Mosaic Mom

I have accumulated a shelf load of mosaics and am working on creating a shelf load of short stories.

Just thinking out loud...

Got the brochure about the SAMA conference...Yikes! Sticker shock! How about a conference that the rest of us could afford to attend?

Glad to see an advertisement for the Mt Dora Arts Center Christmas Show and sale...hope someone wants some mosaics!

I wish I'd get the honorarium check from the group I had in for a workshop November 14th! I guess I'll have to take my friend's advice and invoice them.

I'm off to run a bunch of oddball errands today...to the swimming pool store for a new alligator floaty chlorinator; to send another Amazon.com book to its buyer; and to start Christmas shopping for Plant Daddy...but I kinda gave away the secret when I asked him what brand of golf cart he drives at work...duh!

Ta ta for now!

Plant Daddy Saved Christmas this morning...TWICE!

Mosaic Mom did not do too good a job packaging this tree for shipping. Plant Daddy had to pull over at the Chevron and do a re-wrap. Nargh!

Then Mosaic Mom did not accurately measure the framework where the plywood had to drop in. Plant Daddy took the plywood back home, re-cut, installed it and saved the day.
He's a HERO!

Here's the results...

Go see it for real at Mastertile on Hwy 19 in Tavares through Jan 4th.

This is going to be so much fun!

Plant Daddy and I will be toting Oh!Christmas Tree...the 5ft. tall Mosaic Christmas Tree...over to Mastertile in Tavares, to set up the Holiday Display!

It's going to be amazing!

This is the location we will be transforming into a winter wonderland of Bisazza insanity!

Yesterday was Plant Daddy's Birthday!
What a great day we had...

First, Little Mind Escape was here after her overnight Thanksgiving holiday visit, and she and I got to sing the Happy Birthday chorus. She got Dad an assortment of exotic flavor sausages and organic sausages and strange meats in 'em sausages. Yummy!

I got PD a giant Swordfish, you know like when you walk into Red Lobster and they have fish decor hanging on the walls? I found a catalog and ordered...just wait till Christmas...tee hee! Other sea creatures abound!

Big Al came over and he and PD worked on Z cars and got the front axel fixed on Al's car. PD also is remodeling the mist house, which really needs it after 30 years of algae build up.

He found that the wood on bench 3 was totally rotten. It would only have been a matter of time before it collapsed!

His friend Lee and his brother Marc phoned. His Mom gave him a roll of quarters. And right before bed, Plant Daddy got his last gift of the day...

T-shirts!

An assortment to last another year.

That's a happy day, Baby!

Mosaic Mom's To Do List Today...

Eat turkey
Sit on sofa
Eat turkey
Sit on sofa
Eat turkey
Sit on sofa
Eat turkey
Go to bed.

The day before Thanksgiving, I am thinking about diet and exercise...but not too much! I am more concentrating on cranberries and beets.

A few years back I was a regular swimmer at the YMCA. Belynda worked there.

I was working on a personal goal of swimming a mile every single day for a week. The regular lifeguard, Chad, was supposed to be on duty, but (as usual) no one could find him.

I really wanted to do the swim, so Belynda came from her office and life guarded me.

Swim accomplished! Goal accomplished! Had to go to a massage therapist to unkink my left shoulder, but that's another story.

Also while I was going regularly to the Y, Belynda approved the YMCA Student Art Gallery Program. It was a great venue for Lake County High School kids to exhibit their art. Every 3 weeks, Plant Daddy and I would go collect artwork from the teachers, mat it, and hang it.

Over 400 people a day were seeing the art program from the schools/ from these art kids. Kids and teachers really loved it.

The plant business is about community. Real and true community.

Here are Belynda and Mike at the conference. Their company takes a newly developed hybrid, puts it in test tubes and makes a gazillion clones then sells them world wide.


But the real story is that with out Mike, Mosaic Mom and Plant Daddy would be cripples. Totally unable to move.

Remember when Mom fell off the chair while mosaicing and sprung the knee? Remember when Plant Daddy's hip was so bad he lived out of an Advil bottle?

It was Mike who said,"Go see Chuck Wolf, the exercise specialist"

We did and we got fixed up back to spiffy again.

We are forever greatful to Mike for this.

Many...not all, but many of the sponsors at the conference came off with an attitude of "Here we are you lucky little breeders" It was condescending and it showed.

On the one hand the sponsors were showing slides about how big and how rich and how worldwide they are.

