Creative Nonconformity

Octo goodness

2012-06-21T12:08:00.000-04:00

Almost a year and a half ago I sculpted a handful of sea creatures patterned after a set of U.S. postage stamps that I found in my collection. One of the adapted creatures was used for a deep sea commission I did entitled "Viperfish".


Eve Lynch - "Viperfish"

Eve Lynch - Viperfish closeup

I had a ton if mismatched clay colors and wanted to rid myself of it all so I whipped up a bunch of ocean dwelling animals. This is "Viperfish" before painted.

Eve Lynch

I've been away from sculpting sea creatures for a while and my octopus sculpture was crying out to be used in a piece of art. I finally got around to making him into something!

Eve Lynch - "Cthulhu Embryo"

He's definitely a crossbreed. The top portion of him is patterned after a jellyfish at the beginning stages of life. I couldn't resist adding some tentacles and those stalk eyes...so he became a cephalopod, of sorts.

He's the size of a baseball card but has lots of colorful details sculpted onto him. The background is made from black glass that is super reflective and those stars are made from iridized pink glass. They shimmer!

He's available to purchase in my Etsy Shop. The artwork is entitled "Cthulhu Embryo"...Lovecraft's legendary monster was a bit of an inspiration here.

Photos of the completed Alice in Wonderland sculpture

2012-05-27T20:37:00.001-04:00

Just shipped my Alice shoe to my client in Canada. Here are the results of the sculpture.

The grumpy caterpillar side...

[The caterpillar was sculpted out of white polymer clay and hand painted. His eyes are color shifting dichroic glass bubbles.]


© Eve Lynch 2012

Detail shot of the heel...

The funky mushroom side...

[The mushroom and the caterpillar creature were sculpted from white polymer clay and then hand painted. The caterpillar creature is embellished with hot pink feathers and faux fur.]

The mushroom stem features several eyes made from color shifting dichroic glass bubbles.

Closeup of the caterpillar creature...

He was originally supposed to be a butterfly version of the grumpy caterpillar on the opposite side of the shoe but once I started finishing him off, he took on a life of his own and became this feather-headed critter.

And here is the completed shoe - side by side...

Now I'm ready for my next shoe sculpture!

Alice in Wonderland...the shoe!

2012-03-23T11:13:00.000-04:00

A few years ago I bought a pair of oddly shaped boots from a clearance rack. I just knew that the shape of the shoe would make a great sculpture someday and I've been saving them for a project ever since.

After covering the shoe with plaster strips I found that I had a little "shelf" built into the top of the shoe. I had originally planned to create a coral reef inside there but inspiration hit me one day when I saw some images from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland movie.

I've been working on the Alice shoe for a few weeks now. Here's a little bit of the progress...

I started by covering the toe with a black and white diamond pattern to mimic the tile floor seen in some of the Alice in Wonderland shots.

Keeping the pattern straight along the edges of that toe was tricky. It reminded me why I don't normally work with geometric shapes!

I also sculpted a caterpillar using polymer clay to one side of the shoe. His eyes are small dichroic glass bubbles that I sculpted into his head.

He had several different looks before I settled on this one, including horns and just two eyes instead of the three that are pictured.

I also sculpted a large mushroom on the other side of the shoe. I was inspired by a movie poster that showed Johnny Depp (as the Madhatter) standing underneath a giant mushroom.

The weird little creature sitting on top of the mushroom will be a caterpillar that has morphed into a butterfly...similar to the one on the other side of the shoe.

I have always been inspired by fantastical worlds where mushrooms and plants were gigantic and people or animals were living among them.

The movies Fern Gully (my favorite!) and Avatar have more than enough inspiration to go around in this department.

I have to admit that I am NOT a big Alice in Wonderland fan. I've never read the books and barely sat through the Tim Burton movie without wanting to run out. The story is incredibly blah to me but the imagery created for Tim's version of the movie inspired me to become interested.

I found myself focusing on the details of the plants and the characters rather than paying attention to the storyline. Besides, the debate over the meaning of the story irks me. LSD trip or fairy tale? I mean, come on, who cares?

Painting the sculptures takes a long time because there are layers (and layers) of paint that have to be applied before I get to the point where the creatures look realistic. This is after a few hours of layering. Still looks pretty flat here.

