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I just figured out (when my friend told me) how to set up my blog so that I will get notified if someone posts a comment. Jeez, it's only been a blog for like 4 years (!!) Well now, if you comment, I will get an email and can comment back. How's that for modern action? I tried to find this feature many times before and because of this, I will say blogger is not user friendly (can't find the underline feature...)in this area. They have a comments section (useless) and a "settings" section under which you will find the other "comments" section where you will have to (again) put in your email. Shouldn't this be the default? Sheesh.

Xmas Mushroom Tile!

Here's my new mushroom tile just in time for Christmas! You can find it on my Etsy store where I put all of the new or misfit tiles that you can't find at rebeltiles.com. Check it out in my Etsy store here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/87713348/festive-red-and-white-xmas-mushroom-tile

The botanical mosaic mural at Magnolia Gift & Garden in Chico, CA!  It's done!  Come check it out and buy some beautiful plants and pottery while you're at it!

Tiles for Haiti!

Individually wrapping these tiles ended up taking way too much time. There was 11 benches worth of a 40 word paragraphs all in Haitian kreyol (creole). That's 1,694 characters! After 4 benches worth of wrapping the words for hours, I switched to stacking the tiles and bubble wrapping the stacks. Cool things I learned: kominote=community, and tranbleman=earthquake. The benches Laurel True is making over there are beautiful! I'm sending warm healthy wishes to the wonderful people of Haiti ("Ayiti").

~~~River Themed Art Wall~~~

A little odd location wise (behind a tree and electric utility pole) but beautiful nonetheless. This is also my chunkiest, most 3-D poke out mosaic I've ever done! Bottles, figurines, plates, cup handles and the like fill out the sedimentary curving layers of this river themed abstract mosaic. Of course I just had to add glow in the dark stripes along the middle section as outlines.

New Video of my glow tiles!

See my fun glow tiles in action! New video!

Dragon mosaic takes shape~

I kinda-sorta volunteered myself and the unknowing Sarah when I kinda-sorta offered to do a staircase mosaic over at the Double Happiness Ranch. I was pretty much thinking of a hap-hazzard quick mosaic of all my scrap tiles I've collected too much of but Sarah was thinking on a much grander scale when she designed this glorious and elegant dragon! I'm glad she did, she's a great designer! I just need to learn to think before I speak, and to never volunteer other people without first consulting them! How rude! Clearly I need a code that means "I'm thinking quick and funky with no design that we can knock out in a day" nudge nudge, wink wink! Oh well, It's going to be much more fabulous than I ever imagined!

Glow in the dark skull finished!

I'm glad to say I finished the giant glowing skull! It took me a few months to cover the foam skull first with thinset and mesh and then after a few layers of that hardened shell I slowly covered every inch of it with glow in the dark tile (and some standard stained glass and glass tile in the parts that didn't need to glow). This is going to be my big ticket item at the upcoming GLOW SHOW, a blacklight and glow in the dark themed art show that I'm participating in as well as curating. The show will be at the end of August at the RayRay Gallery in downtown Chico. I'm already learning so much about things that glow under blacklight! More soon!

Giant breast anyone?

If anyone wants a giant mosaic breast, just let me know! They've got a pair of them up at the cement plant in Redding! Oh sure, they'll try to tell you that they're sea shells or some nonsense. I'm not buying it. Wouldn't they look great in front of a gynecologists office?

Polka dot kitchen pic!

I finally got a picture of the polka dot kitchen that I made for my client in Texas! It was all done through the mail: He mailed me an idea of what he wanted and gave me measurements and then I made all the circle tiles and glued them to mesh and mailed them off to him. I'm so glad it turned out. How fun! I love polka-dots

World's Largest Mosaic? World Record in Hanoi!

In Hanoi Vietnam, they have created a mosaic that spans 3.8 kilometers! You can read the full story here (and see a tiny glimpse of it): http://www.gomtrungnguyen.com/en/News/largest-ceramic-mosaic-to-be-unveiled/ Just when I think my stuff is so big...

Black Panther!

Now she's done from head to foot! And for reals! Look at that tiled underside! Some day I'll get pics of it glowing in the dark (the teeth and folds)

Mosaic onto plaster part II

Once your plaster shape, be it animal or thing, has dried with two or three layers of mesh and thinset, it is ready to be covered in tile in the mosaic style of your choice!

Mosaic onto plaster!

First, you are going to want to prep the heck out of your plaster beast. Cover the thing from head to toe with thinset and fiberglass mesh. Let it dry overnight and again cover it from tail to head with thinset and fiberglass mesh. Even the underside! This can be very time consuming. I prep the underside because if you want this thing to survive outdoors, you need to protect the very thing it sits on. I even tile the bottom as you'll see later...

Legacy Park Mosaics Video

When I first put this video up on youtube I was surprised when they told me that the video was banned in Germany because of my music choice. My other video has an obscure German punk band and it was fine, but having Henri Mancini? Banned in Germany? Oh well, this video is exclusively of the mosaics in Malibu's Legacy Park.

My new mosaic video! 3 minutes of eye candy!

Finished the glow-in-the-dark shower mosaic!

Here it is with the lights out...And here's what it looks like during the day. Glow in the dark glass floats my boat. It makes me smile. Keep a look out for my glow in the dark mosaic exhibit later this year!

Awesome Lichtenstein mosaic!

Down by the waterfront in Barcelona, there is this giant sculpture by pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. The gray cement base is taller than me!

Spain Rules!!!!

I finally got to touch the mosaics at Park Guell up close! Here I am at Casa Batllo, another amazing Gaudi creation. I always loved the split glazed pots that ride up the edge of the roof like a beaded necklace. They call it the dragons back.

I seem to remember having a headache the day we visited the Sagrada Familia. It still was really amazing and beautiful with giant cement trees and stained glass. The mosaics were so high up you couldn't reach them or really even see them.