On the other hand they were saying privately "Look little breeder, you may never actually get to the table at this big party"

If the sponsors really want to bring small independents into the plant development process, they/sponsors must 1)begin a program of education and 2) form relationships of trust.

So Plant Daddy and I leave the opening reception/cocktail hour/bar and head up to our room at the Orlando Airport Marriot.

Beautiful room.
And what was best was the catalog.

On the desk by the TV was a catalog from which you could order all the things from your suite...
Like the comforter? Buy it.
Like the chair and ottoman? Order it delivered to your house in your choice of fabrics.
Like the bath robe or the fluffy towels? call the 800 number.

It's also a reminder of what you will be charged if you steal the towels, but this is what I really appreciated...

Some years ago I stayed at Callaway Gardens. I really, really liked the soap.

They did not sell the soap in the gift shop.
They did not have a catalog.
There was no easy way to get more soap.

I came home, looked up the soap company via internet and phoned them. They did not care much about retail business, but they did let me buy some soap.

Too much hassle. I never re-ordered.

I liked the Marriot's soap, too. It was Citrus and Ginger.

I can order it from their catalog.

Good thinking, Marriott!

Friday night I was thinking I might attend the art opening which included a showing of my mosaics at Mt Dora Center for the Arts. HOWEVER...

Plant Daddy came home and said, "Let's go to the Independent Plant Breeders Meeting in Orlando. Pack a bag!"

"Woo Hoo" says I, tossing my pj's and toothbrush into a tote!

We had a total ball.

I will write a complete tell-all report...except for the part where I had a bit too much Crown Royal and planned a motorcycle trip through Hawaii with an Anthurrium Breeder other than Plant Daddy...but hey, Plant Daddy had too much Corona and he offered to pay for the gas for the motorcycle!!! Hmmm!

I learned a lot and have a new and exciting direction for plants again.

We just walked in the door and I collected the mail only to find that the latest issue of Florida Gardening Magazine has hit the stands!

What is that article? The Dependable Dozen? Who wrote that?

I'll catch up again tomorrow after I unpack!

The good news is...Someone gave Stetson $1,000,000 to build an Oscar Bluemner Museum! Yay!


The bad news is Coverings Trade Show is moving out of Orlando to Chicago next year. Boo!


Coverings Is Coming to Chicago
April 17 – 20, 2007
McCormick Place Chicago, Illinois USA

The Ultimate Tile and Stone Experience – Coverings – will be held in the ultimate trade show city – Chicago – in 2007.
Be the first to know about new event invitations, conference updates and special offers we're planning for Coverings 2007. Click here to fill out our mailing list form.
After five consecutive years in Orlando, Coverings will move to Chicago for 2007. Chicago is a world-class convention city certain to please the 30,000-plus international and domestic visitors and exhibitors. Chicago is also convenient to a huge concentration of building industry professionals and flooring distributors, many of whom will be attending Coverings for the first time.


Mosaic News...
I will be taking Pot-o-Java to the Arts Center tomorrow for the Christmas Show!

The Eustis Garden Club came over and made mosaic plant stands this morning.

What a great group! They were artistic and they composed beautiful "Treasure Island" Plant Stands.

I know these plants are traveling with their mosaics to caring, loving homes.

The mosaic studio is all ready for 15 students coming for class tomorrow!

Got the spoons grouted yesterday and a big thank you to Custom Polyblend grout! They have very good color consistency between batches! Their white grout also does not go off towards yellow, either.

I still have a third grouting to do on this mosaic strawberry jar...the devil is in the details...but it should be ready by late tonight!

I made a beginner's mistake on the mosaic strawberry jar.

I began the grout without enough supply to finish the project.

Today I went to the store and bought another box of white grout of the same brand...but I run the risk of the color not matching. Tomorrow will tell...

All the spoons are attached and I'll call the piece "Pot of Java".

I also bought a candle that smells like lemons, and a couple of shirts for Plant Daddy's upcoming birthday...Yay!

Over at Tavares High, the art club kids are starting a new mosaic wall project.

This time we are doing it onto Durock/Hardibacker/CFB so that it can be removed and saved if necessary!

For newcomers to the story, THS students spent 4 years on the last mosaic wall project only to have it torn down 2 years after completion to make way for a new science building! Lesson learned!

So today, they began the process of transferring the cartoon to the board.

Garden Mosaics.

Add a colorful focal point to your patio or garden. Use mosaics to design a stepping stone, small birdbath or terracotta pot.