I kept working on it until I had much more depth and then I sealed the finished sculptures with floor wax. I have used acrylic paint sealer in the past but it ends up feeling tacky in the end and I had to scrap the practice.

Here's my favorite part of the shoe so far...the caterpillar! He looks like a grumpy old (sweaty) man.

I wanted to fill the area around the sculptures with millefiori so I bought a bunch of white assortments and mixed them together to get something that looked like it would be found in a garden. I even found the coolest (and tiniest) skull murrini slices on Etsy.

They are pretty hidden amongst the rest of the millefiori but when you look hard enough you'll find them. I kind of like the way that they are "lost" in there.

I surrounded both sculptures with the white millefiori and plan to fill the rest of the space around them with black glass. Here's a close up of the caterpillar body...

I still have to complete the heel - I'll be using black iridized glass for some punch and then I have to fill the rest of the shoe.

I had a whole little vignette sculpted out for the top of the shoe. A mix of hearts and weird plants and things but it was out of proportion with the rest of the shoe so I scrapped it. I sculpted some teetering tea cups that fit the space better. They just need to be painted and affixed to the "shelf".

The caterpillar will have some colorful hairs sprouting out of his back and some green grass will hopefully be appearing here and there if I can find a suitable source for faux fur...or something similar.

The shoe is tentatively sold to a client who is wintering in a colorful locale. Can't wait to finish this baby! It's going to be hard to part with it!

Work of Art - Season 2: Kid art challenge

2011-11-03T12:19:00.002-04:00

I love kid art so I was super excited when I realized that the artists would be interpreting artwork made by elementary school students. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed with the adult work and found the kid's work to be much cooler.

[Surprise. Surprise.]

I recently spent two weekends supervising a ton of kids making mosaic butterflies using craft foam and I can only say that I was floored by the way that each kid interpreted the materials. I am convinced that kids know better than most adults when it comes to creativity. They don't need to research ideas before they start making art and their creative genius is attributed to having a childlike imagination.

Isn't that what every artist wants to be? A creative genius with a childlike imagination.

Hell, I do. Society beats the individuality out of most of us and kids seem to be the only human beings that maintain some level of self...at least until they reach middle school.

Case in point: The Sucklord's wonky tree sculpture. Not necessarily a brilliant work of art but I did love the concept. I may have to try sculpting foam like that for a giant mosaic sculpture one day.

The kid's artwork, shown in the background, is so much more interesting. Every school should have giant pieces of artwork like that hung in the classrooms and hallways.

Kids use color with abandon and aren't afraid to draw what they have in their head. They don't care that Simon de Pury is going to tell them that their work of art isn't working.

I continue to find the work that the artists are creating a bit boring. I am more intrigued by the messages that they are trying to get across or by the idea that sparked their creative process.

Artwork isn't just about the visual representation of an idea. Most often, for me, I feel like the back story is just as important.

I've heard people say that they would rather not know about the story behind a piece of art. It turns them off and they lose interest in the work. I'm willing to take that chance because the idea and the work go hand in hand. If you cut off the emotional appeal behind the creation, you're left with a lovely dust collector.

I was sad to see Tewz, the street artist, go. I would imagine it is hard to translate graffiti into artwork in this type of competitive setting...especially with art critics micro-critiquing your work.

I don't care what anyone says, street art radiates an amazing sense of freedom and is more inspiring than most art that I've seen hung in galleries.

Don't agree? Check out this crazy array of street murals.

I was glad to see The Sucklord step up and stand up for Tewz when the critics were crushing his concrete GROW sculpture. That took some guts...and a very strange haircut.

I continue to like Kymia. She is genuine and her artwork has been among my favorite since the first episode. Michelle is just pissing me off. I'm glad she has the gumption to be herself and make art that is unusual, however I just don't connect with her kind of crazy. Love her paper sculptures, hate her inner world.

[Opinions, every one has one.]

There have been several spots of weirdness on each of the episodes so far. Young leaping around in his underwear and 80's style tank was definitely up there and Sara's crying jag was so bizarre. That's two uninhibited break-downs in less than four episodes.Is there something in the water?

[This is getting a little long-winded...]

Dusty's winning piece was awesome. I love everything about it...especially the interactive nature of it.

And it started me thinking about ways that I could adapt that type of functionality into a mosaic work.

