October being just a few days away, I would like to remind folks that October 6, next Saturday is my last mosaic workshop for the season.  It’s been such fun helping my students design, glue and grout!

Boom! They were done and leaving with a really beautiful tile mosaic wall piece they could hang in their house or give as a gift.  I loved watching their excitement when everything started to come together… They all said, and I quote, ” I am so glad I took this class.”

Ya see, I make all the tile up in advance. From cactus to rabbits, to hearts to 3-D ornaments.  Students get to choose from ooodles of bins filled with ooodles of tile shapes, tile color, tile critters,  tile flowers, tile clouds…etc.  What makes it extra special besides all tile made by me, is choosing an adorable 3-D tile ornaments to be the focal point and designing tile around it.   Like this one that was created at the workshop just last week.  To get you started click here to sign up.

She loves those reds.

 

Go from this:

To this:  Made by a sweet young lady between social media and completing her project…She found respite.

Here is my very happy group of women from Sept. 22 class.

 

The October 6 class will have Day of the Dead ornaments and Cat heart ornaments and tiles to work with if that your pleasure.

All the ornaments are designed and hand painted by me.  No two are alike.    If this isn’t to your fancy, don’t worry.  I have plenty of other options.

The class will be held in a very roomy class room at Blue Raven Art School , a convenient location 720 E Prince Rd.

Click here for more details and how to sign up.

 

Custom Tile Bench

Meanwhile, back in the studio,  I finally finished up a custom order mosaic garden bench.  I leisurely worked on it over the summer.  The bench design is much more contemporary than my other ones.  I like the chunky block look, how about you?

Each tile is hand cut out of a this slab of clay, dried, wiped clean, fired in a kiln for the 1st time then glazed with 3 coats of glaze on each piece, fired for the second time at a higher temperature.  It is quite a process.  Then I glue each tile onto a concrete bench and around the sides.  I wait 24 hours then fill in all the empty spaces with grout.  I wipe and wipe, and wipe, and wipe.  Grouting is my least favorite part of the process but it is the most satisfying when the tiles come to the surface.

I call it Monarchs and Hummers Garden Bench.

A close up image of birds and butterflies fluttering around a cactus garden.  It includes Black- Eyed Susans, flowering aloes, Datura wild flowers, flowering cactus, purple prickly pear cactus, rabbits, and a gecko.

If you are interested in a custom bench like this one, contact me below.  I love making custom benches.