snowy owl

Finished this 16 x 20 inch snowy owl mosaic that has been floating in my brain for a while.  I guess she was waiting for the right person to come along and take her home.  Pretty fab when I get something done and I have a home for it.  Love that.  I have never grouted something more challenging than that owl face.  Oh, and the whole thing is sitting pretty in an Evan Germann frame.  WOOT WOOT or should I say whooo whooo?

GREAT news

SO FREAKING HAPPY!  We just got physicals this morning and Rob's blood pressure is perfect.  Why is this so exciting?  Well even though Rob is at the gym 6 days a week and he's not overweight, his blood pressure was alarmingly high.  It runs in his fam.  At last year's physical the doctor checked Rob's BP four times because it read so high that the doc didn't believe the numbers.  He told Rob to head straight to the pharmacy, don't even go home first, AND please don't ever forget any pills.  Rob went to a lot of follow up visits to monitor the meds so none of these numbers are flukes.  His meds came with the warning of shitty side effects that all drugs come with.  In a years' time they had only a minor effect on his blood pressure. 

 

So at Christmas we got a vitamixer and started pounding down veggies, while cutting WAY back on meat and dairy.  Three months later, a blood test showed Rob's cholesterol was already down to just a smidge over norm but I bet now it is norm also.  Today it has been about 5 months since we started searching the internet and eating smoothies.  And you know?  I actually LIKE eating them.  Well, after this news, I LOVE eating them.  Hippocrates - "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food"  Oh, and since there is a side effect to everything you put in your body or brain, I will tell you there HAS been a side effect to smoothies.  We feel good.  Laughably, Rob is not impressed.  Like what?  This night and day difference in such a short period of time could be a coincidence?  WhatEVER!  I say we kicked genetics in the ass.  Rob's blood pressure meds are so nasty that he has to be weaned off.  After that, we will be thumbing our noses at big pharma.  WOOHOOOO!

OK, so this mosaic is just a happy little 6x6 mosaic I made last week.  "butterfly bling"  I thought it fit my mood.

Go Tar Heels!

 

What a stellar day.  I finished this work last week and it just got picked up.  This is what I live for and I kind of feel like, "How does it get any better?"  I don't always get to see people's reactions when they buy my work so this goosebump moment is something I treasure.  I gotta say, I LOVE commissions and this one was one of the best.  This one got me a check AND A HUG! 

 

I am not trying to pose as a sports fan.  I don't get sports at all... but for two weeks, I was all about tar heels.  I could have been their biggest fan!  I was searching all over the internet  looking for stuff about the player that was chosen and trying to see details that could be incorporated.  I even sought council from a tar heel aficionado, thanks Ryan!   This commission was fun, the final results pleased me, and pleased my client.  Those three things are all that is necessary for me to call it a flying success.

 

Oh, and am I worried about someone saying I copied their stuff?  Well, I didn't use any logos.  Colors are fair game.  Carolina did not invent argyle or a foot, and a two letter combo would be hard to lay claim to.

MifflinMiddle

So last night was the reception that MifflinMiddle gave to present the kids' mosaic to their parents. What a night...for real.  House was packed! They gave me flowers and this photo of most of the kids that helped.  The teacher I had been working with on the mosaic was the one that orchestrated the whole shebang.  The night was a collaboration involving kids and arts.  The kids provided music, both instrumental and vocal.  There was kids' visual art everywhere on the walls.  There were high school tech kids that did all the food AND they were shadowed by middle school kids.  I mean mini stained glass cupcakes??!!  COME ON!   

 

Maybe the best part was talking to a girl that said she was in one of the Mifflin high school classes that I spoke to last week.  She was there with her mom.  It feels good to know that some of the things I have been preaching are sinking in.  This 10 foot tall mosaic is just evidence of truth in my message- that everyone is capable of big things.  Please notice how young these kids are!  I took in cement board and sheets of glass.  BLAM!  You just know it looks 10x better in person too.  On the frame of the picture they gave me, it says, "enjoy the little things."  You know I do... but this was not a little thing.  This was one of the really big things.  So grateful.  Thank you Pennsylvania Council on the Arts for making this mosaic happen.  Thank you Cassie for going so far above and beyond.

America's favorite (cookie)

This whole thing started with a photo I had seen of an Oreo shown beside a Mayan calendar.  I had thought the texture was something that would be really fun and it started my wheels turning.  Once I got the Oreo done, someone said, "You need a glass of milk."  So skip the glass cause I prefer mine splashy, striped, and dotted. Then I was thinking of all these black and white things that might look good with an Oreo and with these in mind, I figured a UPC code could also work as a cool signature tile.  Mix that up and there you go.  "America's favorite (cookie)" is 36 x 20 inches.

cookies and cream

OK, first of all, this is not nearly finished.  I hardly ever show my mosaics ungrouted because they are like unfinished paintings.  This will look WAY better with grout but you can see where I am going.  This is the top half of my oreo mosaic and the bottom will be mostly stuff like my stripes and bubbles.  Hope this is done in about a week, who knows?  But YES, I finished my video for my last piece.  Here's the link to MEEP believing. on youtube.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MEEP believing!

I have been at this (hot and heavy) since before Christmas.  I gotta explain why I chose to do Jim Henson as my first ever actual portrait.  I have always been a Henson fan but when he featured David Bowie in a full length movie, that put me over the edge.  Think about this:  What kind of nutter thinks they can puppet for a living?  As a young man, what do you think his friends and fam thought when he probably talked about his ambitions?  Serious props to this guy. 

Now I know you shouldn't judge a muppet by the color of his fur but I am biased when it comes to blue and green.  Besides that, I just think it is cool to add a glass beaker!  Yunk yunk.  I hope to finish a video of this shortly.  Fingers crossed.

I have been criticized for my philosophies but I am finding more often than not that the people that I admire have the same thinking.  Just google Henson quotes and you could learn a lot.  I'll leave you with his most famous. "Life's like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending."  Amen, Jim!  I'll do just that.