Too cool.

Anyway...

I'll leave you with this: Jerry Saltz commented on his blog about having SJP as a guest judge. He said...

"Sarah Jessica Parker was one of the sweetest, most articulate, perceptive, sensitive, smart guest judges we've had on the show. She spoke more clearly about art than most people in the art world do."

Perhaps that is because she hasn't been polluted by the ideology that exists in the art world? I love that she supports keeping art in the classroom. The United States needs a resurgence of art in schools. Period.

What are you opinions, critiques and comments?

Friendly Forest festivities report

2011-10-31T09:42:00.000-04:00

For the last two weekends I have been volunteering at the Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium for the center's annual Halloween event, Friendly Forest.

The property is decked with Halloween decorations as the center welcomes younger visitors and their families to trick or treat and spend the day doing eco-crafts and playing Halloween themed games.

Armed with two volunteers, I helped kids create butterfly mosaics using craft foam. The activity was fast, fun and simple...all the makings of a perfect take-away craft.

Here are examples of some of the butterflies that came out of the project, but were sadly left behind. The robot in the bottom left hand corner was created on the fly after receiving a few protests from boys who apparently believe that butterflies are for girls. (Don't tell that to all the male Lepidopterists out there!)

Our craft tables were packed throughout the day and we went through over 300 butterfly templates.

Butterfly mosaics craft table

There center's Junior Naturalists and a venomous snake expert were on hand with live animals throughout the day.

Here is the center's little alligator Spaz visiting with some kids as they completed butterflies at my table.

Kids visiting with Spaz, an American Alligator

I was captivated by Spaz's eye. A fine example of Mother Nature's art!

Spaz - American Alligator

Later in the day my son and Melinda, Calusa's Wildlife Director, fed the center's large American Alligators raw chicken in front of visitors. Feeding time is always a bit hit and a chance to remind visitors NOT to feed wild animals, especially ones that have giant teeth.

You can see the large male alligator, Al, in the center of the photo. I wasn't able to get closer to him, for obvious reasons.

One of the most interesting aspects of volunteering with the kids was watching how they approached mosaicing. All of them had little to no experience with mosaic art and I was amazed at how each one seemed to have their own individual style.

Many of the styles mimicked the approaches of "real life" mosaic artists that I know.

There were a bunch of kids that used triangle tiles to fill in the design...

And there were lots of kids that stacked the foam tiles to create a pattern...

It was refreshing to see creative thinking that was not tainted by education or adult instruction. They hadn't read any of the how-to books and therefore didn't know that they were doing it "wrong". So strange (and unfortunate) how kids brilliant ideas are squashed by those that "know better".

I've made myself a promise to not teach the creativity out of any of the kids that take my mosaic classes. No rules = right.

Pop art overhaul?

2011-10-26T14:25:00.000-04:00

On tonight's episode of Bravo's Work of Art, artists are challenged to "create a piece of POP art that captures the popular culture of their time as effectively as Warhol did. Celebrity culture, music, and reality TV are all fair game."

I'm intrigued as always but recognize the difficulty of creating artwork that is inspired by an art icon. I'm betting that there will be bold colors and lots of ridiculously unrelated subject matter.

Stay tuned for my scathing critique of the artwork. It's so much easier to talk smack about art than it is to create something amazing!

Butterfly crafts for kids at the Calusa Nature Center!

2011-10-24T10:18:00.001-04:00

This past weekend I volunteered at the Calusa Nature Center's Friendly Forest event; a kid friendly Halloween celebration.

Myself and a few volunteers helped visitors create butterfly mosaics using craft foam. We set tables up right alongside The Butterfly Project art installation and provided foam shapes for visitors to use as tiles.

The project was super easy, required little instruction and was simple enough for young kids with a short attention span. After all, there was a bounce house, face painting, Rita's Italian Ice and a handful of Junior Naturalists wandering around with live animals...plus several other eco-crafts to complete for prizes and candy.

My table was full for most of the day and I found it so interesting watching how the kids went about making their butterflies. I saw many different approaches to making mosaics. Creativity is a puzzling thing! No two kids had the same method.

I had one family that sat at the table for over an hour making their butterflies. This family rocked this craft out! The parents both had stellar butterflies when it was all said and done. They definitely had some mosaic mojo going on.

