Silent Beauty - Mixed Media Mosaic Butterfly

My butterfly wall mosaic, pieced from stained glass and Mexican smalti glass, is now complete!

"Silent Beauty"

From a photo I took of a Mangrove Buckeye Butterfly at the Manatee Viewing Center, FL

~ 11" x 7" . 

The butterfly portion was pieced from stained glass using a double indirect method.  See previous post for a WIP picture.  After piecing (on sticky paper), I glued paper to the face, flipped the mosaic and peeled off the sticky paper. I then adhered it to a section of concrete board using thin-set mortar. This portion is grouted in mocha brown.

The background was pieced with Mexican smalti laid with the direct method. The flowers and major leaves pieced first, then the accent reeds in tan, and finally the rest of the background. The background is grouted in black. Generally smalti type glass is not grouted, but the Mexican type is smooth on the face (vs the Italian type that is used cut edge up and often will have tiny air bubbles that fill in when grout is used) and I felt the black grout would help the background to recede and the butterfly to 'pop'.  

Finished with an edge of black stained glass. Wired and ready to hang.

New Mosaic Art Butterfly WIP

Butterfly measures about 9" x 5" and is pieced from stained glass. Working title is "Silent Beauty". Finished mosaic will measure about 10 3/4" x 7".  {Odd size, yup. I've a few of these odd sized small boards on hand. Might make a related series with them. And then move on to using standard sizes that can be easily framed!}

I started this project last month and then stalled while I pondered how to approach the background (earlier WIP picture in previous post).

Next up: Transfer this to a piece of concrete board. Right now it is assembled on clear contact paper and you are looking at the right side. I'll glue paper to the face, remove the contact paper from the back, glue the butterfly to the concrete board then remove the glued paper.

The idea is that the butterfly will have a beautiful smooth texture and the background will be more highly textured for contrast.  I've decided to use smalti for the background. That should give it a nicely textured look and the uniform material will not detract too much from the focal. And I get to play with smalti :)

Cat Silhouette Sun Catchers

Cat Silhouette Suncatchers

 And now I know there is a strong correlation between a love of mosaics and a love of kitties! Half of the 18 kitty silhouette suncatchers I made are on their way to new homes- but the ones above are still waiting for their forever home :)  

Hand-cut 22 gauge copper kitties were torch-enameled in black and added to a glass mosaic 'scene'. Copper foil around edge with hanging loop and suction cup.

These suncatchers, along with a few other suncatcher designs, are available in my Etsy shop.

Meanwhile, I have been working on a new, smallish, wall mosaic. First of at least two planned for this subject. Sneak peek:  

Torch-Fired Enamel Leaves for Mosaics

I've been playing with the copper, enamels and torch again!  

From my silhouette pieces I made recently I had a bag of odd shaped 'scraps' of 22 gauge copper. So I shaped quite a lot of them into leaves using metal shears. Each one has a little 'tab' that I used to hold the shape for torch firing. (Click the photo if you'd like to see it larger.)

I used Barbara Lewis's torch method of heat and dip in enamel, after first cleaning the cut shape well. The beauty of this method is that it also coats the edges of the shape with enamel meaning no fussy filing was necessary. But the difficulty of this method is that the tool you are holding the shape with inevitably also gets a dusting of enamel, which then, of course, will fuse to the tool making removal of the fired shape a problem. To try to solve that issue, I dipped the tweezer points in bead release solution. The kind often used for the mandrels when making lamp-worked beads.

Coating the tool with bead release worked out fairly well. It needed to be reapplied after a handful of leaves and did leave a bit of residue on the tab and back of some leaves. But I'm not concerned with the back, or the tab, since these are intended for placement on top of a mosaic and the tab will be buried in a grout line.

Next up- dreaming up a project to use these leaves in!

A new element in my mosaics - torch-fired enamel pieces

I have been playing with fire lately and learning torch-fired enameling. Very fun way to create elements for adding to my mosaics.

 I've had two main print sources for learning the basics on this process. Barbara Lewis has an excellent book
"Torch-fired Enamel Jewelry.. A Workshop in Painting with Fire"  (as well as a studio in St Petersburg, FL). With her book in hand, I set up my own little space to create.  Some of the first pieces I made were leaves that I incorporated into this bird mosaic. Click image to enlarge.

The second excellent book I bought was by Linda Darty "The Art of Enameling". She covers all techniques, both kiln fired and torch-fired, with great technical details and interesting projects with step by step directions.

Additionally I've found that there are classes locally in enameling. Great hands-on learning! I took a class at The Morean Arts Center in St Petersburg with Jan Wunsch and another at the Arts Center Manatee in Bradenton, FL with Sondra Hirssig.

Check out your local arts centers and see what they offer.

See my Fire and Rain Mosaic in Person

Edit: This show has closed. The mosaic window is now available in my Etsy MosaicSmith shop - direct link.

