Art Every Damned Day, Day 15

Can you tell I am getting a little tense about this "Art Every Day" thing? It was a good idea, in that I thought it might motivate me to get into the studio every day and get some things done. Oh, and I have! That is the good part. I really am having a good time with what I have been doing. The part that I am having a hard time with is the idea that in doing this thing that a lot of other bloggers are doing is that I feel I should be posting pictures of what I have done every day. This doesn't work so well for me.

I really am working on the Mt. Hood piece, and the reworked crow piece, but both are somewhat slow work and it just isn't interesting to post a photo everyday with minimal visible change to the piece. I like showing the beginnings of a project, then the drama of the finished piece when that happens. So be assured that I am working away on these things and you will see them all in good time. The alternative seems to be to either make crazy deals with myself ("let's see, if I sprinkle raisins on my morning cereal in a pattern, and take a picture of it, can I call that art??") or throw together some little thingie at the end of the day to post.

That said, here is my artful offering for today.

Now, honestly, this is pretty exciting! I have been working on this mosaic on a plywood table in the garage for a couple of months off and on and wondering all this time whether the whole thing was going to fall apart when we tried to transfer it from the table to the prepared concrete slab out in the yard. Success! We moved the table out to the yard and removed the legs from the table, so the mosaic was essentially just sitting on a round piece of plywood, waiting to slide into place once the mortar was spread.

I had glued the broken tile pieces to a mesh backing, which was actually that big hole canvas made for making rugs. The backing was pieced because I could not get a piece big enough for the whole circle. It would have been so much easier if it had all been one piece. We spread the mortar on the concrete, then I held the plywood with the mosaic over the mortared concrete and Ray carefully slid the mosaic off the tabletop into the mortar. It worked perfectly. The mortar needs to set for about a day, then I will grout the whole thing. That is why you see dark gray where the mortar has seeped up between the pieces in some areas, and the white edges of the tile pieces in other areas. Eventually this will be the bullseye center of a round paving stone/brick patio.

Some days I actually feel like I know what I'm doing, even if we're making it up as we go along.