Here's an example of one of the butterflies that visitor made. There were many other excellent ones but I didn't have time to stop and take photos of all of them. Maybe next weekend.

Here's some more photos from the event:


(in yellow shirts) Junior Naturalist volunteers, Melanie K., me; photo © Virginia Burford

Strawberry Shortcake with Buffalo Bill the Sulcata Tortoise, photo © Virginia Burford

Devon, the Calusa Nature Center troll

And of course no nature center post would be complete without an obligatory photo of my favorite wrinkly slowpoke, Buffalo Bill...

Buffalo Bill, Sulcata Tortoise

I'll be back at the Calusa Nature Center this weekend for more butterfly making madness.

Work of Art - Season 2: Color me confused

2011-10-19T22:33:00.005-04:00

I want to like this show, I really do, but I find myself wanting to see more of the art and hear less about what isn't art or what is. Let me decide for myself damn it!

The time limits imposed on the artists definitely kills the creativity. I understand that it forces the artists to be creative RIGHT NOW but it also causes the art to be unfinished and uninspiring. Just my opinion maybe but I always turn the TV off feeling like things were incomplete.

I'm a very visual person. I don't "get" conceptual art. It just doesn't hold my attention.

When I look at art...a painting, a pencil sketch, a colorful mosaic; I am looking for something that catches my attention first. A visual clue that draws me into the piece and makes me want to know more about it. Once I'm hooked on the image, I'll become more inquisitive and the need to know the back-story will emerge.

I can't be sold on a crappy piece of art simply because the story is so intriguing...BUT...I have found myself wanting to like art once I know more about it. This is why I feel that an artist's statement is so important. Sometimes.

Yes, I revel in dichotomy. Sometimes it's a problem.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that ANYONE can come up with a wild ass concept for an art piece. It's being able to execute that idea that really makes someone a creative force. A long winded explanation of migration over time...something about North and South Korea...WTF?!

Was I watching the same show as you or was I drifting off into an altered state of consciousness for the last hour?

Tonight's episode of Work of Art just confused the hell out of me!

Why did Bayete win again?

What the hell is up with Michelle? Poop?! Seriously? Her paper sculptures are amazing but I don't get her logic with that "predatory" thing. Yuck.

Lola: Hot glue guns and shredded medical records. Damn. I've been way too hard on myself and my ideas.

I'm bored.

Lessons

2011-10-19T14:53:00.000-04:00

Last month I completed several weeks worth of work installing a large public art installation at a local nature center.

The permanent exhibit, dubbed The Butterfly Project, features mosaic butterflies that were donated by artists from all over the world. I put out an artist call in July of 2011 and by the end of the project there were over 160 butterflies installed on 4 walls.

Over 90 artists answered the call and butterflies fluttered in from everywhere, including Russia, Cyprus and Australia...to name just a few locations.

With every new piece of art comes an opportunity to learn something about my craft, about art in general and about what not to do next time.

It's those mistakes that really become lessons...and lessons help me become a better artist.

Some lessons learned while installing 160 butterflies made of glass. (in no particular order)

All mosaic mesh is not created equal. Cotton mesh and flimsy, fabricy mesh is not well suited to making mosaics. Find the stiffer stuff.
Don't rely on the self seal strips on USPS Priority Mail boxes. Seal your packages with tape! Several packages filled with butterfly donations arrived opened.
Use Lin Schorr's shipping tutorial as a guide when shipping a mosaic on mesh. Mosaics secured with bubble wrap or packing peanuts may not arrive intact.
Avoid using small beads or millefiori to line the edges of a design. There is nothing to hold them in place and they tend to fall off during installation and grouting.
Some seashells need to be sealed before using in a mosaic. Dark grout can stain unsealed shells.
Clear glass, transparent glass and sea glass will allow the mosaic mesh to show through once installed. The mesh can be hidden better (but not entirely!) by using a white thinset to adhere to your surface.
Mosaic designs with large gaps between tiles/glass are harder to work with. The thinset will push up through the spaces and will need to be removed before grouting and (god forbid!) drying.
Designs with varying levels of thickness (due to beads, uneven glass/tiles etc) are difficult to grout.
A toothbrush is a useful tool for cleaning the uneven surface of a wall after grouting.
An icing spreader (Wilton Cake Decorating) makes an excellent tool to spread thinset on the back of the mosaic before adhering to the wall.
A pool noodle cut into small sections works well to spread the grout onto the mosaics after they have been installed. The noodle is flexible enough to work the grout into the crevices and soft enough not to scratch mirror and glass. It's also cheap enough to toss out after every install.