My "Fire and Rain" mosaic is currently on display as part of the Member's Show at the Morean Arts Center in St. Petersburg, FL.  If you happen to be in St. Petersburg before October 28th, do stop in and check out the exhibit.  Over 180 fantastic pieces of local art- many of which are for sale.

I was honored to receive an honorable mention award for this piece at the opening reception.

The gallery is at 719 Central Avenue and, behind the gallery, don't miss the Hot Shop! Some of the glass in the flower buds on the Fire side of this mosaic are broken bits from Morean hot shop glass.

More: How to Make Glass Numbers and Letters to Mosaic

Find at art and fabric stores in rolls or sheets.

I did another post a while back on making stained glass numbers but wanted to re-visit the subject with a couple additional tips and more photos.

This method will make letters and numbers that appear, from a distance, to be one piece of glass although actually composed of sections. Very useful for readability of house numbers and signs.

[Click images to enlarge.]

Previously I used a paper pattern to trace around. I have since found Saral Transfer paper, especially the yellow color, works quite well on glass. My red works ok as well, but not the blue and white. Don't know why. Maybe just my package??

1. Make a template. First I type my words or numbers in a word processing program, select a font and size then print. For this method you will want an actual size printout.


 2. Trace your template. Clean your glass, then simply position your printout template over your selected section of glass, slip the transfer paper in underneath, and trace your image.

Not quite in the right place, need to re-do? The transfer on the glass will buff off or wipe off with a bit of glass window cleaner.

Above are the tools I use to 'cut' out my image from the glass. Left to right:

Running Pliers, Grozier Pliers, Breaking Pliers, Glass Scorer, Wheeled Nippers, Metallic Permanent Marker

3. Score the glass.

A.  First score around the entire transferred outline.
B. Next score rough break lines. For this image I made five rough break lines.

How did I decide where to put the rough breaks?
First task was to section off the top of the five. Then section off the upright area connecting the top to the curved bottom. Now the curved bottom needed to be sectioned so the wheeled nippers can get in there and nip away the extra glass. Too large a curve and the glass will want to break straight, not curved! I added score lines to section it into three pieces.

 4. Break glass on rough break lines.

Use the running pliers to break the glass along the rough break lines.

Shown here is the first break. You'll note this is not a perfect system and sometimes the glass just does not break where you scored.  I was lucky and it deviated outside of my image.

Do have extra glass on hand to re-do your image if the glass does not cooperate :/

< Here all five rough break lines are broken using the running pliers.

Tip: As you make each break, put the pieces back down to re-make the image.  It is quite easy to get lost now, especially if you inadvertently turn a piece, or turn over a piece.

5. Finish shaping the image pieces.

Finesse time.
Here I will use the grozier & breaking pliers together and/or the wheeled nippers.  Just depends on the shape. For short straight breaks, use the pliers combo.

For gentle curves use the wheeled nippers. Nip off a small amount at a time until you get to the score line around the image. I have a general rule of thirds- nip off no more than 1/3 of the way to your drawn line at a time.

Do be sure your nippers have fresh cutting edges. Use the little allen key that comes with it to loosen and turn the wheels if the glass takes force to nip.

 6. Cleanup and assembly.  I use a bit of ammonia based glass cleaner on a paper towel to clean off the transfer paper line as well as any oil from the scorer or my hands.

And the clear tape is used to hold the pieces together until they can be glued.

Working direct, place tape on the right side of the glass. Align each piece precisely and glue down to your board altogether.

Working indirect, place tape sticky side up on your table and assemble glass on top of tape. Glue down on your board altogether by flipping over onto board so right side is down and tape is now up.

Got a sign to make, give this method a try.  You can see some projects I have used this method with by either clicking stepping stone or sign here or in my word cloud at right -do be sure to scroll down as a few posts will pop up, including a few where other methods were used.

Part 2 - Reversible Mixed Media Glass on Glass Mosaic

Part one of my discussion of my "Fire and Rain" glass on glass mosaic can be found here: http://www.mosaicsmith.com/2012/07/reversible-mixed-media-glass-on-glass.html

Both sides of "Fire and Rain"

I should clarify- this mosaic is a bit more than a simple glass on glass project. It is really all about layers and could more properly be described as a glass sandwich where a pane of clear glass is the 'filling' and the 'bread' on each side are two unique, but related, mosaics. In addition, the focal flower on the 'fire' side is mosaiced on an additional layer of curved clear glass for the petal. (This process is the focus of Part 1, linked above.)

This post will focus on the process and design decisions for the 'rain' side mosaic.



