Mosaics from 2010

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Mother's Love

This is for a birth center. Roughly 9"h x 41"w. Happy Holidays to all!

Finished!

I got all three panels finished with a few days to spare. I'm going to try to squeeze in one more project before Wednesday.

Work in progress

Progress on the three panels. The girls playing a game are 18x18, the other two are 12x12.

Sketches for next project

I'll be working on three mosaics for my next project. It's for a children's hospital and I hope to show kids of differing ethnicities having a great time, despite limited mobility issues, which are faced by many of the children there. Due date is in a couple weeks, so check back soon!

Four bird panels

These four birds are for a children's hospital. The art consultant wanted me to create some birds in the same style as four birds I did previously. No pinks and purples allowed, but oh, how those pinks and purples were pulling at me, especially for the background of the goldfinch! But I like to look of the yellow background. I wouldn't have done it without those restrictions, but somehow the yellow on yellow really works! Sometimes it's good to have limits and find new solutions!

New Birds

I'm working on four bird panels for a children's hospital. The deadline has been moved up from Dec 20 to Dec 3, so I've got to finish them this week! Here are three of them (reversed in mirror). The fourth, a cedar waxwing, is also finished, and I've done the background for that one as well. Three more backgrounds to go!

"Art of Food"

The Lanesboro Art Center is having an exhibit called The Art of Food. I created a paper mosaic for this show called Essential Ingredient (garlic... what else?), which sold at the opening night reception!

By the way, did you know you can follow on Facebook?

Six Little Preludes was installed today!

My mosaic "Six Little Preludes" was installed today at the Children's Hospital. It didn't go off entirely without a hitch because of the tiny switch for the fire blanket that was located right in the middle of where the piece was supposed to hang! After a meeting of about a dozen minds, we decided to hang it just to the left of the little switch and they will redo the wallpaper and install an extra light. But it will be great in it's new home! I hope it will bring joy to many! More pics at: http://www.facebook.com/barbarakeithdesigns

Ribbon Cutting in Bemidji!

It's finally open! Today was the official ribbon cutting, after which they opened the doors to the public for the first time. It was great seeing people see the floor for the first time!

Update on Bemidji Floor

I was up in Bemidji yesterday to see the floor. It's DONE!! It really looks incredible. Here's a teaser photo. I posted 25 other pics on my facebook fan page, so I'm going to refer you there instead of uploading them all again. http://www.facebook.com/barbarakeithdesigns

While you are there, please "Like" my page! I just set it up recently and I've already given two books away! I'll do it again when we hit 300 fans.

Update on Children's Hospital

Done! Next stop - framers. They'll give it a nice decorative frame, although it will hang from the french cleat that is already attached to the back. Then it will be ready to installed!

Update on Children's Hospital

I'm working on a project for the Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. It's 5'h x 6'w and it's called Six Little Preludes. It's for the music themed floor of the building. Birds done, finishing up vegetation now. Then the background! It will be shades of yellows. Some tiles in the vegetation and background are transparent so the sheet music shows through.

I've just started a Facebook Fan page. Please stop by and maybe you'll "Like" the page. I've already posted a few albums, including one with all of my mosaics from 2010 (so far), one with my mosaics from 2009. I'll occasionally be giving books away, too!

Bemidji Update

I took these photos off the Bemidji Regional Event Center facebook page. Isn't the floor looking beautiful? Above is the area with the lake near the windows. In the lake there are fish, a loon, and a beaver and his lodge.

Bemidji Update

The very last section was poured this week! There are also some areas that are polished, and everything in between. It was very exciting to see the floor. Should be just a few more weeks and they will be finished. After everything is polished, they will add a sealer as the last step.

A loon diving for his dinner.

Much of the floor looks about like this hallway. Sprinkled with grit and ready for polishing.

This part of the floor has been polished. It's still very dirty and dusty, but nearly done! These steps come down from the arena seats.

Close up of some of the polished floor.

A sand hill crane. This area is not yet sanded down, so you see only the epoxy color.

Here is the very last section that was poured! It's still wet.