Bravo's new season of Work of Art debuts!

2011-10-13T18:40:00.002-04:00

The long awaited season 2 of Bravo's show Work of Art debuted yesterday and I am right back to loving and hating the show.

I find it interesting to watch the artists work and am admittedly more interested in the ideas that spark their creations rather than the finished pieces because, frankly, I think the majority of the art sucks.

I have to give the artists credit though because I could never complete a work of art, showdown style, in a few hours. Mosaic art just doesn't work like that.

I decided on my favorite artists within the first 5 minutes of the show...

I'm rooting for The Sucklord, despite his ridiculous self-imposed title. How can you not appreciate someone that reveres The Lord of the Rings trilogy and wears his hair in a faux-hawk/rat-tail combo?

And Lola is my other fave. She's adorable and seemed to get shoved into the underdog role right away. It was nice to see her come out on top in the end.

I'm a bit surprised that they kept Bayete after he created that crappy excuse for a collage. Apparently I know nothing at all about art because that decision completely dumbfounded me. At least Ugo's artwork had personality!

Watching the critiques and listening to the comments made by the art "experts" reinforces my belief that art really is what you make of it. There seems to be no formal guidelines that critics use to determine what is good and why it is good. It's all a bit mystical really...and that irks me.

Give me some serious feedback without all the mystical mumbo jumbo and I'm a happy camper. Ram industry buzz words down my throat as you verbal punch holes in my creative process and you'll lose me every time.

So who are your faves and why?

Support the arts...(and artists!)

2011-10-11T13:00:00.003-04:00

Art isn't only visual

2011-10-06T10:21:00.000-04:00

I've been solely focused on creating visual art for some time now. Somewhere along the line the written part of my creative self got tucked away and forgotten.

I've missed it.

Creating visual art doesn't end when the glue is dry and the mosaic grouted. The artwork is complete when its story has been fully told. When the public leaves understanding just a bit more about what I am trying to say.

I'm making a concerted effort to explain the array of strange and colorful objects that I call art. I began those explanations on my website yesterday. Start here to read some of what I have to say.

The brief annotations aren't elaborate but somehow merely listing what the artwork is made of was just not speaking loud enough for me.

Butterflies abound

2011-09-06T14:50:00.001-04:00

It's been over a month since I posted here, mostly because I've been wrapped up with my new public art installation, The Butterfly Project.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with it, The Butterfly Project is a collaborative public art installation that I am working on at the Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium in Fort Myers, Florida.

In early July of 2011 I put out a call to artists through Flickr and a late call through CMA (a social network for mosaic artists) asking artists to donate a completed mosaic butterfly on mesh. By late July I was already receiving butterflies and by mid August when the last donation came in, I had received over 160!

Yes. One hundred and sixty butterflies.

I was swamped with them! (In a good way.)

I've been working on the installation for the better part of the last month and the mural is nearly finished. It's been a long, long road but a very rewarding one and I've learned a great deal about what to do and what not to do when working on a project this large. (I'll share all that in another post.)

Here are some pics from the installation...(you can view all of the progress photos and pics of the nature center's animals on the Butterfly Project blog.)

I still have a bunch of grouting and some touch ups to do but for the most part the installation is complete!

I am thrilled to be able to offer the art installation to the nature center (it was a donation - the whole thing!) and to be able to bring art to the public in some small way.

You can view a list of all of the contributing artists on the blog. There were artists that mailed butterflies from as far away as Russia and Australia!

Wacked out wild jewelry

2011-08-21T19:44:00.000-04:00

I took the last few days off from the Butterfly Project installation at the Calusa Nature Center to work on a commission...butterfly related, of course!

In the midst of all that, I found out that Fort Myers Zombicon had already put out their call to artists for this year's Dark Art exhibit. I haven't missed the exhibition in the last 3 years and was a bit upset that I wouldn't be able to come up with a piece of art for 2011. I have just been too swamped with butterfly related stuff.

Then it hit me...Zombie + Butterfly! How could I have overlooked it?

