Okay, it's still hard to tell from these photos, but that whole crusade ship scene and even red fabric behind the statue is all done in tiny mosaics. And the next picture shows a part of the ceiling and it's ENTIRELY done in tiny mosaic! This church (and amusement park) are a must see for mosaic fanatics.
Okay, so they were non-consecutive days. First I got sick, then Sarah got sick...anyway, not important. What matters is the fish. She/he is done and ready to be put on display at the Universal Precast Example Garden. Let me know if you need one for your garden! Yes, they can be any color and yes, they're heavy. They've got a whole school of 'em up there ready to be tiled (nudge nudge, wink wink)!
They asked me to do a rainbow trout. Poof! It's on it's way upstream. Sarah and I were getting a little cocky though after those huge Malibu animals were done. This fish seemed like a one day project. Oops. Not quite.
I've learned the hard way you've got to sign your work or no one will know you did it. My kids liked running from one piece to the next trying to find my name in Legacy Park where I mosaicked eight animal sculptures. I sell alphabet tiles online for those who want to sign their work too! Check out Rebel Tiles.com
Opening Day at Legacy Park, the kids are going nuts for these sculptures! They dart along the trails trying to get to the next one faster than their siblings.
Sarah and I with the Red Tailed Hawk
The entrance to Malibu Legacy Park has a beautiful tile medallion done by Malibu Ceramic Works.
October 2nd, 2010. Malibu Legacy Park was officially opened to the public with a face painting booth, snack table and ceremony. Kids frollicked along the crushed granite pathways to climb on the mosaic animals and get their pictures taken. I'm glad I got the chance to see the animal sculptures in their intended home, installed and ready for visitors! Each sculpture has an informational tile plaque beside it, and a bench seat covered in donor tiles. All of the flat tile work was done by Malibu Ceramic Works. I was honored to meet the owner, Bob Harris, and he gave us a private tour of his facility!
We were all a little worried that this one was going to end up looking like a baby chicken chick. This first photo shows the worry spot. It kind of looks like an egg with feet. However, once the eyebrow and other facial details went on and the grout went in, this thing was/is all owl. They'll be adding the concrete burrow on the back so it's a true burrow owl. Although all the speckling and spots made me think of spotted owls more than once. I had some larger pupil tiles made up for the eyes but they didn't fit the curve as well as these smaller ones did so it looks like he's been woken up during the day. Sarah did the tile work on the beak. She's amazingly detailed and patient. So here's the burrow owl coming it at lucky #7. One more beast to go!
I'm expecting this one to be the favorite of visitors. I just know so many people that love wolves that I think maybe it carries over to include coyotes also. But I keep meeting people that can't help but gripe about the coyotes that eat their neighborhoods pets. Mostly cats. Sigh. I just know this coyote makes me happy and up close that sea of earthtones has lots of blues and greens and even oranges hiding.
Here's that big lumpy Western Toad. I named him Takashi. I doubt it will stick, but he looked sort of sumo style when we were tiling him. He may well be my favorite. He came in as number 5, and that's my lucky number.
And away they went to Malibu, California. They're going to be installed in a new park off the Pacific Coast Highway called Malibu Legacy Park. Feel free to send me pictures if you visit them!
So the frog went first, then the newt, then the hawk, and then the kingsnake. Now for some photos of the send off.
I'm waiting on a kiln load of black circle tiles for the head and face of the snake, so until then, he/she is looking like he/she is wearing a powdered wig. The smoothness of this sculpture is going to be a great feature, as Sarah and I keep rubbing it when we're getting irritated by whatever workplace stressor comes along. Mostly, it's the heat of the Norcal summer that erks us.
Meet the newest addition to our oversized California native creatures collection. The mountain kingsnake! Bigger than the biggest anaconda, this thing will devour mundane public art in a single bite! And, it's gonna be smooth to the touch as we cover it with shiny pennyround tile. Much to my chagrin, we are now applying each tile individually, one by one, because if we try to add swatch by swatch it just looks bad. The surface curve does not agree with the tile on mesh approach. I think our hard work will pay off though. It looks better every day.
Steve from Limey Tees hooked me up with these cool work shirts to flaunt my tile brand. Accept no subsitutes! Rebel Tiles are the best!http://www.rebeltiles.com
I asked Gary if I could hook up some sort of mister thingie when it got hot and he said that he'd bring by a swamp cooler later. I assumed he meant one of those dinky ones that fit in a small window. Boy was I wrong! He pulled up his truck with this beast in the back and hooked it up. So now we're kinda spoiled... unless we step out of this things radius...then it's the rude awakening of Redding's summer temperatures.
I'm not normally the kind of person to be overwhelmed by a project's size. But making most of the tiles by hand? I'm starting to go a little crazy here.
I'm sure they don't want cute names for them, but that's what we've been calling them around the shop. They're both nearing completion and coming next will be the Mountain Kingsnake. That one will be the largest of the animals, requiring a wide-load permit. Can't wait!
My first ever bottle cap mosaic! Commissioned by the Wackness Bar, it was completed just in time for the World Cup!
Okay, it's still hard to tell from these photos, but that whole crusade ship scene and even red fabric behind the statue is all done in tiny mosaics. And the next picture shows a part of the ceiling and it's ENTIRELY done in tiny mosaic! This church (and amusement park) are a must see for mosaic fanatics.
My husband and I went to Barcelona last November for our 10 year anniversary! We of course knew all about the Gaudi mosaics there, but what I didn't expect to find was an entire church covered in mosaics on top of the mountain within an amusement park. Tibidabo is an amazing old amusement park from the late 1800's. The above pic is one of the 6 or 7 mosaic covered niches on the first floor of the church. It's hard to tell they're even mosaic because they're so intricate!
Here is the entrance to the church with a large colorful arched mosaic over the door.
Here is part of the upstairs floor mosaic. It's funny, but we actually saw the entrance to the church and then walked up the long spiral steps outside to an overlook of the park. You can see all of Barcelona from up there and even the edge of the ocean. Then, without much thought, we decided to take a peek inside the church and so this was the first hint of greatness that we got. I had no idea that the amazing mosaics were actually downstairs!
Then we signed a contract and off I go, glazin' dots like I do...
Then I glue them to fiberglass mesh in panels and the backsplash starts to take shape!
I can only hope he sends me pictures of the finished job after it's installed. I'm going to be shipping these babies away for good (sniff, sob) But what a cool kitchen he'll have!
Sarah and I with the Red Tailed Hawk
