to keep the crisp white look against the natural colors in the environment.

We are very happy with our first triumph. But we have learned a lot too and will put our new knowledge to use on our next project - "The Persimmon Trio". Stay tuned!

"Lemon Bench"
Kim Larson & Saundra Warren
November 2008
32" wide x 23" tall x 15" deep
Handmade tiles, factory tiles and glass

Hummingbirds and Frogs

More new work.
Nature is calling me lately and these two creatures are very popular styles.

Hummingbird Mosaic

21" x 13"
Mirror and Stained Glass
2008
Hummingbird Mosaic
22" x 13"
Mirror and Stained Glass
2008
Bill's Frog
15" x 28.5"
Mirror and Stained Glass
2008
C's Frog
15" x 28.5"
Mirror and Stained Glass
2008

Frogs Frogs Frogs & Fish - New Work

Kefa Frog
16" x 19"
Mirror and Glass Mosaic
2008
Large Frog
21" x 30"
Mirror and Glass Mosaic
2008
Small Frog
15" x 22"
Mirror and Glass Mosaic
2008
Red Fish
22" x 8"
Mirror and Glass Mosaic
2008
Blue Fish
22" x 8"
Mirror and Glass Mosaic
2008

FROG!

This mosaic frog was meant to be adhered to the same cement wall out back as the butterflies but he turned out to be too large. So I rigged him to hang on the front of my house. He is cut out of Hardiboard, and is adorned with marbles, mirrored glass and stained glass. He's pretty cute.

"Frog"
2008
36" x 23"

Love

My newest mosaic is called "Love"
It's on the small side - 12" x 40" -
and is made with mirrored glass and
stained glass.
The substrate is 1/2" plywood.
Price: $450.
If there is enough room on the walls I will be displaying this piece, Mardi Gras,
Glamour, Ta-Daaa and First Glance
at 420 Gallery during Jingletown's Open Studios
this June 7, 8, 14 & 15. Check older posts here
to get a look at these pieces.

Stop by if you're in the neighborhood and introduce yourselves!.
Check out Jingletown's website for more info.

"Mardi Gras"

This is my latest mosaic.

It's called Mardi Gras, for now anyway, because of the colors.

I may change it to "Carried Away" or something else might come to me....time will tell.
I plan to show this in the upcoming East Bay Open Studios in the Jingletown Arts District of Oakland, California.I'm showing you three different shots of this because I am finding that it is really
hard to photograph my mosaics because of the glass reflections.
I hope you can see this one's beauty. It is really good in real life! "Mardi Gras"
2008
Mirrored glass and stained glass
29" x 33"

"Glamour"

This is a new mosaic that I finished yesterday.

I chose the name because it has two meanings.One is the commonly-known meaning: "alluring beauty and charm." The second meaning is less well known: "to cast a spell or put a hex on someone."

I think of glamour as also meaning "illusion." After all, the glamour we associate with actors and models IS an illusion - it's all makeup and airbrushing, smoke and mirrors.

I was recently in a situation where I believed an illusion. And so the idea for this mosaic came into my mind - a woman enamored with something that is only showing her what she wants to see.

"Glamour" 2008 Stained glass and mirror on plywood 35" x 16" approx

Ta-Daaaa

This is my newest mosaic.
She's made of mirrored glass
and stained glass and stands
42" tall by 20" hand-to-hand.
For now her name is "Ta-Daaaa!"
I'm not so good with names.

Getting started

Hey there and welcome to my blog! I've been an artist my whole life and have made a living as a graphic artist - most recently in the clothing design industry. It's lucky to be an artist and to at least be able to make a living at something related - like graphic art. Mostly I'll be using this blog to display my art. I have a lot of it and I think it's great to have a venue like this to show it off.
I love to draw and most recently have discovered mosaics..... They seem to be real crowd-pleasers! I chose to explore female nudes because our bodies have the beautiful left-to-right hourglass shape but also front-to-back three-dimensional volume. In all my art I love achieving that look of volume. I think the flow that I can achieve using glass really brings out the lines and volume of the female body. Working in glass mosaics - especially mirror - is almost like working in light. A lot of colors and shapes are hidden and subtle unless you view these pieces in the right light. And the look of them changes depending on what angle you approach them. My pieces can be subtle and surprising, much like women themselves, ay?