I've had a bunch of butterfly shaped jewelry blanks laying around for a while so I grabbed some polymer clay in the early morning on Friday and whipped up this kick ass undead butterfly that I titled, "Morph".

Here's a pic of the raw clay before firing and painting.

Morph - work in progress © Eve Lynch

And here is the finished piece of wearable art after firing and painting with several layers of acrylics.

Morph © Eve Lynch

The butterfly has glistening dichroic glass cabochons in the upper wings, a few scars and boils to amp up the creep factor and four razor sharp teeth made from stained glass shards on the bottom wings. Those teeth are seriously sharp!

The finished piece is Silence of the Lambs meets Night of the Living Dead.

How's that for undead?

Morph

"Morph" is available in my Etsy Shop until it's time for it to head over to Zombicon and the Dark Art exhibit.

I have another idea for a zombie inspired piece of jewelry that I might start working on now. These are so fun to make and it's a welcome respite from mosaic work.

So you think art is frivolous? Read on...

2011-08-19T08:45:00.000-04:00

A must read post by Lee Ann Petropoulos for any artist...art patron or person who has a pulse and enjoys beautiful things around them...

Rant Alert

If you think that artist made work is too expensive, take a trip to Target. They have all the mass produced crap that you could ever want.

The old county road

2011-08-16T07:32:00.003-04:00

It was pouring rain and barely light out as I pulled out of my neighborhood onto the old county road with no shoulder.

Five neighborhood ducks were in the middle of the road. Two had just been hit by a passing car. Their backs were pinned to the pavement and their necks were waving wildly as they struggled to get up.

They were surrounded by the remaining three ducks...all in shock. They were waiting, loyally. Waiting for the dying ducks to get up.

The sheer horror of the situation was evident by the way the other ducks were standing there, pacing back and forth...watching two of their own die. They looked desperate...trying not to get squashed themselves but keeping a watchful eye on the others.

I'm certain they felt the despair that I did as I passed.

By the time I returned to the spot in the road where the ducks had been, the dying ducks were a pile of macerated roadkill. The morning rush had decimated them. The other ducks were gone.

I won't forget it. Ever.

Heavy duty mosaic mesh

2011-08-12T10:14:00.001-04:00

I recently posted about the different types of mosaic mesh that I have encountered while working on The Butterfly Project installation.

There are flimsy, cottony types and stiff, heavy duty types. I prefer the latter because the mosaic is much easier to control when adhering it to the wall.

Someone emailed me asking about where to get the heavier stuff and I did a little digging...

Tennessee artist Sherry Warner Hunter sells light, medium and heavy duty mesh on her website. Her price list and order form is located here.

I did receive a mosaic or two on the heavy stuff. It was very stiff and held the mosaic in place very well. When I asked the artist where she bought the mesh, she referred me to Sherry's website...so, you can buy it there.

I also learned that mosaic mesh is called "glass scrim" and sometimes referred to as "AR fiberglass mesh" - meaning alkaline resistant. These terms might help if you need to do a search for the products in your area.

I have been unable to locate mosaic mesh anywhere in Fort Myers but I think it might be because of the terms I was using to ask suppliers about it. It's used commercially in concrete and stucco work so it must be around.

Here's a source for the glass scrim >>> Expressions -LTD

I'm not sure how you would be able to tell the weight of it without handling it first but it's a starting point.

Cheers!

Winged happiness

2011-08-09T21:01:00.003-04:00

Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

My head has been swirling with butterflies since mid-July, when I embarked on my second collaborative art installation, The Butterfly Project, featuring mosaic butterflies donated by over 60 artists from all over the world. This time I had donations from as far away as Australia and Russia!

After completing my first collaborative installation, the Messina Mural Project, I yearned to create another project of the same magnitude. An opportunity presented itself and I ran with the idea. The result is a giant swarm of butterflies - some of the craziest that you have ever seen.

Included in the swarm is a furry Sasquatch with butterfly wings, a flying stick of butter, an alligator with butterfly wings, and several more off the wall creations sent from artist friends from Flickr. Mixed with a sprinkling of beautiful but normal butterflies, the finished mural is going to be whimsical and eye-catching.

The butterfly mural is being installed at a local nature center, the Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium, in Fort Myers. The facility is a wonderful place to visit and has held a special place in my heart ever since my teenage son started volunteering there last summer.

