Hi all! I couldn't find much posted on the web, so I thought I'd put out some info for those of you that would like to attend the art tour and might be out there searching for details. The dates for the 2010 Bluff Country Studio Art Tour are April 23, 24, and 25. The art tour covers SE Minnesota and extends a little into NE Iowa and SW Wisconsin. I will be at the Lanesboro Community Center in downtown Lanesboro, MN, with several other artists including - but not limited to - a potter, someone who turns wood, and someone who makes purses. Below is an image from the tour a couple years ago. This year I will be selling mosaics, books, fused glass, jewelry, notecards/postcards and paintings. It's nice to have more than a 10'x10' space - we get lots of room to spread out!
The art tour is a great way to see artists working in their shops, as well as groups of artists that have come together in groups like us. I'd love to invite people to my home studio, but my long, steep and narrow driveway won't allow two way traffic, so I'm thankful I can still participate in a group setting like this. I usually have pretty deep discounts on my older mosaics, even more so on the last day. Hope to see you all there!
This is a mosaic portrait of my sister. I started with the photo of my family below (after I reduced it to only black and white in Photoshop - originally it was a color photo). After sketching it out on my board, I decided on which two colors of glass I'd be using. I love this red because it has so much variation in the glass, and it's always been her favorite color. The dark brown is warm and went well with the red, and it added a good amount of dark contrast.
She opened it yesterday and loved it. I gave it to her and her husband, since my mom said she might feel funny hanging a big mosaic of herself up in her house. Funny, I'd have no problem hanging a big picture of me in my house! ;) By giving it to her husband, he can put it up and she doesn't have to say she hung it!
Though it isn't officially the Year of the Pig, Elmer is here to ring in the new year with a smile! I grouted this yesterday, with the cleaning help of hubby Pete, and today Elmer the pig sat for his official portrait. I'd like to wish everyone reading this a happy, healthy, creative, and productive 2010!
Here are some of the terrazzo samples for the arena project. These three are my proposals for the water areas. They have some bits of mother of pearl and mirror to give it a reflective sparkly surface evocative of water. I've had to ask for some redos of some of the other colors because I wasn't happy with the aggregate mix I had selected. As you can imagine, it really affects the overall color. The redos look great, however!
My little vacation from mosaics was wonderful! I love painting and linocuts, and so many other things. I need to make other art forms part of my regular routine. It helps me grow and stretch as an artist, and it made me even more excited to come back to mosaics!
I've listed four of my mosaics on Ebay. I put them on for very low prices in the hopes of clearing out some of my older work (above from L to R: Lily, Joy, Reaction, and Belle). This is a bit of an experiment. I'm not sure how successful Ebay is for selling artwork. Have any of you tried it? Did it work for you?