The 'fire' side needed an upbeat mood.  Clear, vibrant, colors were chosen for that side and the leaves were oriented in a predominantly upbeat position as well. The grout lines for the sky were deliberately random but piece sizes graduated smaller going toward the horizon to give an expansive feeling to the sky. Brighter blue in the upper sky and blue/purple for the lower were chosen to help lead the eye down, as were the predominantly slanting groutlines in the sky.  Flower stem and leaf center vein lines help lead the eye around to the focal flower.

'Fire" side of "Fire and Rain" - detail

But for the 'rain' side, I wanted a more somber mood. Muted colors were key but were carefully chosen so each area was distinct. The central flower is still the focus but construction here was completely different from the 'fire' side.

Textured glass was used where the petals folded from the weight of the rain; very smooth glass for the un-folded portions.

First, the petal shapes were cut in one large piece each, then the petal was scored/broken along vein lines. The pieces, when reassembled and glued in place, had barely any space for grout but enough that a subtly deeper tone of grout defined the vein lines. Click photo for larger view.

Leaf orientation is more somber on this side with their more vertical placement. Stronger emphasis on flower stems both aid in eye movement and contribute to a less-lush feel.

Both sides of "Fire and Rain" - viewed in sunlight

When working glass on glass, the importance of light must also be considered. Especially how the opaqueness of glass and grout on each side interact.

So the light would shine through the 'fire' side central flower, all the flower glass chosen was opaque enough to stand alone in dim light situations but translucent enough to let sunlight make the flowers glow.

Leaf and grass glass is all very opaque but the sky glass on both sides transmit light well. Narrow sky grout lines on the 'rain' side give that side a rain effect but, since they are narrow, only add subtle depth to the 'fire' side sky.

Finishing details: Mosaic is set into a wood frame with a black patina and secured with hand crafted solid copper L brackets that have been hammered and also have a black patina. Mosaic title and artist signature are engraved on small copper plates.

Reversible Mixed Media Glass on Glass Mosaic - Part 1

This series of posts will highlight some of the how-to on the making of my "Fire and Rain" glass on glass reversible mosaic. Below is the finished main flower on the 'Fire' side. Click images to enlarge.

Fire side of "Fire and Rain" 9 7/8" x 14 3/8"

The flowers on this side are all made up of individually mosaiced flower petals.

First I cut up a clear glass jar that previously had been used to hold spaghetti sauce. The wide mouth made it easy to use wheeled nippers to get in there to break the glass. Look at the jars in your pantry and you may also see some with interesting curves to the jar glass, especially those with non-vertical sides.  This one had a nice wide curved shoulder area that then sloped down to a highly curved sort of foot area.

Each of those five flower petals above is one large piece of shaped clear glass.

• Once I had my jar broken into large chunks, I played with their orientation so the curves resembled flower petals.  
• Then I marked them with a sharpie marker and nipped them into their final shape with my wheeled nippers. 
• I finished the shaping with my grinder to ensure no sharp edges and to give the edges a 'frost' look.
• When I was happy with their shape, I used GE Silicone II glue to attach them to a sheet of clear glass as well as to each other.

Next step was to prepare the colored glass for the mini mosaics for the flower petals.

I nipped narrow, about 1/8",  bits from colored glass. My plan was to use these bits cut side up on top of the petals. Then the natural curve they have from the wheeled nippers could be used to follow the curve of the clear glass petals. BUT, people touch mosaics! So, to smooth the sharp edges of all those little bits, I placed them all in a small glass jar, added water 3/4 of the way up and a bit of dish soap and then shook them.  And shook them.  And shook them some more. At least 10 minutes of shaking and they still had a semigloss sheen but no sharp edges.

Finally, I could begin mosaicing!

Again, GE Silicone II glue was used to attach the prepared bits to the clear glass petals.

That yellow 'blob' in the center is a cool castoff from a glass blowing shop. It did not make the final mosaic but a similar one was used instead.

Lipstick red grout then completed the flower.  The flower buds on this 'Fire' side of the mosaic were completed the same way.  The green 3D pieces are also glass blowing castoffs.

"Fire and Rain"

Next post will be about the 'Rain' side of the mosaic.
Image at left shows both sides of the completed mosaic as it looks against a white background.

Part 2 of discussion of this mosaic can be viewed here: http://www.mosaicsmith.com/2012/07/part-2-reversible-mixed-media-glass-on.html

Urban Renewal - As Mixed-Media Mosaic Wall Art

Urban Renewal 8.5" x 10.5"

Inspiration is sometimes found in unexpected places and in this case it was an abandoned parking lot around the corner from where my daughter takes guitar lessons. I've seen it weekly for years now but stopped for a closer look one day...

(Click on images to view larger size.) 

Pieced predominantly from stained glass onto a hardibacker concrete board. The broken 'concrete' areas are broken pieces of granite tile placed in with the riven edges showing.  Grey tinted thin-set mortar fills the space between large broken areas of 'concrete'- the strong diagonal line- and is used to adhere the granite pieces as well.