Progress photos and information on all of the wonderful artists that have donated their time and artistry can be found on the project blog.

The willingness to share does not make one charitable; it makes one free. ~Robert Brault

Recycled butterflies

2011-08-01T09:11:00.000-04:00

I found these AMAZING butterflies and moths made by artist Michelle Stitzlein while looking for recycled art this morning.

I've had butterflies on the brain ever since starting The Butterfly Project, a public art installation that will be installed at the Calusa Nature Center in Fort Myers, Florida.

Catching a glimpse of Michelle's intense creations has inspired me to want to mix mosaic with assemblage.

Word is that it can take the artist 3 weeks working 8 hours a day to complete one of these. Definitely seems a lot like mosaic now!

I'd love to own one of these beauties.

Learn more about Michelle Stitzlein at Art Grange/Michelle.

Mosaic mesh will make you itch and other observations

2011-07-30T10:49:00.002-04:00

I started cutting away all of the donated butterfly mosaics from the mesh backing last night and came upon several different types of mosaic mesh.

I used a small pair of very sharp scissors, Non-Stick Precision Tip Scissors, that I bought specifically for this purpose...and I'm glad that I did because mesh can be difficult to cut using household shears. The scissors have a razor sharp tip perfect for slicing through stubborn strands of mesh.

After about 30 minutes of cutting I realized that I was covered with a combination of invisible glass bits, fiberglass thread and dried glue. The stuff was everywhere and I felt like I had taken a roll in that Pink Panther insulation that you stick in your attic.

Yuck! Today I'll be wearing gloves and covering my clothes so that this doesn't happen again.

I wanted to give you a look at the different kinds of mosaic mesh that was sent in with the butterfly mosaics and discuss the differences that I found in each.

1. I'll call this one STIFF FIBERGLASS MESH because this stuff was the most rigid of the bunch. The mosaics that were made on this didn't bend much and while it was kind of prickly on the edges, it definitely held the mosaics well. It did scrape my hands and forearms up when I was cutting it though and may have been responsible for a lot of the itching afterward.

2. This is NO DAYS MOSAIC MESH made by Streuter. The fiberglass mesh is coated with an adhesive that has to be heated in order to activate the glue. You can use either a heat gun or a home oven to activate the adhesive and set the glass pieces onto the mesh. I haven't used this myself yet but I think it would be difficult to do mosaics with very small pieces (like most of mine). Any bump or shift of the glass would cause you to have to redo everything.

3. This mesh was VERY THIN AND BRITTLE. The threads were woven in a chain link pattern rather than a grid and they were very fine, almost finer than sewing thread. They did hold the mosaic butterflies very well though so the delicate texture of the mesh is deceiving. This mesh broke into very small pieces when I trimmed it away from the mosaic work, kind of like getting a hair cut. Very itchy!

4. This is the STANDARD FIBERGLASS MESH that the majority of the mosaic donations were made on. It's fiberglass but the mesh has a softer texture and flexes easy. It was a bit trickier to cut this away from some of the glass because it has a texture (inside) that is more like cotton so the scissors were snagging on some of it. I think this is the mesh that is most commonly sold when you purchase online.

5. This is COTTON MESH. It is the consistency of a thin cotton undershirt and has a holey pattern rather than a grid pattern. There appears to be no coating on the mesh, fiberglass or otherwise. It is very flexible, it stretches and can be rolled into a ball. It was easy to cut but when you pick the mosaic up to attach it to your surface, the mosaic falls all over itself. This would be my last choice for making a mosaic because of the flexibility. It might be good for very small sections of work that need to be draped around a 3D substrate.

So that wraps up the comparison.

It's difficult to find mosaic mesh in craft stores but I would definitely shop around and look at the texture of each type before I planned a large scale project using it. The qualities of each type really do matter.

Here are some mesh resources and suppliers:

Harry Potter's Shell Cottage

2011-07-27T20:43:00.002-04:00

I caught the last and final Harry Potter movie this afternoon and I absolutely fell in love with Bill and Fleur Weasley’s Shell Cottage.

It was the inside of the place that caught my eye at first. The walls looked like they were made of cement, a type of seaside stucco, and had beautiful sea shells embedded into the surface in a simple pattern.