A few fish.

He's polishing the floor here.

This guy is polishing around the edges.

One last photo... I was driving around Bemidji and passed this sign!

Children's Hospital update

I've got five birds done so far. I'm pulling out some of my favorite glass on this project - the mirrored and iridized glass! I like shiny and twinkly - surprise! :) I took this photo while looking up into the mirror that is mounted above my table. That explains why it's in reverse and why my camera is in it's own photo. It's nice to see such a large piece from a distance, and the mirror is great for that!

Elmer won First Place!!

Last night we went to the Preview Night for the artists at the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Competition. I wasn't even through the front door when I spotted Elmer. They hung him right inside the front door, and even better, they hung a giant ruffly blue ribbon next to him! I am still flying high! It's quite an honor. Over 2000 people entered this year. Only one blue ribbon in each category - I think there are 8 categories (like photography, sculpture, painting, etc...) My category is ceramics and glass. If you get a chance, please stop by the state fair fine arts building and visit Elmer, the blue ribbon pig!

Six Little Preludes - Work In Progress

I've finished two more birds and started in on the fourth bird. There are six in all.

Elmer has been accepted!

Great news! I just found out Elmer has been accepted in the 2010 Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Competition! It's not easy getting in, so I'm thrilled! If you go to the fair, please stop by and say Hi to Elmer!

Six Little Preludes - Work In Progress

I'm starting in on a project for Children's Hospital - Minneapolis. This will be on the third floor, which has the theme of "Music". I covered the backer with sheet music of Bach's "Six Little Preludes" because some of the background will be done in transparent colored glass. Now that I've drawn out the design, I'm beginning to mosaic the six little songbirds. Below is the first little guy, using stained glass, iridescent glass, and VanGogh glass. The glass on the birds is opaque, so you will not see the music.

Terrazzo Floor Update

It's always so exciting to see progress on the floor! The floor is basically a U shape with one arm out the side of the U. They have poured the floors for most of the U, and laid the strips for the last part of the U. They haven't done anything to the arm hallway yet. So the floor is in various stages, ranging from untouched to ready for buffing.

I think the most exciting thing I saw this time was the mirror bits sparkling in the water sections. The water is along a long wall of windows, so the mirror bits and mother of pearl chips are really going to pick up that light and shine!

Here the guys are mixing the different aggregate stones together. This mix goes in red epoxy.
Such a pretty Canadian Goose!
This grit is sprinkled on most of the floor. It will help with final buffing.
Trees with brass leaves/fruit.
Front entrance. This is the last part of the U shape that needs to be done.
The end of the U shape where the water starts. You can see the bottom right corner is unsanded. The rest of it has been sanded.
One of the fish. This is before the floor is sanded down. You can't see the aggregate mix at all, only the epoxy color.
Up close mirror bits! You can see there are little holes. Those get filled in with grout.
They added a little water so I could see how it shines! Wait until you see it!
Some little fish. One is still partially covered. Will be exposed fully with more sanding down.

Bemidji Update

Things at the event center are really progressing! It's so fun to see my design coming to life. Here are some photos from my visit yesterday. You can see that the terrazzo has been ground in some areas. This is very exciting - the aggregate in the epoxy mix shows now.

Here is a brass insert with the different colors of epoxy filled in and ground. We swished some dirty water over it to bring out the colors. This goose is flying over a sunset color.

Here you can see that the left side of this floor has been ground, but the right side is still unground. Later it will be grouted and polished which will make the color more vibrant. But this is a good demonstration of how the unground terrazzo only shows the epoxy color, while the ground part shows both epoxy and aggregate.
He's grouting this section to fill in the little air holes that might remain behind. You can get a sense of the colors, but the water is very dirty, so it does obscure the true color.

A close up of a bird, with a little section lightly moistened. The brass inserts are going to look amazing!

They have started in on the other side of the building as well. This side has no sky, but water. This loon is going after a few fish.

Bemidji Pioneer paper

I just got a copy of the paper so I thought I'd share it. The article and photo were quite prominent! I recently posted the content of the article here.