Broken, finished

I managed to finish this piece. I say "manage" because I stole some moments (ok hours...) working on it in the middle of packing my studio. I couldn't let it go into the boxes unfinshed.

It is the first piece I did since last April and it will take a while until I will do any other mosaics.

My studio is packed. On Friday the movers will move everything to storage.

So here it is, Broken. Still very dirty but finshed.

Unplanned Abstract

I have started a new mosaic, an abstract this time. As a painter I used to paint many abstracts, all of them a la prima (no plans or sketches in advance). In my mosaics I usually concentrated on people and the few abstracts I did were well prepared with layout and colors before I glue any tile.

A week ago, when I finally entered my studio, I felt it was TIME for abstract, unplanned abstract. I chose only two colors in stained glass and Smalti and started gluing them with no plans.

The black swirl just "popped-up" during the work on it. I guess this is somehow my "signature" that you can find in many of the backgrounds of my mosaic works. But other than that, this is all new process to me.

I have no idea how it will look like when (an if) it is finished. Meanwhile, it is a worthy straggle.

(p.s. sorry for posting the photos not in the right order...)

Day 8 - Recording WIP

This was a short day, only 2 hours of work.
I have started to work on her hair today.
Her right side of the face is not good. It doesn't look right and there should be some hair there too. I removed the red part and started working on the hair. I'll finish the face after I finish the hair.

The photo below is just to show you my reference. My sketch enlarged to the size of the mosaic. I have it by me all the time. I don't necessarily follow it precisely, but with it next to me I can see my initial intention. As you can see, I mosaic the hair totally differently than in the sketch. Actually this is all I managed to do today. Can't believe it that it took me 2 hours :-(
I can already see that I have to change that green mass on her face. Tomorrow...

Day 2 - recording WIP

As you will soon see, I keep changing.

What I have in my mind as an idea, and even a concrete idea such as this piece that I am working on is constantly changing.
Sometimes I don't like the colors, sometimes I don't like the shape of the materials and sometimes I can't even tell why something bothers me.

To remind you, by the end of the first day this is what I have managed to do:

Today I entered my studio and gave a good look at my big, and I just needed to remove the umbrella. Why? I am not sure... but it disturbed me. I didn't want her to hold anything and this diagonal straight was blocking her and didn't feel at all good with her lyric lines.

my next victim was her left leg (right to the viewer). The line as I did it suggested there was a knee there. NOT GOOD!

Up until now I spent an hour and a half working on her. Now that I am writing all this down it seems crazy, but believe it or not, I was actually busy all this time with her...

I got to my studio around 9 am, left around 2:30 pm.

This is what she looked like in the end of the day -

(p.s. the piece I marked red is "dirt", it is not part of the mosaic)

I have not finished her hair or hands. Her left palm is not finished because I am still not sure whether to have hand open or closed like a fist.

I am thinking to have her have a scarf (like my Marcher) and only after I actually start working on the scarf I will be able to finish her right arm and her hair.

DAY 1 - Recording WIP

I have started a new piece in the Big series. This one is so far the biggest in the series.
At the moment I have no clue how it will end. All I know is that I want some kind of a 3D effect which I'll achieve by cutting her our of the Wedi board.

I painted the board roughly white so it will be easier to sketch her.

I have decided to make a "dynamic" contour. I cut randomly black glass using wheeled nippers. I don't plan the cuts. The curve is made naturally by the nippers. I'll cut a lot and then I'll choose the ones to use.

My first problem is the chin:

1 - the chin has to be less out, which will make the lips sexier

2 - chin in which is good, but it is too big

3 - this part of the chin is write

4 -this neck is too old

5 - finally the right chin and the the right neck

This process took about an hour.

In the following photos you can see how I do the knee -

When I lay the contour I don't try to be precise. on the contrary, the "shaking" line and the imperfect connections make it very lively and cheerful.

A tip - I do the connection between the "tiles" with a diagonal cut and not a strait one. It matches better. I don't have a photos of that. I owe you one.

By the end of the day - 5-6 hours - this is what I managed to do:

Why I don't teach, cutting and a promise

People have told me in several occasions that they would have liked to attend mosaic classes that I teach. Each time someone asks me about classes I am very flattered.

But... I don't teach...
I don't teach because I am not too good with people, but mainly because I think that learning a technique is not that important. If you look at books, at art works, you can figure out techniques.
What I find helpful is taking art classes. When you learn to see shadows, it doesn't matter if you practice it on mosaic or oil painting, and for that there are no tip or tricks. It is a long journey, some of it is learning, some of it is experience, and no 5 or 10 or 14 days of workshop can be enough.

In the last SAMA conference in Austin people said to me that they would love to study from me how I do my cutting.

I have no hidden tricks, but I have some tips for good cutting -

1. I use mainly wheeled nippers. I don't use a grinder, I don't use any machines and I don't own any. I find that the imperfect cutting is more perfect.


2. I make sure my nippers are sharp and adjusted.
   I rotate and change the wheels on my nipper frequently. Since I am working an average of 6 hours a day (7 days a week), I change the wheels to new ones about once in 2 weeks. I replace my nippers to new ones every few months. After a while the nippers are not that parallel and I loose my ability to cut as I wish to.


3. I am not afraid of wasting materials, but that make it all more costly!


4. Every new day in the studio starts by examining the work I have done in the previous day, and I'll remove all parts I am not happy with, no remorse there. Some days end with less glass on the piece than they began.


5. This make my pace very slow. I have learnt to accept this pace and love it, as it allows me to grow with my work.

I have just started a new piece, which I'll photograph daily and post here its progress including comments, that's a promise.