I could easily see myself living in a home like this, idyllic and serene, in some far flung corner of the world where only crabs and sea gulls reside.

I Googled the cottage to learn more about it and found some amazing photos of the facade. The scene came upon me so quickly in the theater that I didn't have a chance to really take it all in.

The entire exterior roof of the cottage is covered with large scallop shells.

You can see the design work in action in this photo:

And the finished cottage!

The most amazing part about this beautiful thing is that it was completely real, constructed in Wales, UK...but the most disheartening thing is that they demolished it after filming!

Misplaced beauty

2011-07-23T10:08:00.000-04:00

While thumbing through some Flickr photos this morning I couldn't help but think...

Can you imagine the outcome if we put a quarter of the attention into designing and building schools that we put into designing and decorating places of worship?

Instead of designing to impress a creator, we designed to inspire the mind...

Island art

2011-07-22T10:41:00.002-04:00

My family and I took a much needed vacation to the Florida Keys last week. The water is absolutely amazing there and I can see why so many creative types flock to places like this.

Inspiration is definitely ALL around you!

Just wanted to share some of the cool artwork that I came across while we were driving down US 1...

We found this cool aluminum octopus at Fishbone Art at Robbie's Marina in Islamorada. You can't tell from the pic but it's about 3 foot wide.

I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into Bass Pro's World Wide Sportsman store in Islamorada. The entrance to the shop had a giant copper map accented with mosaic embedded into the floor.

The design seemed to be a bit of an afterthought because it was hard to see the countries and the words WORLD WIDE SPORTSMAN...but it was still cool.

Robbie's Marina in Islamorada is painted with cool murals of tarpon and other local fish. This one is my fave. Love the colors!

My son had a blast getting his arm chewed up by hand feeding the giant tarpon!

One of the coolest things I came across was the wall of flotsam. The marina hung up all of the items that people had dropped into the water over the years. If you look closely you will find sunglasses and expensive cell phones and cameras!

I can't resist sharing a photo of this giant conch that my son found while snorkeling. The colors on the inside of this shell were gorgeous!

This strange little folk art style concrete "wall" was found near the old cemetery in Key West. It looks like it was made by drizzling a slurry of wet cement into little pillars. You can't tell by the photo but there are round mirrors embedded into the wall. It was a weird but interesting find.

I found this sea shell embedded curb right under a giant mural by artists Wyland and Guy Harvey in Key West. There was something very beautiful about its simplicity.

We spotted this awesome hand painted car with a corrugated aluminum roof in the parking lot of BO's Fish Wagon on Caroline Ave in Key West. The side of the car has crab pot buoys affixed to it!

One of my favorite finds was this giant (maybe 8 foot tall) sponge monster made from local sponges. There was one in Mallory Square and another in the quaint Historic Seaport section of Key West.

I came across a few mosaics while we were in Key West. There was a large mural and several smaller murals on the balcony of a building in Mallory Square done by school children and a local art organization.

And finally, my favorite find of the trip...a car with a glittering mirror mosaic on its hood located near the old cemetery in Key West.

I vow to someday do this to something that I drive!

Cheers!

Pennies as tile

2011-07-19T11:14:00.003-04:00

I just had to share this story...

Amanda Edwards from Mandolin Mosaics covered her entire kitchen floor with shiny new pennies. (Read the full article in the Portland Press Herald.)

YES...I said pennies!

I can't imagine that work that went into this but it looks amazing. I love copper and the round "tiles" look so mod.

She grouted it and then covered with polyurethane to protect it.

When I was little I used to take all of the dirty pennies in the house and clean them using vinegar until they were sparkling again...so this is right up my alley!

Messina Mural update!

2011-07-05T16:54:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update for all of the Messina Mural artists...

The center's PR person, Susan Bennett, has written up a nice feature on the mosaics for an upcoming newsletter. I will post it as soon as it is available to me. It will likely feature photos of some of the mosaics and information on how the Natural Playscape came about.

Susan was also kind enough to pass information about the project along to a local newspaper so I will be meeting with someone from the News Press this week.

This all came up so quickly and I need to have a mosaic on mesh ready to install so that the paper can get some "action" shots so I'll be whipping up a small invader mosaic to add to the outdoor gallery for this purpose. A bit challenging because mosaics just aren't made in a day!

Stay tuned for info...