Materials fee $10.00 per project.

Mondays beginning January 22, 2007

Tavares High School Art Room

Contact Jeanette at 352-253-6780 to register!

I know a song about everything. Even like today when I couldn't even find spoons!

I want to make the top of this strawberry pot encircled with spoons...goes with the coffee cups, yes?

I go to the Dollar Tree. They got knives. They got forks. They got no spoons!

I go to Beall's Outlet...but I'm not paying $1.99 for fancy spoons just to glue them on a mosaic.

I go to Goodwill. Yay! They got spoons and they give me a senior discount! There's a reason not to dye my hair! I saved eleven cents! Woo Hoo!

So here's my evening's work...drive myself mad with some cheap stainless steel...

I do love going to art museums, so when Little Mind Escape suggested we go see the visiting French Impressionist Show at the Orlando Museum of Art, I was ready.

I let her drive.

Her little apartment is 15 minutes from the downtown arts district. She is zippy…but doesn’t scare me (too much). And…She knows her way around without getting lost. I can’t tell Orange Avenue from Michigan, so letting her steer was the right choice.

The show of Impressionists was good, but they weren’t all French. LME liked THE (singular) Monet. I liked the Pizarro’s and the Hassem’s. We both liked the frames throughout!

It was a small show. We would have wandered around the whole Orlando Museum, but they had it shut down while the socialites were setting up their Christmas tree displays. What to do?

We decided to see Rollins College Art Museum. We hadn't visited since the remodel over there.

Holy Moly! The new Cornell is nice! Arthur, the director, has done done a good job on that there art shack!

The usual old relics that hung in the Cornell had actually been changed. Abracadabra! Fresh stuff!

I really liked a piece by an artist from Connecticut that had made a mosaic composition out of slate roof tiles and watercolor paintings. Wish I had written his name down.

LME liked a mustard colored tree on the wall perpendicular. We both disliked the new Georgia O’Keefe acquisitions.

With a few hours left to visit, I wanted to try to find Theo’s new art digs over at UCF. However, LME REFUSED to drive on that campus. Not that driving on campus is bad; parking is impossible. So UCF will have to wait.

So we compromised and tried the sculpture garden at Crealde. Neither of us had been through it. But alas, they were closed on Sundays. We’ll be going back tho.

Then LME bought me dinner at Seasons 52 up in Altamonte. WOW!

I can’t believe that’s a Darden CHAIN restaurant. That was the best vegetarian plate I have ever had. Grilled acorn squash, asparagus, broccoli, onion, carrot, rutabaga, mushrooms, tofu and a side salad taboulie. Boston cream pie for dessert. Yeah Babe!

But wait there’s more! LME downloaded music on a CD for me so I could rock out on the drive home. I got Beck and Shaggy and Jefferson Airplane and Donovan…to name a few.

What an awesome day!

What to do with extra coffee mugs congregating in the cupboards?

Put them to use as a mosaic strayberry pot planter.
I have just gotten started, but love the colors already!

Writing and Mosaics are alike because they both LOOK easy, but they aren't!

Every time I have a booth at an art show, people say, "That looks so easy" And they tend not to buy mosaics because they think they can go home and make it themselves.

And sure, anybody can slap some mortar and tiles around and get something colorful and practical, but to do mosaics right takes study and practice.

Today I wrote a story...and I really worked at it. I used tools I gained in the class I just finished. (When all else fails, consult the design document,duh!)

It's easy to throw words on paper, but there's study and skill needed to make a good composition.

I have a new photo posted over at Society of American Mosaic Artists (SAMA) website.
It's "Oh! Christmas Tree...the Bisazza tree I worked so hard on all summer. The site seems to take a while to load the photo...or maybe it's just my slow dial up service...anyway...go see SAMA photo

Mt Dora Center for the Arts phoned yesterday afternoon and we talked about placing this piece there in the Holiday Show.
I voiced my concerns about artwork that goes "missing" from their gallery only to re-appear (We found it "abandoned" in the back room) after the holidays...just in time for the fundraising auction.

Oh Christmas tree weighs a ton, so I didn't think it would grow legs...like my mirror and my table did...still I asked for a conditional clause in the artist agreement that the piece is not to leave the gallery.

I was just about talked into entering the show, when the lady called me "Kathy". WHo is Kathy? But more to the point, was she even listening?

She also asked me about teaching mosaics for them in the spring. I'll have to think about that one.